7-years

Rajkumar Gupta, who has helmed Raid (2018) and No One Killed Jessica (NOKJ) (2011), finally decided to marry his discovery, Myra Karn, in Ranchi yesterday. The romance, however, seems to be seven years old. There were hush-hush rumours about them when he launched the North Indian girl, with high cheekbones and mirthful laughter, as Jessica in the Rani Mukerji-Vidya Balan real-life drama, NOKJ. Soon after the film’s success, Raj tried to make another movie for her called Rapchik Romance (2012). However, he couldn’t pull it off and it remained a pipe dream for the last six years. During this time, Myra travelled the world while Raj, who was partly-ostracised after his Emraan Hashmi-Vidya Balan-starrer Ghanchakkar (2013) got dismal reviews, went into hibernation. But he always had potential enough to make a comeback and it was Ajay Devgn who brought him out of cold storage with Raid. The film was a resounding hit and the bespectacled filmmaker couldn’t get enough of the accolades that followed. A studio giant grabbed him for a terror thriller, starring Arjun Kapoor and soon a couple of stray announcements followed. However, what people do not know is that all of Raj’s creative pursuits have a major contribution from Myra, who has been busy researching stories and angles for her filmmaker-husband. Of course, as is the classic case in Bollywood, Raj, who seems shy, never committed to the girl. So, they were two separate entities all these years. She lived in Khar while he stayed in Santacruz and they both brainstormed with each other at his rented office in Juhu, pouring over innumerable scripts. Sometimes, they invited common acquaintances (like me) for lunch. And they felt free to discuss their film scripts in off-the-record-mode with Myra sounding more passionate than Raj on many an occasion. And though she looked extraordinarily comfortable in the surroundings, neither of them openly addressed their personal feelings for each other. “We are good friends,” is all that they said till yesterday. But for all these years, you could see that they were trying hard to hide an equation. When Raj thanked her specially for Raid in the credits and I asked him the reason for the same, he replied, “She helped me a lot to meet IT officers and gave me creative inputs on the script.” Raj also specified, “Myra didn’t want it at all, but I thought it would be wrong since I am thanking everyone else who helped.” So, there you go. Now Raj has decided to give his ladylove a lifelong commitment. Here’s wishing this couple a happy married life!

7-years

Raid director Rajkumar Gupta and No One Killed Jessica fame Myra Karn get married after 7 years of romance

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