For Some, Kiara Is Already ‘Mrs Malhotra Waiting At Home For Her Man’! Really?!

Kiara Advani and Siddharth Malhotra – two beautiful, young, famous people are getting married so of course everyone is avidly curious about the proceedings. They are the cynosure of all eyes and they are also the butt of speculation and conjecture; the recipient of unwanted advice and burdened with a whole lot of expectations.

Here is what is going on with Siddharth and Kiara’s wedding and the chatter around the #SidKiaraWedding or #KiaraSidharthwedding or whichever other social media hashtag one is following.

Wedding at Suryagarh Jaisalmer

https://twitter.com/IshitaK68788525/status/1622636259045957632

The events leading up to the #SidKiaraWedding ceremony

Dhamakedar celebration from #Jaisalmer.#SidKiaraWedding #wedding #SiddharthMalhotra #KiaraAdvani #KiaraMalhotra pic.twitter.com/qYjmVuRQhQ

— Akshayfanclub4 (@akshayfanclub4) February 7, 2023

There have been reports of the haldi ceremony, the mehendi and the chooda ceremony at the Suryagarh venue in Jaisalmer. The sangeet and other events featured DJ Ganesh and the rapper brother of the bride Mishaal Advani say reports. Apparently there was also a surprise dance performance from the family of the bride. There is even conjecture about the ‘sea facing bungalow, the groom’s dream house that the newly married couple are looking to move into after the wedding.

Never miss real stories from India's women.

Register Now

Then there is this: She is already Mrs Malhotra

https://twitter.com/ZebasCreationx/status/1622654625076895744

Kiara Advani is one of the most successful young actors today, but she is quickly relegated to the role of the ‘Mrs. Malhotra’ here; her own personhood subsumed into that of a new husband’s. She quickly becomes the model housewife, dutifully waiting at home for her husband to return.

Now one could well argue that this is just a fan waxing eloquent about an emotional scene from a film that the couple did together; the expression of a romantic notion of real life following reel. However, it is telling that our notions of love and romance still revolve around marriage and weddings and cosy domesticity following the very gendered social rule book that still governs society.

This is historically accurate too

Bhagyashree – Image source

We have seen this in numerous cases in the past that successful movie actresses have given up their careers after marriage: Mumtaz, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Bhagyashree and many more. Many married other actors but still gave up acting: Nargis after marrying Sunil Dutt, Jaya Bhaduri after marrying Amitabh Bachchan, Neetu Singh after marrying Rishi Kapoor, Babita after marrying Randheer Kapoor, Dimple after marrying Rajesh Khanna and numerous others.

Many of these women returned to acting later in life, suggesting that it was their circumstances and familial/societal expectations that had made them step back from acting. Of course many of these women could as well have taken such decisions entirely of their own volition, based on their dreams and desires.

The bottom line is – let the women decide

Twinkle Khanna – Image source

More recently, women have chosen to take a step back but to continue acting. Madhuri Dixit chose to move to the US after an arranged marriage, had kids and then chose to continue a transatlantic career. Others went to have successful second careers. Twinkle Khanna gave up acting and is now a writer of some fame (though one may well argue that she never was much of an actor).

Image source

Actors like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Anushka Sharma, and many others continue to work. Priyanka Chopra chose to go ahead and marry, and create a successful crossover career and is secure enough to speak about how husband Nick teaches her TikTok, she teaches him ‘what a successful acting career looks like’. On the other hand, actors like Asin have stepped back from a successful, multilingual movie career — and it is all OK!

Let Kiara Advani decide whether or not she wants to be Mrs Malhotra and whether or not she wants to wait at home for Mr. Malhotra. Can people stop pushing their own agendas, and expectations and aspirations on to women and simply let them choose – meanwhile wishing them health, happiness and success – in life and in marriage and in whatever else?

Comments