Shahana & Milind Soman set me up with Subodh

By Waqas After fobbing off the likes of Aamir Khan who after working with her in 1947 Earth had insisted that she move from Delhi to Mumbai to pursue her acting career, Nandita Das has finally moved to Mumbai, thanks to her marriage to environment entrepreneur Subodh Maskara which was solemnized on January 2. Now glowing with joy from her residence in Worli (Mumbai) Nandita says, “What I resisted doing for 13 long years has finally been done. I couldn’t imagine shifting to Mumbai for my career. But love did it.” Husband Subodh Maskara was introduced to Nandita by her friend Shahana Goswami whom Nandita directed last year in Firaq, and Shahana’s boyfriend Milind Soman. Laughs Nandita, “Milind and Shahana kept urging me to meet Subodh. I kept fobbing them off. I’m the last person to believe in blind dates. But look at destiny. I now completely believe in instant love. When I was hesitant about meeting him Subodh sent me a lovely e-mail. And I said, why not just have coffee with him? We met. And I immediately knew, this was it. Within five months I knew I wanted to marry him.We became soul-mates seamlessly.” Nandita married according to Ashram Vidhi rites on January 2 at Subodh’s residence where she now stays permanently. “Only his parents and brother, my parents and my brother were there for the marriage. And of course Shahana and Milind who brought us together. We couldn’t possibly get married without them.” Interestingly Nandita’s husband had not seen any of her films. “After we began seeing each other I made him see Fire and then my directorial debut Firaq. Before meeting me Subodh knew much less about cinema than I did about his chosen line of work, recycling plastic bottles.” Last month Nandita took Subodh to the Marrakech Film Festival in Morrocco. “And Subodh saw 18 films in one go. That’s more than he has seen in all his life. He’s more than happy sharing my interests. I’ve never been happier.” Friends like Paresh Rawal urge Nandita to direct another film. But at the moment she’s content being at her new home in Mumbai playing Mrs Subodh Maskara. Does she cook for her husband? Nandita gasps. “Er, that would really be going too far. Even further than my move from Delhi to Mumbai.”