It’s their first Holi together as a couple and they can’t stop grinning ear-to-ear as they pose exclusively for a shoot with HT City. Afterwards actor-couple Rakul Preet Singh and Jackky Bhagnani sit down for a chat with us, sharing their excitement of celebrating the festival as newlyweds. Excerpts:

Jackky: I am very excited because she has finally brought colour to my life.

Rakul: Arre yaar aisi baatein karke hi he takes all the brownie points! (laughs) We haven’t played Holi together before this. This shoot is the first time we have applied colour to each other because Jackky was in London for the first two years [of us dating]. And last year he was shooting for Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, so I played Holi with my friends.

Jackky: I used to play a lot. But of late, I have become conscious about water conservation. Of course we throw colours, but I haven’t played the typical kind of Holi anytime recently.

Rakul: We would love to play the colour wali Holi [as kids]. Any festival is a celebration of your closest people coming together and just having a good time. It’s all about food and feasting.

Jackky: Once my friends and I started playing Holi at nine in the morning, which went on till midnight!

Rakul: In Delhi, we used to play the dirty Holi, throw eggs at each other. When I was in school, we used to throw balloons, use pakka colour that would leave our ears red for a week!

Rakul: I don’t feel even 1% change. When we started dating three years ago, we had a chat about this. We feel complete as individuals and together we are just happier. I don’t have to call him 15 times a day saying, ‘I am getting bored’, ‘How are you?’ I have to figure what I have to do in my life and it’s the same for him. When we are together, we leave work behind. Our biggest strength is that we are best friends!

Jackky: We respect each other’s space and work. I am proud of what she does.