The ex factor in Bollywood

So far, Bollywood has had films where real couples have taken their love to reel life too and played each other’s love interests on screen. This year too, real life couple actors Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan will team up in Agent Vinod and Riteish Deshmukh will be seen pairing up with soon-to-be-wife Genelia D’Souza in Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya. But these films apart, this time around, many more films will in fact be seeing exes being paired up with each other, or if not starring opposite, then at least starring in the same film.

Sample this: Ex-lovers and actors Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone will soon be seen in Ayan Mukherjee’s next, while rumoured ex couple Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra are romancing each other in Kunal Kohli’s upcoming flick. Though Kareena’s said to be paired with Akshay Kumar, the sequel of Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai is also said to have Shahid.

Similarly, former lovers John Abraham and Bipasha Basu are set to star in Race 2, albeit not opposite each other. In fact, even actors who’ve had a fall-out in the past seem to be working together this year after having buried their past hatchets. Actors Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor are set to star together, as are Ajay Devgn and Kangana Ranaut, who will be seen in Tezz.

And curiosity is running high in the industry, as it awaits to see if exes manage to rake up that much chemistry on screen, despite their personal differences. “Yes, the interest level in these pairs is definitely high,” points out an industry insider. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh in fact feels that the buzz is better than it would’ve been had they been dating each other for real too. “It’s always interesting to see unlikely pairs create that magic on screen,” says Taran. But while industry buzz suggests that it’s all to do with this generation being more professional in their approach as opposed to the older lot, the actors themselves however offer a different view. “I can’t say about others, but as far as Ranbir and I are concerned, we both never ceased to be friends, so there was no awkwardness in saying a yes to working with him,” says Deepika.

Priyanka adds, “As actors, it’s simply our job to romance to have that chemistry with your co-star and that’s what we do. Whether dating or not, doesn’t make a difference.”

Filmmakers too feel that today all that matters is what the actors whip up on the screen. “There’s no denying that couples evoke as much interest even more sometimes, when they have broken off.

But then these actors also realise that there are only so many co-actors to work with and can’t afford to hold a grudge and miss out on plum projects because of that,” informs an insider.  “But it would be interesting to see how they manage that chemistry for sure,” he adds.