Sometimes people fall in love at first sight. Many times feeling of love develops out of constant interaction and sometimes people don’t realize that they are in love even though their heartbeats keep ticking in the name of someone special.
And I fall into exactly the last category. Clichés say that better late than never, but I wonder, had it been earlier, what exactly it would have made the difference? Still, I love Genelia...
Naaahhhh... This story is not based on fantasies like Rangeela or Mast...This a true love story of a teenager soul trapped in a 25-year 'old' body.
I knew Genelia since her debut film “Tuze Meri Kasam” (Now someone would crack good old PJ...that she still doesn’t know me) I knew that she had been struggling there and I cared little about her... then I watched “Jaane tu yaa Jaane Naa” and I loved it! I watched it again and
I was still clueless about what my heart is following.
And then one incident made me realize my true love....
Idiot box started airing new ad campaign of Fanta Orange. I used to watch these ads intently... No matter how many times my TV set kept repeating it and suddenly I felt that I should try this new drink. I went to a shop and asked for a new orange drink... Shopkeeper asked in return “Which one exactly?” and this question made me blank... I had not bothered to know the name of the brand she was advertising... I said “Woh naya waala aaya hai na orange drink I guess Mirinda Orange.” He replied "Its Fanta Orange...not Mirinda Orange" and I kept insisting that it’s not Fanta. I went to another shop and did exactly the same thing... I continued my search for this new orange drink for a good 3 days. The funniest thing is that during this period, I watched the same ad so many times and I STILL didn’t notice the brand name even once, I was THAT engrossed in watching Genelia only. While I had become a subject of ridicule among shopkeepers of Dadar, I once again barged into the 1st shop I had visited and once again repeated the same questions and that irritated the shopkeeper... He said “Arey saab who Mirinda Orange nahi hai" I asked with great composure, “Woh Genelia kaun se ad mein aati hai ?” He said, “Fanta Orange” then I quipped, “Toh wohi dena...Waise naam mein kya rakha hai?” Shopkeeper shot a surprising look towards me. May be he was wondering about my age...may be that day I killed the marketing concepts of Brand Identity. If target audience gets engaged with brand ambassador only and gets completely misled with the product name and asks for rival product, it shows how brand ambassador overshadows the Brand name. Definitely Fanta Think-tank was not seeking such a response.
Once I came to know that I love Genelia, it changed my way of watching her movies... I questioned the presence of other characters (besides her) on the screen. Once during a lecture, I watched her super-duper-hit Tamil movie Bommiralu. It had English sub-titles, so I could mute the sound and watch it even in the presence of an irritating professor. And I must confess... I had not any confusion in deciding whether to read English sub-titles or just look at Genelia. To give some respect to the movie, I read the English sub-titles only when she wasn’t in the scene. Even though I watched it like a silent movie, it had made a way to my silent love towards her. Once I realized my true love I never hesitated to express it in public, I kept 'staring' at bus-stop banners 'starring' Genelia much to the amusement of onlookers... I watched “Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Naa” repetitively making my parents to believe that their son had only 1 movie in the world to watch in life. My friends always used to tease me by asking “How is Genelia?” and I used to answer with a sad face, “She is fine even without me.” Few friends found my love as very cute while many friends wondered why he likes Genelia so much and one friend thought that I am still studying in 3rd standard. My 3-year old (?) little nephew watched Genelia wearing 'Zebra T-shirt' in Perk Popups Ad and shouted, “Look at Zebra”.... Really! This young generation doesn’t know how to respect their “Prospective aunt”.
Yes... You can have a hearty laugh at me taking a dig at my true love. But remember one thing, who knows my love story might become a real-story like the reel-story of Mast movie and I may emerge as a tough competition to Ritesh Deshmukh and at that time I am not going to tell you anything about my affair... I would just say, “We are just good friends!!!” (See I have started practicing how to tackle media attention)
Sometimes you can not have explanation for everything. I really don't know the reason behind this attraction...and I really don't bother about the ultimate fate of my love and the people who question about my age and sanity... But I am damn sure about one thing...While her career graph is heading northwards, she needs a husband who will take care of her as well as her personal finance...and I guess... I am the only 'dil'logical choice for her !!
