People often ask me what prompted me to become a Marriage Proposal Planner when I founded Ever After Proposals. They often expect to hear some over-the-top story about how my boyfriend proposed to me and I was either completely underwhelmed by his lack of thought, or I was so enamoured by his attention to detail that I wanted other women to experience the same. Spoiler alert: I’m neither engaged nor was Ever After Proposals a product of my so-called love life.
To be honest, my inspiration came from the culmination of watching others’ love lives play out on the silver screen. When you have the likes of Raj, Rahul and Prem professing their love in the most swoon-worthy-gestures, it’s no wonder I grew up idolising that sort of romance off-screen as well.
In a culture where arranged marriages are still prevalent, or when a movie’s credits roll as soon as two lovers finally overcome some grandiose obstacle, seeing marriage proposals in a Bollywood movie is actually, not the norm. So I dug deep through the archives in search of some of the most interesting marriage proposals, but what I found surprised me. Turns out, Bollywood heroes aren’t the only ones getting down on a bent knee. That’s right — move over, Shah Rukh Khan — there’s a new (romantic) sheriff in town, and it’s not who you think…
1) Who needs a jumbotron when you can command the entire field — that too, during the mostly highly anticipated cricket match of the year: between India and Pakistan?
2) Limo – check. Private venue – check. Rose bouquet – check. Personal choir – check. Hottie in a suit – check. This proposal had all the makings of one for the books.
3) When you have your best friends and the great outdoors surrounding you, what more do you really need when you want to ask that magical question that will forever change the course of your life? Oh right, just a ring.
4) What started off as a charade to bag a role in Karan Johar’s movie as the lead actress, ended in a true love story, where Kamini chose to play Rahul’s wife instead.
5) You know this movie is purely fictional when a woman like Deepika Padukone is practically begging an unemployed former-escort who has no place to stay. But I suppose love makes all of us do foolish things.
6) Unlike real estate, proposals aren’t always about “location location location,” but it sure helps set the mood. Watching the fog lift over San Francisco at dawn provided a poignant analogy for Mandira’s love for Khan — she suddenly saw clearly how much she really loved him.
Now that you’ve seen Bollywood’ leading ladies and fellas ask that beloved question, who do you think does it better?
