How is Shahid handling the break-up?--RK Mukherjee's blog.

That's Mr Ram Kamal Mukherjee. That's the guy who writes these.

Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007
Even as I watched Jab We Met, it was becoming difficult for me to believe that Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor were no more a couple. People might just see it as another 'split' story in the tinsel town, but the fact remains that one realizes the pain only when one goes through the phase himself. I remember interacting with Sharmila Tagore once, when she said, "The hottest love has the coldest end." Well, she was quoting Socrates, and she was right.

My association with Kareena began five years ago, when I had joined Stardust magazine. The first time I met Kareena was at Karishma's wedding. She came across as an extremely fun loving person with no starry tantrums. Since the time I have known her, she has been dating Shahid. They have been open about their relationship and that was the most interesting aspect in the couple’s life. I have seen Kareena waiting for Shahid to finish his shot and then they would have lunch together. They were planning to settle in life and she even went ahead and bought an apartment at the same building where Shahid is staying at the moment.

"Why do you think that all relationship has to end in a legal recognition?" one top ranking actress had asked me once. We expect people to do what we want them to do. We thought Kareena would walk the aisle with Shahid. They looked compatible and I remember Kareena recommending Shahid's name to producers and also agreeing to do films with him at nominal remuneration. "Kareena had faith in Shahid and she knew that he had the potential of becoming a star one day. In fact, she even took panga with most of the heroes in the industry because she would blatantly say in all her interviews that Shahid is the best actor in this industry. Most of the actors refused to work with Kareena because she was promoting Shahid," says a close friend of Bebo.

As for me, I don't blame Bebo. You just can’t help falling in love no matter how much you avoid. Her association with Shahid had made Kareena a reserved human being. Earlier, she was an extremely unpredictable person and would always end up fighting with someone or the other. With Shahid around, Kareena became much sober. I have noticed 'sea change' in Kareena as a person.

I am not just talking about her attitude towards her co-actors. Kareena turned vegetarian only because of Shahid and then she became more focused on her career. She did off-beat films like Chameli, Dev and Omkara. She lost oodles of weight post Don because Shahid insisted her on getting into shape. Shahid is an extremely disciplined person, and Kareena followed his footsteps. She stopped late night parties.

In fact, when I met Kareena during my Mumbai Mirror tenure, she had changed completely. "I like the new Kareena and I guess it's Shahid who gifted me this Kareena, I shall be always grateful to him for showing the real me in myself," she had said. I realized that she was talking sense.

I was happy for both of them. Shahid used to maintain a distance from me and was just cordial at the cost of being 'cold' most of the time, but Kareena would always be chirpy and would greet with a bright smile.

Now that they have finally drifted away and Kareena has found her new love in Saif Ali Khan, I wish her all the best. They both have handled the situation really well and I think credit goes to Shahid as well. A close friend says, "Kareena was smitten by Saif while she was shooting for Omakara. And when Rosa (Saif's ex-girlfriend) realized it, she decided to part ways. It was really difficult for Shahid to believe that she dumped him, and moved ahead in life. And we know for a fact that Shahid is not dating Vidya Balan and it was just a rumor."

I feel that moving on is simple; it's what you leave behind that makes your life difficult. Trying to forget someone you love can be very difficult. I can understand what Shahid must be going through at the moment, especially when their films have finally done well at the box-office. Few years ago, when another actor had split with his girlfriend he had put his feelings wonderfully. I borrow his phrase, "I miss you a little, I guess you could say, a little too much, a little too often, and a little more each day. I'm going to smile and make you think I'm happy, I'm going to laugh, so you don't see me cry, I'm going to let you go in style, and even if it kills me- I'm going to smile."

And when I asked the actress about the same hero, she had smiled and said, "I don't miss him, and I miss the person I thought he actually was!"