Features - Rajashree - An article

"IT WAS A JOINT DECISION TO POSTPONE THE MARRIAGE FOR A BIT"

As Saat Phere's Saloni, Rajashree Thakur is television's most ideal bahu. She also has the perfect husband in the form of Sharad Kelkar's character, Nahar. When you have Prince Charming sweeping you off your feet in the reel world, you can't help but heighten your expectations when it comes to real time too.

But Rajashree isn't complaining in the least. Because she's managed to find her perfect man in the form of Sanjyot Vaidya. And when you find the perfect man, you prefer not to waste any time.

Rajashree and Sanjyot, however, decided to push the marriage ahead by a year. "We had a properly planned engagement in November 2005. After our families met, they wanted to fix the wedding date immediately. But Sanjyot and I wanted some time for each other. We told our families that we didn't want to be bound by marriage so soon. It was a joint decision to postpone the marriage for a bit."

She lets us in on their love story. "I knew him for some six-seven years before marriage. We were studying together in college. But we were never great friends; it's just that we did a lot of theatre together. It's only been about two years since it has become something special. During college, we didn't speak much to each other. He was my senior and we were more like acquaintances. He was under the impression that I was arrogant and I thought he was a little too over-smart for my liking. We met again, a year after graduation. We got along so well then. We were wondering why we wasted so much time all through college," she says reminiscently.

So did they finally change their negative opinions about each other? "Oh yes we did," she laughs. "We started meeting and liking each other. That's when we realized we were wrong, and that Sanjyot is actually a very good boy and I'm a great girl too! We were so silly; we never even expressed our feelings for each other for long. That's because I didn't know how he would react and he wasn't absolutely sure about my feelings either."

Misunderstandings sure do waste a lot of time! Fortunately, there weren't any when it came to the proposal. "He called me at night as usual to talk. He told me, 'Rajashree, I want to get married.' I said okay, go ahead, who's stopping you? Then he said, 'But whom should I marry?' I told him to go look for a good girl. That's when he said the magic words, 'I think you're the perfect girl for me. Will you marry me?' I obviously said yes!"

The very next day, Rajashree accompanied Sanjyot to meet a cousin he's very close to. They, in turn, informed Sanjyot's mother, who approved whole-heartedly. "Our families knew of each other because we had visited each other's houses before. But only as friends. In fact, my father always remembered him as the boy who spoke a lot. Most of my friends consider my dad to be quite strict. He was the only one who would talk continuously with my dad, and that too, casually! Anyway, within a week, our families met, we got engaged, and they were all set to fix our wedding date as well. That's when Sanjyot intervened. He felt if we married so soon, we wouldn't be able to enjoy our courtship thoroughly. That's why we pushed it to February this year."

A suburban five-star hotel was selected as the venue for the Big Day, which was attended by all those special to Rajashree. "We had a small sangeet and mehendi function at Sanjyot's place. But they were very casual events. The shaadi and reception were much grander. We tried to match our clothes too, so that they wouldn't clash. For the pheras, I wore a yellow saree, given to me by my mama (mother's brother). That's a typical Maharashtrian tradition. For the reception, I like the colour red, so a red lehenga-choli was my choice."

She then adds, "I was really happy because the entire cast and crew of Saat Phere made it for the wedding. The best part was that the unit was given a holiday that day, so they could all come together. I even had some guests attending, who I never thought would be at my wedding. Like I don't personally know Parikshit Sahni, but I'd met him with his wife at a mall. His wife watches Saat Phere, so she recognized me. He told me he'd like to attend my marriage, and I was more than happy to invite him. He removed time and came; that was very sweet. And then, there's this fan of mine, who calls me all the time. The lady asked me if she could come for my wedding. I said okay, and she came too! All this meant a lot to me."

Any special gifts to remember the occasion by? "I had specifically told everyone not to get any gifts. I think the fact that everyone removed time from their shooting schedules and came, was the most special gift."

If the wedding was special, the honeymoon was something she's not going to forget ever. And we're not taking about the actual honeymoon, but what transpired before it. That is in fact, the most interesting part. "I was under the impression that we were going to Kerala for our honeymoon. At least, that's what Sanjyot had told me. It was only when we reached the airport that I was let in on the fact that we were actually going to Mauritius. He had arranged for everything; it was meant to be a big surprise. It's so funny because just before leaving, I'd even given a couple of interviews where I'd said we're going to Kerala," she says, a smile on her face.

How did she manage to get so completely fooled? "Sanjyot had planned everything so well that I just had to get fooled. I'd asked him for details of the trip, so I could plan everything in advance. He actually got the travel agent to give me a fake travel plan, which was absolutely detailed. So I had no reason to suspect. Even my mother-in-law was kept in the loop, and she acted very well too. When we reached the international airport, I was wondering why we were there to catch a domestic flight. Then Sanjyot tells me that there's no direct flight to Kerala, so we have to take a connecting flight from the international airport. He had answers for everything. But it really was the sweetest surprise ever!"

We couldn't agree more! What followed were 10 days of bliss on the beautiful sandy beaches of Mauritius, far away from the maddening shooting schedules of Mumbai. And then, Rajashree Thakur, now Vaidya, had to return back to the studios to reprise her role as Saloni. Aren't we glad about that?