Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; December 13, 2017)

After four years of courting each other, Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli are now man and wife. The two lovebirds culminated their relationship into marriage on Monday (December 11) in an intimate wedding ceremony at one of the most luxurious heritage hotels in Tuscany, Italy. Although most actresses scoff at the idea of marrying early, Anushka’s done it the right way...

Whether it’s taking a leap as a producer — backing some niche stories — or making the choice of never playing the side-kick to a superstar, Anushka has always followed her gut. She has never played the game the conventional way. So, when she chose to get married right at the peak of her career, it didn’t surprise us.

While most of her contemporary heroines have shied away from the ‘married’ tag, Anushka has embraced it at 29 and how. For decades, we haven’t heard of a leading lady tying the knot before turning 30. We don’t blame them either. There’s an unusual stigma attached to marriage when it comes to actresses in Bollywood. Almost all of them are scared of losing their ‘star status’ and their ‘audience’, once they become a missus.

But Anushka’s gumption deserves to be lauded. Now, after the wedding, she returns to the country with Virat for their Delhi and Mumbai receptions, post which, the couple flies off to South Africa for a week. Virat starts the series on January 5, whereas Anushka will come back to complete her work commitments. She will shoot her film with Shah Rukh Khan, promote her next production venture Pari, which is due for release in February, and begin Sui Dhaaga with Varun Dhawan.

While there are hardly examples of heroines marrying so early, especially at the peak of their careers, two people who come to mind are Sharmila Tagore and Dimple Kapadia. While Sharmila settled down when she was 25, Dimple walked the aisle when she was just 16. Post marriage, the two heroines continued to play leading ladies and woo the audiences. We’re sure Anushka will follow the same route, too. Slowly but steadily, the industry is opening newer avenues, valuing someone’s talent over their relationship status and that’s incredible. One look at Kareena Kapoor Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vidya Balan and you will know that the film fraternity is gearing up for a big paradigm shift. Anushka's definitely the newest addition to that revolution.