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WE HAVEN'T EXCHANGED RINGS YET"


Right from the first time I spoke to Sara Khan till today (and trust me we have had a lot of conversations), I have seen an enormous change in the actress, not just physically but also in the way she conducts herself. Initially, Sara was this shy girl, typical from the small town of Bhopal, who would require a little prodding and prompting to answer questions. Now when I speak to her, I can assure you that she has bloomed, and the difference is so noticeable.

You can call her television's Kareena Kapoor, with her recently achieved size-zero frame and also the fact that their respective careers are rapidly flourishing. The Bidaai star is looking spectacular and though she gives me valuable tips on how to lose weight, it is her rumoured engagement (some even say marriage!) to boyfriend Ali Merchant that she eventually spills the beans on…

For sometime now, Sara has been looking waif-thin. When asked about this, she answers seriously, "I started dieting because I had put on a lot of weight, as I used to eat too many bad and fattening things. Then I started realising that this is not good for my future, as I would not look nice. It took me a lot of effort to lose weight. I used to be 55 kgs and now I am only 38 kgs!" she reveals.

At my shocked and befuddled expressions, she hastily goes on to explain, "See, it depends on the human body and on your structure. I regularly go for check-ups and my doctor has said that I am fine and active. I shoot day and night continuously and everyone asks me how I manage it. I tell them, it's because of a healthy diet beta." She then adds, "I will maintain this because if I lose any more weight, I will disappear."

When I ask her if she is emulating Kareena Kapoor by this excessive weight loss, she squeals in protest, "No please. Don't say that. It's not at all like that. Kareena reduced her weight much later. I wanted to reduce my weight right from the beginning. This article is coming very late, but I had started dieting a long time ago. I wanted to lose it not because of Kareena's size zero. In fact, I used to love the way she looked before, slightly chubby; not the way she looks right now."

We talk about other things going on in her busy life, like her newly opened acting studio Reel In Real Out (RIRO) and then touch down about the topic of her engagement. For a long time now, it has been reported that Sara and Ali had a hush-hush engagement once their relationship came out in the open. So why are they hiding this fact?

Sara says, "I will tell you everything. Usually, people never disclose their relationship. In fact, everyone everywhere hides it. When Ali and I met, we got into a serious relationship, so we started telling people that we are going out. What is wrong in that? Whenever people mentioned that they spotted us somewhere, we would tell them we are a couple. This whole thing got blown out of proportion, as everyone was talking about Sara-Ali all the time, so obviously the media started speculating that we are engaged. My family knows that Ali is my boyfriend and his parents know that I am his girlfriend," she pauses, "If Ali and I want to get engaged or married, we will do it lavishly. We have enough money to throw a nice party and enjoy. Also, Ali is the only son. Even his parents have a lot of dreams regarding his marriage. We are not going to hide and do such things. Whenever it will happen, we will invite everyone."

But there is no smoke without fire, I insist. Surely, there must be a reason as to why only they were targeted. "You know Karan Singh Grover and Shraddha Nigam got married in Goa, when the television strike was going on. That time, we all were also there on a vacation with our friends, as there was nothing to do. People thought if we are there, we must have also got engaged," she tries to reason.

Okay, so now that it's clear, I ask her if Ali has proposed to her yet. She blushes and confirms, "Yes, he did propose to me but we are not formally engaged and we haven't exchanged rings. I mean, my parents said they are okay with our relationship, so Ali and I personally feel that we can get engaged. But we can't call ourselves already engaged. If someday, his mother tells him to get married to another girl, I can't say anything because officially, we aren't engaged. If my parents tell me the same, he won't be able to restrict me."

This attractive couple is looking forward to that big day, whenever it comes. "Right now, I am 19. There is still time for me to think about something as big as this. Even Ali is only 24. Why will we both marry so young? Even my family doesn't want me to get married yet. I started with Bidaai when I was 16, so I didn't even get time to study. I can't take any step so soon. Mummy aur Daddy ka bahut bada haath hain isme. It depends on them."

And yes, they aren't going to get secretly engaged or married ever. Sara reasons, "We are from very dignified and educated Muslim families. If I do something like this, my parents will throw me out of the house. Same with Ali, as he is the only guy in the family. They will do whatever he says. If we get secretly engaged and come back, we will not be forgiven."

They are very happy with their relationship and so are both the set of parents, in spite of all the negative stories one has heard about Ali and his Casanova image. "My parents haven't read these stories about Ali, so no problem there." she giggles. "But Ali is very sweet and my lover boy!"

For all those interested in knowing, there are still two more years for an official engagement and another two for any marriage. As Sara says, "It's better to take a lot of experience before marriage. So I am not going to do any such stupid stuff!"

*Courtesy: Showtime