And so, the most eligible bachelor in Kerala is finally ‘officially’ hitched, putting to end all the speculation and suspense. Well, Prithviraj’s ‘Urumi’ maybe breaking box office records, but the actor’s popularity has certainly taken a beating, if the reactions of the womenfolk in the city to his hush hush wedding are anything to go by. They ranged from a disinterested ‘Really? Who is the girl?’ to an ardent ‘I feel betrayed!’ But what everyone, fan or foe, wanted to know was just this- Why the secret?
Saranya, Vidhu, Sreeja and Nileena, all masscom students, say that they don’t have any problem with their favourite actor getting married, but they have completely lost trust in his words. “He always pretended to be this righteous person who is all ethical and moral. But what has he done now? Tomorrow he might get divorced and marry another girl, and we will never get to know about it,” says Saranya. Vidhu seconds her opinion. “Getting married is of course his personal thing but why lie? Last week he said specifically in a magazine that he has no idea what everyone is talking about. And we all heard his mother saying the wedding will be on May 1.” Sreeja also feels that she has lost faith in the actor. “We used to think that he was the only one among the actors who means what he says, but not any more.”
So will they stop watching Prithiviraj’s films from now? “That’s an entirely different matter. We will continue to watch good movies, whether he is in it or not. But he is definitely going to lose some of his female fans.” And there were also many who said that the news meant nothing to them because ‘they never liked him anyway.’ “He is so full of hot air,” says Anjana, a medical student.
However, not everyone is as balanced. Preethi, a second year engineering college student in the city, burst into tears on watching the news on TV, ‘more out of shock than anything else’ according to her friends. Preethi refused to comment on the issue, saying she had ‘nothing to say now that it was all over.’
And wait, the young and single are not the only ones shocked by the news. Thresya, a maid at a ladies’ hostel in the city, says. “I’m sure all you girls had your eye on him and secretly wished he would marry you. I’m a bit too old for him, otherwise I would have my eye on him too,” says the feisty lady, well into her forties. “The good thing is all of you can go to sleep peacefully now. You don’t need to waste your time on him anymore,” she laughs. But Annamma, another maid, disagrees. “He is a good boy. I’m sure he never gave false promises to any girl. But why the suspense? Why couldn’t he have said that he had a girl in mind though it is not the girl in question?”
And what do they think of THE girl in question, right now the first lady of Malayalam cinema? “Of course we don’t like her,” echo the die-hard fans. “Not at all a good match. We thought he would marry Samvrutha Sunil.” And the final verdict? “No use thinking about what is over. There will be more Prithvirajs coming up.” and “Being a public figure, they should have been more open with the media.”