A trip down memory lane before Aloo…

Now that the most eligible bachelor, formerly known as the Casanova of Bollywood, has tied the knot, let’s got down memory lane now that the wedding hype has died down.

Here’s the thing about Ranbir Kapoor. He is the most famous Kapoor member. The reason why is due to his playboy image that was established in the media. In the past, he claimed he wasn’t like what was being portrayed in the media but he did actually move from one serious relationship to another with a few flings in between and while being in said relationship.

SKJ, the journalist, was quite close to RK’s family, including Rishi Kapoor. In fact, SKJ was the one who let out that it was Ranbir who excitedly called him up to tell him of the famous SRK-SK fight that happened at Katrina Kaif’s birthday party. It’s not really a wonder his own colleagues refer to him as the IT gossip boy in Bollywood. Little did he know then about the Kat connection he was going to have!

So here are the serious relationships that Ranbir claimed he was involved in but had no hard feelings or any feelings at all once it ended or once he made up his mind to end it.

Before Ranbir made his debut

Neetu Singh once mentioned that she didn’t approve of the girl Ranbir was with at the time. She mentioned how she advised Ranbir to cool it off since he had to get enough sleep to appear fresh for his first film. Many thought she was referring to Deepika Padukone but it was actually Nandita Mahtani she was talking about.

Here’s what SKJ had to say about this:

I remember right after Ranbir’s debut film Saawariya was released he was in love with a divorcee-socialite. He told me would kill himself if he didn’t get to marry her. But what to do? Ranbir’s mother Neetu Singh didn’t approve of the match. Ranbir was soon over the relationship.

It’s not surprising Neetu didn’t approve of this socialite since not only she was 8 years or so older than RK, she was married to RK’s bro-in-law. How do you attend family gatherings after that?

After they broke up, Ranbir and Deepika got together. It was also reported that he was with Sonam since they were not that close anymore after he started going out with Deepika, but neither RK nor Sonam has admitted to being in a relationship with each other though Sonam’s daddy did say they were dating right after ‘Saawariya’ released.

With Deepika Padukone, he went all out to proclaim his love for her. They even appeared on People’s magazine talking about when they want to get married and how many kids they want.

I’m very happy in my relationship with Deepika. Do I look like a frivolous person to you? But before you ask, we aren’t getting married right away. Let’s see where it goes. And neither are we going to sign films just to be together. She has her career to focus on. I have mine. Coincidentally, we started our careers on the same Friday. We’ve our priorities in place. Beyond all the grace and dignity she projects, she’s also very simple and shy. She has simple needs. She’s caring. And she respects her family. I really like that. Also she’s an independent career woman at 22. She’s achieved so much in so little time. I’m extremely proud of her achievements. And I’m so happy to be part of her life. We became close while we were shooting in Australia for a month for Bachna Ae Haseeno. That’s when we really got to know each other. Then we shot a Pepsi ad together when we returned to Bombay. Her parents are extremely nice and caring people. I tell my mother everything. So there was no way I could be in a serious relationship without my parents knowing.

With Deepika, it was a different story. She was initially welcomed by the family but then she really took the phrase “Make yourself at home” seriously whenever she stayed over at Ranbir’s house which was his parents’ house. Rumour has it, she started getting comfortable a bit too much, changing things around the house and even ordering the house help around. Those were what gossips were saying then. Neetu as the lady of the house didn’t really like that but honesty everyone with eyes could have seen it was RK that got bored and things seemed to have changed drastically as soon as he started working with the IT girl at that time, Katrina Kaif!

His relationship with Katrina was when everything started changing for them both.

Kat was always the secretive type so RK became like that as well. At first, no one really believed he could have been involved Katrina who was Salman’s girlfriend at that time. Salman was close to Rishi Kapoor’s family and is the favorite actor of Ranbir’s sister. He even came to perform for her sangeet on her favorite songs when she got married. So the Kapoors are quite fond of him. Just imagine what the senior Kapoors’ reaction must have been when they found out Ranbir was with Katrina? To refute any rumoors about them, Kat used to refer to Ranbir as “a child”. Must have been something, huh! It’s why senior Kapoor chose to give that ‘ABC’ statement. Afterwards came that blind item where it mentioned without naming names, of course, that senior Kapoor came home one day and saw Katrina sitting there waiting for his son. He got super mad at her, yelled and told her to get out.

Soon after, Ranbir moved out of the house and moved in with Katrina in an apartment. He tried to claim his parents’ house was under renovation but his dad gave an interview saying Neetu and he were sad RK chose to move out. It was only after some time that the senior Kapoors decided to renovate the house and make it bigger to accommodate Ranbir and his family when he gets married.

Less than a year after living in with Kat, rumors started going around that things were rocky between them. Kat was spotted at the church praying real hard in tears so someone put 2 n 2 together and then came her big explosive GQ interview. But the strangest thing then was how Ranbir chose to end that relationship: he ran away while she was not in town!

Here’s the part where SKJ talked about it:

Overnight, as it were , Ranbir changed his mind and fled –yes literally fled—from the relationship. The sudden end of the relationship without a proper closure, shattered Katrina. It took her years for her heart to heal . Happily she is now in a happy place.

Now it sounds funny but not so much then! Why did he feel the need to run away? Did anyone asked if he was being held hostage or against his will in that relationship? Katrina even got her mother to call Neetu to have her tell Ranbir to give their relationship a second chance. No doubt, Kat put all her eggs in that basket so she was bound to get hurt when it ended.

But little did she know the next Ranbir Kapoor Girlfriend candidate was waiting around the corner. The same girl who told Kat to her face that she wanted to marry Ranbir and Kat laughed it off, as did everyone else that time. Who would have thought?!

Alia came at a time when things were changing in the Kapoors’ household. The family approved of her and she was by their side when Rishi was diagnosed with cancer. She must have certainly made an impact since the senior Kapoors approved of her and hoped they would get married soon. Ranbir’s parents probably got tired by that time with all of RK’s linkups and Alia came in at the right moment so there was no issue. Rishi and Alia worked together before and she was working with Ranbir next. On top of that, she was a then rising star who adored RK like crazy and could see no wrong in him, so everything fell into place!

Here’s what happened next, according to SKJ:

This was the time when Ranbir made up his mind to marry Alia. Rishi and Neetu were all for the alliance. Ranbir would have married Alia two years ago,if his father hadn’t passed away. The tragedy affected Ranbir more than he could ever imagine. I remember when his Naani, Neetu Singh’s mother, who doted on him and who stayed in a room at the RK residence right opposite Ranbir’s room,died. The Naani was in and out of Ranbir’s room all the time. And yet when she was gone Ranbir confessed to me, “I felt nothing.” With his Dad , it was different. His death broke something inside Ranbir. He learnt to love. He was ready for marriage.

Things could have ended up differently for the Ranbir-Alia relationship but as fate would have it, Ranbir went through such a personal heavy loss and everything changed! And as all of the late Rishi Kapoor’s friends are now saying, it was his wish to see Ranbir get married to Alia! Finally, it happened!

What a journey for Ranbir! It’s just like one of his coming-of-age stories!

Here’s a fun trip down memory lane…at the Filmfare Awards where the modern-version of ‘Silsila’ happened!