MUMBAI MIRROR (August 2, 2018)

It’s the season of travel for Bollywood couples. While Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor have been shuttling between Mumbai and Bulgaria for the shoot of Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra, Varun Dhawan whisked girlfriend Natasha Dalal over the weekend to London for a short break.

“Varun and Natasha had been planning this trip for a while now. It couldn’t happen earlier owing to the actor’s work schedule. So, after attending Dinesh Vijan’s birthday party on Friday, they took off to London to spend some quality time together,” a source close to the couple informs Mirror. Upon their return, Varun is scheduled to resume work on Abhishek Varman’s multistarrer Kalank.

During the getaway, Varun and Natasha bumped into the actor’s Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania director Shashank Khaitan, who was in the Queen’s City with wife Nalini Datta after the release of his last directorial, Dhadak.

Meanwhile, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who will be tying the knot later this year, have failed to evade the eye of netizens. A fan spotted Deepika and subsequently posed for a picture with her in Orlando, also confirming that she was accompanied by her actor-beau. More recently, the couple walked through an amusement park in Florida, hand-in-hand. They were accompanied by Deepika’s younger sister, Anisha. “Ranveer and Deepika are spending some quality time together and are set to return on Friday,” added another source.

Following low-key celebrations with their parents last week and clearing out their work schedules for D-Day, the couple is currently scouting for a venue
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 31, 2018)

A week before their film Padmaavat’s release in January, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone had a low-key celebration as their respective parents — Jagjit Singh and Anju Bhavnani, and Prakash and Ujjala Padukone — came together for the first time at the former’s Bandra residence to discuss their nuptials. The parents gave presents and jewellery to the soon-to-wed couple, which included a Sabyasachi sari for the 32-year-old actress.

Now, Mirror has learnt that last week, Ranveer, Deepika and their families have short-listed four auspicious dates between September and December for a year-end wedding, after which prep has kicked into overdrive with the Bhavnanis and Padukones scouting for wedding venues in India and abroad before locking the final date. With younger sister Anisha and their mother, Deepika has already started her bridal trousseau shopping as well as finalising her jewellery. “It will be an extremely private, traditional Hindu ceremony with the couple tying the knot in the presence of only close friends and family. The couple is still deciding if they want a reception to follow,” the source adds, pointing out that the bride is yet to finalise a designer for the big day.

After their Sanjay Leela Bhansali film’s star-studded screening on January 23, Ranveer and Deepika had walked out of the premiere hand-in-hand, twinning in traditional white and gold ensembles and waving at the paparazzi. “They had just returned from their week-long holiday in the Maldives and their respective parents had recently blessed the alliance. It was the perfect moment to celebrate the union and the couple didn’t shy away from the photogs as they left together in Ranveer’s car,” a source close to the couple told Mirror.

Meanwhile, Ranveer, who is wrapping up Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy and will jump into Rohit Shetty’s Simbbaa next, has cleared his work schedule for the year-end and will be kicking off the Kapil Dev biopic, directed by Kabir Khan, only at the beginning of 2019. Deepika has cleared her diary for the year-end as well.

The duo has been dating for five years now and had first hit it off on the sets of Bhansali’s Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram- Leela in 2013. They re-united onscreen in 2015 for his Bajirao Mastani.

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 10, 2018)

Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh may have rubbished rumours of having gotten engaged during their recent Maldives holiday, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have marriage on her mind. Padukone recently spilled the beans on her dream wedding while shooting for an upcoming episode of Vogue BFFs, where she shared the couch with golfer sister Anisha Padukone. After Anushka Sharma’s dreamy wedding that had her looking resplendent in Sabyasachi Mukherjee (inset) creations, the couturier has now featured in Padukone’s wish list too — the actor revealed that she harbours dreams of being a Sabya bride.

According to a source from the set, during one of the segments called ‘Say it or strip it’ where celebrities have to drop a piece of clothing if they don’t want to answer the question, host Neha Dhupia asked Padukone whose creation she would like to wear on her big day — Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi Mukherjee? While Malhotra may be the go-to designer for most B-Towners, the actor picked Mukherjee.

The source adds that Padukone, who was unusually candid on the Colors Infinity show, didn’t shy away from speaking about Singh too. “Deepika good-naturedly poked fun at his flamboyant style of dressing. In a segment called ‘Scary spice or platter of punishment,’ Neha asked her to complete the sentence ‘Ranveer, stop doing …’ She immediately said, ‘Stop doing outrageous clothes.’ Anisha and Neha burst out laughing.”