“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love showered on us since we revealed the pregnancy. It was a safer timeline for us [to announce it closer to delivery date]; our doctor advised it,” says actor Bipasha Basu, who announced her pregnancy on Instagram with husband Karan Singh Grover last week. Few days later, she shared a funny video saying, “There’s a baby in my belly”.

Dressed in a white shirt, Basu is resplendent at 43, and full of glee. “I am not 20,” she says, “It’s a late pregnancy, and [I] couldn’t announce it. You have to love yourself, no matter what your body type is—I am so big, but I find it cute. It’s magical what’s happening inside. We let the news out late as we had to be responsible. But once it was out there, we were in tears because everyone gave us so much love…”

“You had tears, I was fine!” pipes in Grover, “I was having different kinds of explosions inside my body.” Basu laughs, “Karan is a softy. He was in tears as well. We let our larger family know—the fans, the media...”

We chatted with the couple over Zoom on Thursday evening, and they seem in high spirits. Basu, whom we know from movies such as Dhoom and Bachna Ae Haseeno, and Grover, who is a TV regular in shows such as Qubool Hai, got married six years ago.

Basu keeps the delivery date under wraps, saying only that it will be soon. “I think Karan is going to be the best father ever,” she gushes. “He lives life from his heart; he’s creative, affectionate and warm… I want those qualities in my child.” “Sometimes, leading with the heart is not a good thing,” Grover quips.

But it’s good that his heart has been in charge; he’s been a hands-on partner, looking after Basu during the first few months of pregnancy, which were excruciating.

“No one talks about how horrible it can be,” the former model says. “It’s not morning sickness, its all-time sickness. I was vomiting all day; It was as if I was possessed. I used to look up at God and shout ‘why are you doing this?’ Karan was looking after me all the time. My mom was relaxed. ‘Kitna acchha pati mila hai,’ she would say.”

It got so bad at one point that Grover asked Basu whether she wanted to continue suffering. “If a man had to be pregnant, he wouldn’t be able to at all,” he says. “She was so sick. But at least we’re past that stage.”

For now, the expecting parents are busy nesting. When we had interviewed Grover in 2020, about his painting exhibition, he had described Basu as being a very organised person, who looked after everyone.

“She is a very evolved,” he says now, “To be her best possible self is her normal state of flow. I am in awe of how she thinks 20 steps ahead.  She has an excel sheet of what the child will need, what products, what brands, the cost... everything organised already.”

It’s Basu’s turn to laugh. “Karan will keep bringing up and joking about the excel sheet, but we need to make sure the baby gets the best of what s/he can.” To which Grover just says, “I am good at groundwork and following instructions. So I’ll just do what she asks me to.”

We ask her about the lifestyle decisions they’ve made to make room for the baby, and Basu replies that since she’s always been a fitness-centric person, no detox routine will be needed.

“The real changes will happen when the baby comes. Karan is being trained to change nappies; he will be good at it,” she says, and Grover cringes. “I once smelt a diaper in a changing room and it’s the smell of hell. But I will do what I have to do,” he resigns. As far as taking a break from work goes, neither will be doing so. “I have been on a break all this while, as it was a sensitive pregnancy. But once the baby comes, baby and mommy will be ready for work. It’s time!”