The couple that moved on

Ankita Lokhande with husband Vicky Jain

It's good to see Ankita Lokhande smile with abandon. The last time this writer met the actress, she was readying for the release of Manikarnika in 2019. She was dating now-husband, entrepreneur Vicky Jain, whom she married last December. At the time, she seemed introspective and spoke of a new-found respect for spirituality and mindfulness, as she was making her Bollywood debut 10 years after Pavitra Rishta, her hit television show with top producer Ekta Kapoor. She had starred in it opposite then boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput.

Lokhande and Jain are winners of a just-concluded reality show, Smart Jodi, on which they competed with 10 couples to prove their chemistry as a real-life pair as they made their way through a variety of challenges. This time, she is at ease, almost giddy with happiness in moments. Jain, who pokes and compliments her in offhand ways, exudes a quiet confidence that comes with being in a relationship that lets you be, and grow together.

"Truly nothing has changed, except that we are together now. We have our own circles [of friends], and we also have a common group. We also have independent careers, but we jammed on a show that we won as a team. So, we are growing individually, and together. And that's been an important part of our journey," says Jain, who hails from Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur, where his family runs a coal washery.

The contrast of their lives grew starker during the pandemic, when late actor Sushant Singh Rajput passed away in 2020 in mysterious circumstances, that some called suicide and others, murder, leaving behind an ugly trail of conspiracy theories that left Bollywood and the media in a tizzy. Along with intense public outrage and interest in the case, which left legions of the actor's fans heartbroken, Lokhande seemed to have emerged as the voice of the junta, their supporter. That she and Rajput had played a much-in-love couple in Pavitra Rishta and off screen before breaking it off in 2016, couldn't have made it easy for the actress to move on.

She says she is exhausted speaking about this issue, because "regardless of what I may say, or do, the headlines always become about the old issue".

Jain puts it into perspective, when he says, "I think what's important to note is that we have always been friends, and friends can talk about anything. We have always been on the same page." Lokhande, who smiles coyly at him often, adds, "You know, I have always been honest on social media and in life, because I don't think about it [what I say]. It's my natural setting. Jaisi main hoon, I am. It's more difficult for me to be fake."

At home, they insist they are like any other couple. They talk about work - although Jain says Lokhande can't quite wrap her head around what he does. "I think she only knows what city I am going to next!" But he doesn't mind. "Modern relationships are about people who are genuinely occupied with their own work, and find common ground. Our relationship is in a good place right now - different worlds, different lives, but also something together." He says being together doesn't mean altering your way of living. "I am doing what I always wanted to do; I am just doing it with my partner."

One thing is clear. They are in love. And at their age (she is 37, he 35), they know that love goes beyond the ‘romance novel' interpretation. For her, it's about sharing everything she feels with him, without a filter. "There are arguments, and sometimes, we have a different point of view on things. But we can still have a conversation, and I hold my ground. That comfort is love to me." Jain's definition is more poetic; not what you'd expect a man who owns a coal washery. "Love is a lifeline - like the heartbeat that shows up on a machine, going up and down. Love is like that; not all fights, not all romance." Lokhande interrupts, "We are like Tom and Jerry!"

Jain is excited that they are shifting into their new home, something they have been waiting to do for long. "We have a nice corner on the terrace, and we were wondering what graffiti message to put up there. We thought, why not make it about where we are in our lives, in this relationship - ‘The happy place'."