Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s wedding video proves that true love means looking past the obvious

In Padukone’s world, Singh is a sensitive cherub, a far cry from the preconceived notions most have of him

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In a video that debuted during the Koffee with Karan season 8 premiere last night, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh seem to be in a state of trance, their faces anointed in sacred pigment, their grins coy, their eyes hardly able to take it all in. It’s their wedding video, shot in 2018 at the scenic venue of Lake Como, Italy. It is a play of glorious golden light and the gleaming halo of a halcyon sun. And a holy flame. It begins with a characteristically upbeat Singh issuing an emphatic groom’s speech: “If you’d told me six years ago that I’d be marrying Deepika Padukone…” He shakes his head. In that gentle self-deprecation, Singh comes close to echoing the consternations of our humblest onscreen romantic pairings, à la Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts (Notting Hill), Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock (Two Weeks Notice), and Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon (Love Actually). But to even an unsavvy observer, Singh is no Hugh Grant. Quite the opposite—even Prakash Padukone, the bride’s father, seems to think so. “He’s completely opposite to [the Padukone] family….” Padukone is a former badminton star who attests to living a sedate, quiet life with his family of four, perhaps in the beauteous placidity of the Deccan foothills. His commentary is overlaid on a scene of manic joy as Singh, surrounded by revellers, spins on his heel, his magnificent ceremonial lehenga unfurling around him. “He brings so much energy to our really boring family,” the father-in-law chuckles.

On the surface, the bond between Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh is reminiscent of the lead pair in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani (2023), where a high-octane, muscly motormouth, he of the Rapidex English, played by Singh, and a sophisticated, chic mondaine, played by Alia Bhatt, fall hopelessly in love. Beneath the brazen portraiture of the Delhi gymboy, Rani spies a sensitive soul who is equal parts gooey mess and resolute family man. Back to reality, even Singh’s father, giving a speech at the wedding, seems to find this dichotomy between his son and Padukone joyfully incredulous. “Even [Ranveer] wouldn’t believe it if you told him, years ago, that he’d be marrying Deepika. Deepika, on the other hand, wouldn’t want it.” On being asked what attracted her to Singh, who seems to be so steeped in the fabric of a Delhi rustic on-screen that people forget he’s from Bandra, she says she saw a side of him nobody else had. “I love that he isn’t embarrassed about crying.” In her world, Singh is a sensitive cherub, a far cry from the preconceived notions most have of him, often conflating his outsized fashion choices with a ne’er-do-well attitude, mistaking his thespian buoyancy for a dearth of personal gravitas. All such perturbations melt away when a gem-studded, florally-festooned Ranveer attempts to break through the trappings of tradition, defying the nuptial precondition of not looking at one’s bride before the ceremony, and beckons, “I love you, baby.” Over the fawning sounds of delighted family, his voice is sincere and dulcet.

“…Ek wo din tha, ek aaj hai…” (“Look how times have changed”), Ranveer is triumphant in his black formals at the reception. What does it feel like? Padukone, the bride, mulls over her feelings about the ceremony. “Complete. It felt complete.” She closes her eyes with contentment. It is only the ones who truly love us who will ever know what we are, inside out. In the vows and adventures of one of Bollywood’s most celebrated pairs, there is an abundance of unmistakable ecstasy that comes only from being privy to someone’s most inward, and perhaps most fascinating aspects. Cradled in the hammock of easy intimacy, and propelled by the romantic endeavour of looking past the obvious, love takes root so intensely it seems otherworldly to onlookers. But maybe that’s alright. In the words of Singh’s father, theirs is a story being written by the world’s best screenwriter. And one ought to repose one’s faith in a stronger force sometimes. In this quest for love, we come to find what we truly are, because this singularity boils to the top, unashamed of judgement, unfettered by where the chips may fall.