Speculations are rife that singer Jubin Nautiyal is in a serious relationship with actor Nikita Dutta. Quashing the stories about a secret engagement, he tells us, “These are all rumours! Nikita is a very dear friend of mine.”

Quiz the Raataan Lambiyan (Shershaah, 2021) singer, if such conjectures have affected his bond with her, and he says, “Not at all! She is an actor and understands how false information spreads.”

On the other hand, Nautiyal gets “affected” by such rumours. The 32-year-old says, “Had I been a Mumbai boy acquainted with how the industry works right from my childhood, I might have been more conditioned in dealing with my personal life going public.”

The Lut Gaye singer goes on, “I’m a small-town boy. I come from a joint family set-up where the idea of what society will think is prominently rooted. As kids, we’ve been told to keep personal matters within the house.”

He says that though his parents remained unfazed by the rumours, he had to spend a considerable amount of time explaining to his relatives that he hadn’t got secretly engaged to Dutta: “They were upset; they were like, ‘We came to know about your wedding from the papers’. I had to tell them it was just a rumour.”

But is marriage on his mind? “I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon. Maybe a couple of years later, I’ll do it,” Nautiyal signs off.