Nation has already celebrated Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli's wedding
Virushka is a power-packed brand.
Will they, won’t they? Are Anushka Sharma, the silver screen beauty, and Virat Kholi, the golden boy of cricket, getting married soon?
The actor’s spokesperson says no, the cricketer has, so far, not commented. That, however, has not stopped the media from going in a tizzy about the supposed wedding, with names of even the priest and the trousseau designer being speculated upon.
At a time the high-voltage Gujarat election is starting Saturday, and a brutal murder in Rajasthan and the drama of Mani Shankar Aiyar’s sacking are playing out, such is the popularity of the young couple that news outlets have been awash with stories about them.
Here’s what we know so far:
The buzz
Rumours of the “Virushka” wedding started doing the rounds from December 6. The clues to the supposed marriage have been put together painstakingly with ACP Pradyuman-like astuteness.
Clue number one was Kohli opting out of the ODI and T-20 matches against the touring Sri Lanka side, ostensibly to rest.
Then Rajkumar Sharma, who coached Kohli as a child and is presently the coach of Delhi’s Under-23 side, applied for leave during the CK Nayudu trophy. He claimed he needed the holiday for a “nephew’s wedding”.
On Thursday night, Anushka — along with father Ajay Kumar, mother Ashima and elder brother Karnesh — left from the Mumbai airport for Switzerland, while Kohli caught a flight from New Delhi. Anushka’s family was apparently carting a lot of luggage.
According to some reports, Anushka’s father called up some close friends and invited them to the wedding. No cricketer so far seems to have been invited.
The dates
While various dates are doing the rounds as “the” date, December 12 is being reported as the most likely. According to reports, Anushka considers December 12 lucky for her, as her first movie, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, was released on this date in 2008. The movie went on to become a great hit, sending Anushka off to a flying start in her Bollywood career.
The couple will supposedly throw a reception for their friends on December 21 in Mumbai.
They are expected to get their marriage registered in Bandra, Mumbai, on January 12, for which Anushka has supposedly applied.
The priest and the designer
Anushka is a follower of Maharaj Anant Baba, who is also the family priest for the Sharmas. What lent a lot of weight to the marriage rumours is that the Baba, too, left for Europe along with Anushka’s family.
Maharaj Anant Baba is the guru at Anant Dham in Haridwar. According to an India Today report, Anushka has praised Anant Baba several times in the past and says that she reaches out to her spiritual guru whenever she needs mental peace.
Anushka’s mother is from Garhwal, and the actor would visit Uttarakhand frequently as a child. While she earlier made trips to the Baba’s ashram in Haridwar, her visits have been kept a secret since she became famous. However, in December 2016, she came to meet the Baba along with Virat.
Last week, designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee was spotted leaving Anushka’s house, sparking off buzz that he might design her wedding trousseau.
Virushka, a power-packed brand
As the cricketer most often compared to Sachin Tendulkar and the poster boy of young, aggressive, irreverent India, Kohli’s popularity far transcends the field. While he is a phenomenal batsman, he has often been in news for his attitude, too, and while some have called him arrogant and brash, that has only added to his legend.
Anushka, apart from being a successful actor, has founded a production company, Clean Slate Films, in 2014. While its first movie, NH10, was critically acclaimed and became a sleeper hit, the second venture, Phillauri, was a modest success.
Kohli is in category A of the BCCI, which means he earns the highest for every international match he plays. He is also one of the highest paid players in the IPL. Kohli was in the seventh position on Forbes list of sportspersons with the highest brand value this year, above even footballer Lionel Messi, who was at the ninth position.
According to a report, while Anushka’s net worth is Rs 220 crore, Kohli's stands at Rs 390 crore.
Offer from Adeilade
Amid all the hectic rumours doing the rounds, the management of the Adelaide Oval stadium in Australia chipped in, offering to host the wedding. Hindustan Times quoted Andrew Daniels, CEO of the iconic venue, as saying: “We would be thrilled to host Virat and Anushka’s wedding at Adelaide Oval. How fantastic would it be for Virat to create more happy memories here, considering his outstanding playing history at the Oval.”
The tale began in 2013
Sparks apparently flew between Kohli and Anushka when they shot together for a shampoo commercial in 2013.
In November 2014, Kolhi famously blew a kiss towards the audience stands, where Anushka was seated, after hitting a century against Sri Lanka.
In 2015, people inexplicably took to trolling Anushka for Virat’s poor performance on field, to which he responded with a tweet that went on to become the “Golden Tweet of 2016", retweeted over 39,000 times.
Shame on people for trolling @AnushkaSharma non-stop. Have some compassion. She has always only given me positivity pic.twitter.com/OBIMA2EZKu
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) March 28, 2016
In 2016, the couple supposedly split, and unfollowed each other on social media. The reasons for the breakup were apparently Virat’s “possessiveness” and Anushka’s unwillingness to get married at the time.
However, in December of the same year, they were seen together at Yuvraj Singh’s wedding. A holiday they took together had sparked off another round of rumours about their wedding, which Kohli then refuted.
" we aren't getting engaged & if we were going to,we wouldn't hide it. Simple... (1/2)
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) December 30, 2016
This time, no such clarification has been forthcoming so far. So, will the couple tie the knot? Time will reveal the truth, if social media can wait for it.