New Delhi: Amrita Rao and RJ Anmol decided to open out to their fans through their book 'Couple Of Things' after years of keeping their private life closely guarded. They recently shared a detailed look into their love journey through their similarly named YouTube series.
Many people were intrigued when Amrita and Anmol revealed that they had a secret wedding in 2014, two years before they made it public. The latter made the choice to pop the question to his soul mate live on air. The couple has now taken on the role of authors for a book that attempts to give readers a deeper understanding of their respective experiences and love story. Before Valentine's Day, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, a superstar couple, launched the book.
Amrita and Anmol spoke exclusively to ABP News about how they first met, dating as a celebrity couple, and their upcoming project.
For a couple who has been secretive about their lives, the YouTube channel was itself a surprise. What made you decide to pen a book?
Amrita: Honestly, the book was Anmol’s idea. I had not thought of it. But once we started executing it, I realized that we had such a unique story that a book was compulsory. It's great to reach every audience through every medium. Because this is a true story and it's a very close and personal story that we have shared so many close and personal details that we never opened the doors to I guess now, it needed that personal medium, which couldn't be better than a book?
How did it feel to revisit your love story as you were writing the book?
Amrita: So initially, we had a ghostwriter who used to take down the information and write it. But then when I started reading one or two chapters, I was like this is not me. So I realized very soon that I will have to get down to writing the book myself. And that was the best thing I did. So for Anmol, he doesn't like sitting at the computer and typing. He used to send sound recordings to the writer. But I deep-dived into it. I've written all my chapters and worked on most chapters to make the book our own.
Anmol: I don't like to type. I had the whole chapter in my mind and the planning of the book. What I wanted to write I basically recorded on a voice note. And I had an assistant given by the publisher who would just listen to me verbatim and write everything.
Was there a disagreement during the process because you two tend to approach things in such different ways?
Amrita: Luckily, there was no conflicting point and I give the credit to Anmol because he trusted me and my writing skills and you know the ability. He just was very confident that if I dive into it, I will make a better version of it. Even if most of my parts, all the stories, she was editing. I really didn't mind because I knew that this is better for the book. Also, she comes from a family of writers.
How did you reach the decision that Deepika and Ranveer were the best choice to reveal the cover?
Amrita: It's a book about romance. We wanted a couple to unveil the cover and not just one person. So that was the first thought. And when we gave thought, we couldn't get any other name apart from Ranveer and Deepika, because we were like when it comes to couple goals, they are right on top.
Anmol: Besides being somebody who is loved by people, they are a couple who is totally in love. That was really important that should come across.
Amrita: One thing is that people love you, but you don't know what the true chemistry between them is and what's going on inside their lives. But here for sure, they are a couple in love.
You two maintained a good level of secrecy about your relationship even after being a celebrity couple, but why did you make that choice?
Amrita: For 10 years, our love story was so tight-lipped that it was only left to people's imagination. But I think the pandemic changed it for us because that's the first time we did an Insta live together in one frame. And from there this idea, the germ of this idea got into me of recreating our love story, visually, and taking people to those very locations and talking about these experiences that we actually went through. So that's a couple of things came into existence through our YouTube channel. And then when Anmol thought about the book, I was like, okay, and now I feel like it was it couldn't have been a better decision.
Do you still recall your initial reactions to one another? What sparked your romantic chemistry?
Anmol: I had obviously seen Amrita in films before I met her in person. So, the first impression was that what happens is generally when you meet somebody who's a Bollywood star, the first comparison you make of that person is with that person itself. When I saw her in person, and in fact, somebody complimented the same her a few days back I thought, oh my god, she looks even more beautiful than what she looked on screen and she looked so beautiful. I had a crush on her when I saw Vivah. And I was like, my god, she looks even more beautiful. And then the second thing that came across during our conversations was that she was a very grounded person. She was very relatable.
Amrita: My only memory is that I asked for his number, not for anything else. I heard him on the radio. He's a good contact for my PR to follow up with. That was the only thought. And I remember as I was walking out of the room. I just remember that he had a very blank stare. He was looking at me very blankly, and I felt like okay, he was thinking something about me.
Anmol: Shayad main soch raha tha, na jaane kahan se aayi hai, na jaane kahan ko jayegi. Deewana kise banayegi ye ladki.
How did you decide to pop the question to Amrita live on air?
Anmol: Going down on one knee the whole world is doing it and in my life, I haven't done anything as the world has done. Trust me, I'm not exaggerating. Even if it is for the sake of being different. I've always decided professionally and personally ki aisa kuch karenge jo kisi ne nahi kiya. But this was not planned. This happened on the spot and to know how it happened you have to read the book.
In a time when Bollywood weddings weren't a social media phenomenon, you kept your marriage a secret. How did you get to that choice?
Amrita: Being the actress of Vivah I could have had the noisiest wedding in the country. But I think that really proves how private we are as people and how much we value that privacy. For us, it was a very strong and conscious decision. Individually, we will want to keep our relationship strictly private for a long time. We both are very self-made people and for us to be recognized for our self-made merits was more important. I think just a few months ago, also, a lot of people still don't know about us. They didn't know that we were even married. And that was good. It works for us.
If you were to return to the big screen, what kind of role would you pick?
Amrita: So honestly, I've been very attracted to anything that is retro. Anything that’s period, that costume drama, which involves going back in a time and age that we have not seen has always intrigued me. And I'm a huge fan of retro songs. I think if there is a role that has something to do with going back to the past, I would love it.
What will be the upcoming joint ventures now that a YouTube channel and book are crossed off the list?
Amrita: Well, I think once people read our book, they will want a movie on this or maybe an OTT series. I am super convinced about it. This is a true love story. And when I was writing it down, I felt there was so much in between the lines that actually needed visualization that needed that space that time that you know, perhaps even a book is not enough. So I'm very convinced that that would perhaps be the next possession.
Anmol: The next project would be to take this to an OTT platform.
Amrita: The story definitely has potential. I can see it.