...says Gaurav Chopraa, admitting that long-time girlfriend Narayani
Shastri and he have split
DEEPALI DHINGRA
'Are you getting married to Narayani?' That's the one question
that Gaurav Chopraa gets asked the most. And that's not surprising,
after all, the two have been associated for so long, that people
tend to think of them as a couple still. And especially after Nach
Baliye 2 on Star One, their image as a couple has got engraved in
the audience's mind. So is he getting married to Narayani? "No, I'm
not," Gaurav says patiently and adds, "Narayani and I have mutually
decided to remain friends and I respect that stand." Explaining his
relationship with Narayani now, he says, "It was a mutual decision
that we took happily, so I don't see why I should not go out for
parties with her or not take advice from her or not talk to her on
the phone if I
want to? Why should I lose out on a good friend?" he questions. And
then candidly remarks, "At the moment, I'm happily single with a
capital 'S' and ready to mingle with a capital 'M'!"
Gaurav was asked about Narayani even when he went to shoot for
Sony's Aisa Des Hai Mera to Agra, with co-actor Soumya
Tandon. "Somebody even asked me if she was my wife," he laughs.
Incidentally, Gaurav informs that Aisa... is the first television
serial to have been given the permission to shoot at the Taj
Mahal. "It was my first visit to the Taj and I swear, I almost felt
my heart jump to the right and back!" he adds. Gaurav was pleasantly
surprised to see hundreds of people gathered there to watch the
shoot. "After each shot, they would want to touch our hair or pull
our clothes or chant our names. And most of these were women, so it
was highly embarrassing," he recalls with a laugh. Gaurav is quite
happy with the way the show's shaped up. "We're not doing anything
out of the box in the serial but right from shooting the action
sequence in the train to shooting at the Taj, the serial's looking
slightly different and fresher than the others," he concludes
happily.