When actors Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal had to postpone their nuptials due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they were glad they hadn’t fleshed out their plans. “Our cards were about to be printed,” says Fazal, adding that it would be difficult to set a revised date just yet. “This year has been manhoos. People are ignorant to assume that things will magically get better after December 31, especially since we continue to top the Covid charts,” says the actor who will next be seen in an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile.

While their relationship is yet to be formalised, Chadha and Fazal have already become a part of each other’s families. Chadha, who’s presently shooting in Lucknow, has been regularly dropping in at Fazal’s family home for baingan ka bharta and peeli daal, while Ali, who has been living alone in Mumbai since the lockdown started, raves about the karela sabzi Chadha’s mom sent him recently. Unlike most couples who’ve endured turbulent domestic lives during this time, theirs has been rather pleasant. “We barely get enough time together. So whatever time we do get, we cherish it,” says Chadha. “We’re excited about moving in together. But once we do, maybe we will tear each other apart,” she adds, with a laugh. The actress shares that the shelter-in-place order sometimes made her feel like she was in a long-distance relationship with Fazal, even though they were in the same city. “If I had to stay over at his place, I would have to find a sitter for my cats, and if he had to stay over at mine, his workout routine would be disrupted.”

The couple first met when they were paired opposite each other in a film which, incidentally, never got made. But their first onscreen collaboration Fukrey forged a friendship based on their common love for “films and all weird things,” says Chadha. Fazal vividly recalls the meeting, which was like a meet cute in a romcom. “I was a bit of a fan already. I remember we were just chilling at the Excel office terrace and she walked in. She seemed cool and also witty,” he says. The actress remembers the same encounter a bit differently though. “He was trying to do a pull-up,” she says, with a laugh, and he shoots back with: “It was a very measly effort… it clearly wasn’t my day.”

As it turns out, it was during the promotions of the same film that the two “hit it off”. Fazal remembers a flight he took with Chadha, where both were seated across the aisle from each other and ended up exchanging handwritten notes, right from take-off to landing. But pencilled on these notes weren’t sweet nothings, as one might imagine. “Atrangi baatein ho rahi thi, about the universe and other metaphysical stuff,” he says with a smile. “I had never met somebody who was spiritually so centred,” he adds.

Over the years, the duo has come to accept and appreciate each other. “I love most things about him — the superficial stuff like how he looks, sounds and acts, and also the intellectual things,” Chadha says. “He’s a rare specimen: Someone who is deeply respectful and cultured. He’s also a true-blue feminist and it’s not just some woke quality he has recently acquired on Twitter.”

Fazal also credits their chemistry to the fact that they’re “different people”. “I discover something new about her every time we interact, and that’s beautiful,” he says. If there was one thing they could change about each other though, Chadha would have Fazal be more organised, while Fazal would have her be more punctual. “I don’t like watching ads, so I turn up for movies 20 minutes late,” she reasons. “But one out of ten times, the movie starts by the time she arrives and that’s a felony for me,” he protests.

Being an inter-faith couple in 2020 isn’t a point of contention, feels Chadha. Alluding to the recent uproar over the jewellery ad that depicted an inter-faith family, she says: “My life is like that ad. I’ve got so much love from Ali’s family, and he from mine. I feel sorry for those loveless people who have a problem with someone else’s marital choices.” The 33-year-old actor feels that much of the outrage on Twitter is manufactured. “In our country, the freedom to choose our life partner is enshrined in the Special Marriages Act,” she says.

Both Chadha and Fazal have strong opinions, and both ensure their voices are heard, particularly on social media. So far, at least, Chadha shares, there have been no “real-life consequences”, except for trolling.

“Once I had posted about a job, and there were so many derogatory comments, I actually had to sift through them to find the two genuine applicants who were interested,” says the actor, who now equates online heckling with “a healthy snack”. For his part, Fazal prefers to zone out. “The way I look at it, it’s just an icon on my phone; it doesn’t have the power to mess with my life,” says the actor whose recent web series was threatened with a boycott hashtag by trolls as a sort-of retribution for his posts supporting the anti-CAA protests. “Fortunately or unfortunately, we have to return to these platforms, because there are a lot of voices that can and must be heard.” he says. “The internet was, after all, supposed to drive positive change.”

As for the recent attack on the film industry, Fazal says, “People must understand that the industry represents workers from different parts of the country. We’re here just for work.” Chadha adds that the constant badgering by certain sections of the media has even got the common man concerned about the work culture in the industry. “People are angry now and I don’t think they can be fed this diet of ‘look what happened here’. I hope the narrative will change soon.”

Often referred to as “Bholi Punjaban” — her character’s name in Fukrey — Chadha feels being typecast “is a double-edged sword”. “You can cash in on it too. Bholi could bag a car battery commercial, for example, where she’s in a jeep,” she says. “As for busting stereotypes, it will be easier once one builds a stronger one-on-one connection with one’s audience.”

Recently, Chadha has been in the news for filing a defamation case against actor Payal Ghosh. She won a moral victory when Ghosh had to tender an unconditional apology and delete all defamatory posts about her. But Chadha insists she’s not the fighting sort. “I was forced to file a case, which was preventable. I didn’t start this. It was an act of defense, not aggression.”