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WE JUST WANT TO ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP

Love at first sight? Just the sound of it seems utterly absurd and with our fast-paced and hurried lifestyles, meeting that right someone and knowing instantly that he or she is 'the one' is the stuff only starry dreams are made up of. But then, this is exactly what happened when this youthful tinsel town couple met.

Hard to believe, but it definitely was love at first sight and an instant attraction and desire to know one another as they tell me. I am talking about Sara Khan, whom we all know as the doe-eyed Sadhana of Sapna Babul Ka' Bidaai and Ek Thi Rajkumari's Ali Merchant, who happen to be television's cutest couple right now.

One of the many things that they have in common is their tendency to be in the news. For as long as one can remember, Sara has been making headlines for her infamous tantrum fits on the sets. As for Ali, he was recently accused by friend-turned-foe actress Madhura Naik, of threatening calls, which resulted in an ugly spat between the two, in full public view.

While things seem to have calmed down now, the damage is irreparable. Not on talking terms, Ali speaks of Madhura and the reactions he got from people after the story (Showtime, July 08), 'She doesn't have the bloody guts (to approach him).

Many people called up and told me she is doing all this as she has no kaam dhanda. Now I am not concerned about her. I just laugh over it like it is some comedy show. Madhura is a dumb girl and I am too intelligent to tackle such kind of people. If I talk to her sweetly for two days, she will come back on track, but I don't want to do that as I am busy with my new show.'

While Ali is relatively unflustered about the whole episode, Sara is livid with Madhura for her detrimental comments about her and especially boyfriend Ali. She breaks her stoic silence and lashes out. 'She did all this for publicity. Ali and I are doing lead roles in big serials, while she has done nothing worthwhile at all. I have class and dignity.

But because of her, my name is getting tainted. You can ask Jay (Bhanushali), Jatin (Shah) and Krystle (D'Souza) what kind of a girl she is and they will tell you the truth. I don't want to really talk about girls like her who go out with many guys. As for her claims, she was the one behind Ali. He is a guy after all, but still he told Madhura that he could not have an affair with her as he loved me. I was shocked when I read her accusations. How can a girl be so cheap just for publicity?

Woh apni izzat daav pe laga rahi hain. Which girl with class and self respect would do that? She even mentioned that I don't get along with anyone on my sets. I have been working in 'Bidaai for a year, while she was just there for a few days. But even then she created a lot of misunderstandings between my co-stars. She was a chughalkor and used to do chugli to everyone.'

What about Madhura's argument that Sara had called her up and abused her after the story came out in the media? 'Why will I call her? In fact her boyfriend called me up.

She has a new boyfriend now. So when he called me and told me that Madhura is his girlfriend and that I should be careful, I exclaimed and said 'Oh, so you are Madhura's boyfriend. Which one? Number one, two, three'?' You see, she has always had so many boyfriends! I also happen to know many of her secrets. She has gone with her different boyfriends to different places like Bangkok, Dubai and has done many things there,' she reveals bitterly.

Moving away from that distasteful topic to a much more pleasant one, I ask them about their experience of the 'love at first glance' syndrome. It's clearly Ali who dominates in the relationship, while in his company, Sara is just like her on-screen character ' coy, saccharine-coated and docile.

'My mother owns two beauty parlours. Sara stays about 10 minutes away from my house and so she used to visit them very often. At that point of time, I was doing two shows, so I never did get the time to meet my mom, so I used to go to meet her at the parlour itself. That's when I first saw Sara. I didn't know she was working in ' Bidaai. This kept happening three-four times.'

It's very rare that two people working in the same profession happen to meet one another outside the parameters of their workplace. 'I found Sara very sweet and cute. Whenever she used to take an appointment from my mom, I used to cross check with my mother and ask her what time Sara would be coming. Considering that, I would try to visit the parlour for an hour or two. I used to purposely go there,' he concludes, somewhat sheepishly.

Referring to Sara, he adds, 'Yeh mujhe bilkul bhi bhaav nahi deti thi.' To this playful accusation, Sara speaks for the first time and retaliates. 'I used to give him bhaav.' Ali continues, 'After that we kept bumping into one another. We met a couple of time at a couple of parties. But mainly we got very close during the Sansui awards.'

It's quite an effort to get Sara talking especially when Ali is around and so ignoring him, I ask her when she fell for Ali. 'In the parlour only! I used to keep looking around, to get any glimpse of him. I came to know later that his mother owned the place. Phir dheere dheere baat hui. But it was during the awards that we came closer. And then' no one proposed. It just happened,' she discloses demurely.

Ironically they never believed in instantaneous love until, the time they met one another. 'Strangely, we never believed in that. But love at first sight ho hi gaya!' Sara says, while Ali echoes the same, 'It was very surprising as we both used to discuss that such things existed only in fairy tales. But the instant I saw her for the first time, dil mein ghanti baji. Since then, it's been so beautiful.' They were properly introduced through Kayamath's Jay Bhanushali, who happens to be good friends with the two, and I learn a little piece of trivia.

'Jay and I are the best of buddies. Sara is not insecure about the fact that I would probably look at some other girl. She is more insecure about Jay. Whenever we go clubbing, since Jay doesn't have a partner, he pulls me and we do a little close and dirty dancing and Sara gets grossed out and pissed off and then she just pulls me away,' he laughs naughtily.

Sara too gets hyper at the mention of Jay and explains, 'I tell Jay that I will slap him and kill him. Jay doesn't even let me stand next to Ali!' To lessen Sara's insecurity, the couple has decided to find Jay a girlfriend. 'Someone like Bobby Darling,' jokes Ali.

Their relationship sounds endearing and almost too perfect. But doesn't love fly out of the window, when work pressures and professional commitments come in the way, I inquire. Both of them unanimously voice the same view.

'It is much easier to sustain a relationship when you are working in the same industry. When I am doing a day and night shift, she can relate to it. Any other girl would wonder what work I am doing after 12 in the night. We are aware of the work pressures. Also, we can plan our futures accordingly.'

Not one to shy away from his feelings for his girl, Ali expresses, 'I have to tell you that Sara makes the most amazing food. I am from Mumbai and I have met the best and the worst of women. But Sara is better than the best. She has got the most remarkable values and ethics. I have seen many people who have come down to the big city from small towns and once the Mumbai air reaches their head, they go bizarre.

But she knows how to control herself and be in her limits. She is an extremelydisciplined girl, which I really respect. That inclined me more towards her. She is one girl whom you can not just love but also worship. I worship every bit of her. I am using such deep words but I am being really honest,' he looks dotingly at Sara who gushes at his touching compliments.

'I love Ali but he is very lazy. And he tickles me a lot. He sits on both my legs and then I can't move at all when he tickles. But he is extremely loving and caring. And the best part about him is that he is very understanding. Ali is so sweet and I am a lucky girl to get him in my life,' she says.

Before Ali, Sara had been linked with co-star Angad Hasija but she rubbishes it off as a silly rumour. 'Angad is our very good friend. He was the first one to know about Ali and me. We were present on his birthday too. Besides, he already has a girlfriend. It's nothing like that.' Talking about rumours, Sara and Ali's relationship first came to light when we heard about their engagement.

So are they really engaged formally? Ali clears the air, 'I don't know where it came from. I want to make it very clear that we both are still too young. I am 23 and Sara is 19. How can we think of getting engaged at such an early age? We have a long way to go. We would definitely love to, but not now. Right now we just want to enjoy the beauty of our relationship.'

It would definitely be a treat to watch this talented and lost-in-love couple together in a show. 'We were offered Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar. But our dates didn't match. We would love to do something together. I think we will have kick-ass chemistry,' says Ali meaningfully.

His 'Casanova' image is something that could be a cause of worry for the pretty Sara and so I ask him if her presence has brought any change in him. He retorts back at the allegation, 'I don't know how I got this Casanova image. I was a relationship-phobic person.

When my friends used to discuss about getting into a relationship, I used to be like, 'Who will get into a commitment, tolerate the stress and the possessiveness?' I used to respect individuality a lot. But Sara has changed that image quite a lot. My life has taken a 360 degree spin. I have started believing that a relationship is something really beautiful and it's God's gift. There have been loads of people, senior actors, and Sara's well-wishers warning her to be away from me, telling her things like I'm not a nice guy.

But Sara has always defended me, which is something I really respect.' As for Sara, she doesn't believe that she has in any way changed Ali or even if she has like her beau claims, she is blissfully unaware as she naively replies, 'Earlier he was nice. He is still nice. But the one thing I want to change about him is his laziness!'

After a few more jokes, taunts and silly complaints, Sara's tone suddenly turns serious, and she confesses, 'I love him a lot. I can't stay without him.' And Ali takes it further, 'Once you start loving someone, you want to spend the maximum time with that person. Many people say that distance makes the heart grow fonder. But I don't believe that. When it comes to Sara, the more I see her, the more I love her. The more I touch her, the more I want to touch her, the more I talk with her, the more I want to talk with her. Even the sky is not the limit.'

Hands entwined, eyes fixed on one other, and smiles on their glowing faces, Ali and Sara are so in love that you can almost feel it in the air surrounding them. As they start whispering sweet nothings to one another, I take my cue to leave this pair of love birds alone in their paradise. Because I know, if they start talking about one another again, this would be one interview that would never end'

**BY PURVAJA SAWANT