Vikrant Massey speaks about his recent hush-hush wedding with actress and long-time girlfriend Sheetal Thakur in Himachal Pradesh, their prior live-in relationship and his career. Excerpts…

I was born and raised in Mumbai. We got married in Himachal as Sheetal’s maika is there and my father was born in Shimla. My paternal side is from Shimla, too. We got married in Sheetal’s ancestral village called Jhabola, in Bilaspur district in HP.

We don’t consider ourselves as celebrities, so I didn’t even think on those lines. I feel very awkward when someone calls me a celebrity. I know my reality. I know of these massive celebrity weddings, but ours was a regular middle-class wedding. Last minute tak tayari chal rahi thi. Our families took all the decisions aur humne shaadi karli. Shaadi mein kaafi faltu kharche hote hai. Hum woh sab cut karke ghar jaisi shaadi hi chahte the.

The idea was always to have only people who are really important to us present on our wedding day. It was a complete family affair. Yami (Gautam) also hails from Bilaspur district of Himachal. She got married there as well. Humara bhi wohi idea tha. We had decided a couple of years ago itself that shaadi jabhi hogi, toh ghar jaisi hi hogi. Both of us wanted it that way and we both chose her ancestral house for a reason. Sheetal’s grandmother is 108 years old and she cannot travel. Hum amma ke yaha hi shaadi karna chahte the, hence, the ancestral house. And it’s always good to take a break from the city.

Yami is a dear friend. She knew about my wedding pehle se. Unko sab pata tha. Unhone tips bhi diye the. She was happy that shaadi Himachal mein hone wali hai, aur ghar mein hone wali hai. Now there are two Himachali brides around me. One is Yami and the other is my wife Sheetal.

I think it’s the common value system and worldviews that bring two people closer. This is in the beginning. Of course, later on, other factors also come in. She is someone I can talk to; she is down to earth and also keeps me grounded. She has been my biggest support system, the light of my family and my life. I can go on and on about it. Above all, the love we feel for each other draws us closer. Love supersedes everything, but I strongly believe that our value system binds us together. She makes the world a better place.

Yes! That was one of the best decisions we’ve taken. We decided to live in to get to know each other better. We decided to spend time together and that led us to marriage. We lived in for six years before tying the knot. It makes you responsible towards yourself, your actions as well as the other person who is sharing that space and life with you. There’s so much of personality growth that happens. Companionship is a constant roller-coaster going to be good and bad days.

Yehi cheez saal do saal pehle bhi ho jaati. But my priorities were different back then. Why not now? Our life is going great and we wanted to build our life together. Both of us and our families always wanted us to spend our lives together, so why not? There is no such thing as the right time. Aisa tha ki ab karni hai toh kar hi lete hai. There was no point in delaying it because not once did we ever have together. So, we decided chalo shaadi kar lete hai.

I couldn’t be happier. I am living my dream. I always wanted to work in cinema, tell good stories and work with like-minded people. Woh ho raha hai. Results are not in your control. The stupidest thing one can do is set out on a journey hoping iska result yeh hoga. All you can do is set targets and work towards them. Whatever comes out of it is a blessing. I hope to challenge myself as an actor as there is this innate fear of being typecast. There is an effort to swim against the tide and chart new territories. Every film changes something for you, but A Death In The Gunj changed a lot for me. My TV shows have also contributed immensely to my growth. Be it Balika Vadhu or Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo, had I not done those TV shows, I wouldn’t be here. Platform or medium is not important, content is. One thing always leads to another.