A push from the Universe
Dilnaz Irani talks about the quirky catalysts in her life
KAIZAD AND I STILL SHARE ALL THE EXPENSES EQUALLY AND ALSO THE
DAILY HOUSEHOLD CHORES. WE LIVE THE SAME WAY WE LIVED
WHILE IN A LIVE-IN RELATIONSHIP. WE ARE
HAPPY ENJOYING OUR LIFE AND WE DON’T MUCH LIKE KIDS, SO NOTHING IS
BEING PLANNED YET
Dilnaz Irani, a personality to reckon with, has been working in films, theatre and recently, the hugely popular Sushmita-starrer Arya 2. She started her Bollywood career with films such as 68 Pages, Jodhaa Akbar, Heroine and Aligarh in which played a journalist and love interest of actor Raj Kumar Rao. She was part of the famous show Vagina Monologues too. However, it hasn’t been
a cakewalk, either professionally or personally. “It’s easy for models and actors from within the industry to rise to fame. However, talent does get its due recognition, though it takes some time,” says Dilnaz.
She talks to us about some off- the-chart moments of her life. The actress was in a livein relationship with her boyfriend Kaizad Gherda for the past seven years, but they tied the knot in crazy circumstances.
“I have just gotten married; I am not single,” she says. Kaizad is a classical pianist and a composer for theatre and feature films. “Marriage happened in-between rehearsals. Kaizad and I met during a play (Hello Water) I was acting in. He was making the music.”
But being in a live-in relationship made it difficult for the couple to rent an apartment in Mumbai, says Dilnaz. “We saw 50 houses, but people just refused to rent them out to us because we were not married. Some people would say ‘yeh toh,Woh hai!’ I am like, ‘what do you mean, Woh hai?’ The world that we are living in today is so weird. Luckily we initially found a good building in Yari Road and lived there for two years. But every two years we had to shift. The building socieities refused to allow us to continue to stay there on a live-in basis. So we decided shifting every * two years was getting too much — chalo, let’s get married.”
Dilnaz goes on to talk about how they finally tied the knot. “I was doing two plays simultaneously. One was to be performed and rehearsed in Prithvi Theatres and the other in NCPA. I had rehearsals in the morning. The court allotted 11 A.M. as the time for our marriage. I went to court, signed the marriage papers, had a quick lunch and then ran for another rehearsal. Then I ran to give the marriage certificate to the society of the building. It was that kind of crazy marriage.”
So, did you get married just for the sake of getting a marriage certificate, we ask. “I feel the Universe has its way of doing things,” she says. “I feel this was in store for us. Or else we would have continued living together. You need a push from forces which are not in your control; those forces are necessary. This is what the Universe gave us — Bhaut ho gaya, just get married. It was adventurous,” she says, adding, “Kaizad is from Kolkata and is also a Parsi.”