Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan’s ‘love story’ - truth and hype?

What’s really going on in the Kartik-sara-ananya triangle?

In entertainment journalism, nothing excites paps and scoop reporters more than a good ol’ linkup. Time was when scribes used to spend hours and days and months trying to figure out who is secretly dating who and which stars are having hot affairs. Today, all they have to do is stalk their Instagram accounts! Another tried and tested method for digging up romance is to link up two stars who are doing a film together. This is an age-old PR trick that has perhaps run its course but in some cases, it seems it is still alive. Take the curious instance of Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan. Ever since Sara admitted her crush on Kartik on Koffee with Karan, the media has been on an overdrive trying to link them together. Now, in present-day Bollywood, there is one golden rule when it comes to relationships – never admit anything. In a seriously Pr-driven industry, most link-ups and relationships are dictated by film marketers which fans and the media eagerly lap up. When stars are really dating one another, they prefer to go to great lengths to keep it hidden until they get married. Example: Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and others.

The Kartik-sara ‘love story’ has all the ingredients of a manufactured link-up. First she admits a crush on him, then the media goes berserk trying to snap them together, next comes a pretty third angle in the form of newbie Ananya Pandey and the media once again goes into overdrive trying to figure out who has Kartik actually lost his heart to. The charming actor himself will flash his winsome smile and say, ‘I am single’. So what’s the real connection between Kartik, Sara and Ananya? The fact that both girls are doing films with the current ‘It’ boy. While Sara is the lead in Imtiaz Ali’s love story, Ananya is his heroine in the Pati Patni Aur Woh remake. Now, there is nothing to keep the interest boiling until the films release, like a good old link-up story, is there? So thus it will continue! Leaked videos that go viral, speculations, flirtatious banters on social media and pictures together, all dutifully reported on the entertainment websites. Will all this help the films in question? We will have to wait for a long time to know the answer. Until then, enjoy the images!