Marriage is not a priority for us!

Now is the time to test him. After a great start, Shahid Kapoor seems to have fizzled out a bit. He has three big releases in two months including Vikram Bhatt's 'Deewane Huye Pagal' that hit theatres recently.

Coming up are John Matthew Mattan's 'Shikhar' and Mahesh Manjrekar's 'Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi'. But his most special projects remain Satish Kaushik's 'Milenge Milenge' and Abbas-Mustan's '36, China Town' in which he stars with Kareena.

Ask him about the people's reaction who dismissed them as thanda pair and he says, "I don't care. One swallow does not make a summer. If producers didn't think us as a commercial pair, they wouldn't have cast us."

Having Kareena as a co-star is not very cosy affair for Shahid. "I hardly afford to relax in her presence. She is terrific," he excliams.

But like everything else in life, it is a package deal.

Says Shahid, "If you think that we get distracted, you are barking up the wrong tree. Being in love and working together is mixing pleasure and business. It's God's gift that we have some films together, else we wouldn't be able to meet for months and maybe our relationship would have suffered. Touch wood, we have finished two years of our relationship and I hope and pray that it's for ever."

And Marriage?

"Right now, we are at a very crucial juncture in our careers. Marriage is not a priority on our minds," says Shahid with a blush.