Gourab Chatterjee and Devlina Kumar are all set to tie the knot on December 9. “We are having our wedding reception and engagement on December 15,” smiles Devlina. The warm couple took some time out for a chat with t2...

Congratulations! What is the reason for choosing the date and the month?

Devlina: We had decided on the date last year only...

Gourab: But it had to be postponed a little because of the Covid situation. At one point we thought we probably had to postpone the wedding to next year. But now that things look a little brighter we thought of going ahead with these dates. But the dates have been shuffled a bit. We were initially planning to do it this year or at the beginning of next year.

Devlina: And it had to be one of the winter months, so we chose December.

What will be the celebrations like?

Gourab and Devlina: We will have all the events like the normal wedding... from Sangeet to reception everything but it will be a smaller affair than what we had planned initially.

Devlina you had said on Didi No. 1 that you want a big fat Indian wedding with lots of gifts.

Devlina: The big thing is happening in March. And I will be doing that and I need all the gifts. (Laughs)

What is going to be the main attraction of the December wedding?

Gourab: Well, I have a terrible time shaking my leg and I think Devlina is going to make me dance on the Sangeet day and that is going to be the main attraction of the wedding (both laugh)!

Gourab and Devlina: Our friends from the industry will be there along with close friends and family.

What are you both wearing?

Gourab: I actually decided it like two days ago (laughs). Devlina had a few designer names in mind and she suggested that. But I am not a very fancy kind of person, I cannot wear something which is worth Rs 2 lakhs. And I will actually wear something done by my friend. I told Abhishek Ray to do something. He can do whatever he feels like, I am good with it.

Devlina: For the 15th I am thinking of something Indo-western.

While planning which aspect did you both have most disagreements on?

Gourab: We didn’t have any such disagreements actually. Thankfully! But I think that is gonna be post-wedding. (both go LOL)

But who took responsibility of what while planning?

Gourab: Devlina takes all the responsibilities because I suck at it. I forget basically. I forget everything. She is reminding me and getting all the things done. Last year when we planned it, we just booked the venue because that’s the thing most people struggle with and the second thing is to book the caterer.

Now that people have started travelling, any honeymoon plans?

Devlina: We had to postpone our main honeymoon plan to next year but we are travelling to Darjeeling this year just after the wedding. It is going to be a short trip but we are looking forward to it.

Gourab: Darjeeling because I studied there and I always wanted to take my partner there to see the school. So, that is why we are doing a short trip and there’s also work here. We both are shooting and will be working around that time. But around February or March we will do our long tour.

And finally, how does it feel to start this new chapter together?

Gourab: Honestly, right now it is not sinking in at all because we just started planning everything. Because of the pandemic the planning got delayed. Then Durga Puja happened...

Devlina: We started planning after Diwali.

Gourab: And it was the pandemic too so we were not sure how the situation would be. So, most of the things are still in the planning stage. We are still calling our guests and inviting them. I got my cards just yesterday.

Devlina: It is the same for me, very exciting.

Gourab Chatterjee and Devlina Kumar Sourced by the correspondent

Gourab writes about his other love — music

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson. I remember I would cry every day and beg my father to not take me to kindergarten just so that I could stay home and watch Michael’s recorded shows on the VCR. Sometimes watching the shows were followed by me playing MJ, performing in the drawing room and blasting the music player with MJ’s album Bad. I used to play both simultaneously, MJ as well as his fans who would faint watching him and were rushed to the ambulance. The love for him till date remains intact. I got introduced to a whole new world of music when I went to St. Paul’s, Darjeeling. Eminem to B.B. King, I heard everything.

Post boarding school my heart was filled with love and the thought of romance. I used to drive a Maruti 800 base model that was gifted by one of the fans of my grandfather who used to run a transport business with all his vehicles named after Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s movies. As a token of appreciation he wanted to gift us a car. I would drive around and listen to my music and my car was the best place for it. It’s where I felt romantic, felt cool about myself, did all sorts of stupid things. Well, that was the age.

I was introduced to Rage Against the Machine by my friend back in the eleventh standard when I came back to Calcutta and was studying in La Martiniere. That was quite the band. Unlike Linkin Park where they used a lot of scratches and electronic sounds, RATM developed a sound without electronic DJ equipment. They made them with their guitar distortions and mentioned so on their album covers. And not just the sound, they had revolutionary political views and social messages in their songs.

Meanwhile, the sound of bands like Incubus and Staind was pleasant and they sang of love and heartbreak and feelings. There were these rainy days when the noon sky would be overcast with dark clouds and I would go for long drives with my music, the weather and the thought of unrealistic love. Switchfoot and Lifehouse had to be on my playlist. Then came Goo Goo Dolls, Snow Patrol and Death Cab for Cutie. Some of U2’s songs were surreal.

I remember this one time when I had a heartbreak. My second one. So I went to a quiet corner in Southern Avenue, parked my car under a tree, took a cup of chai and listened to James Blunt. He was so relatable, especially in those days. Coldplay was another band... what a sound. Warning Sign is fave.

I have also enjoyed a lot of different sounds... Jethro Tull was amazing. The sound of flute in a British rock band was like the spice in a Continental platter. I was driven by artistes like Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa and John Petrucci at that time who didn’t need vocalists. Their guitars sang. And yes, John Denver’s music inspired me a lot in many ways. He made me fall in love with mountains every day.

And then there was and is Pink Floyd. I could connect to Wish You Were Here. For me it was about losing my father, his absence. Another Brick In The Wall is again a song that has many layers. The meaning changed over time as I grew older. I started to uncover each layer and the more I did, I started falling for their stuff. Comfortably Numb is an anthem. The more I grow older, the more it begins to make sense.

This song is like a moving picture of the harsh reality called life in the form of melody. This song reflects a state of mind... the war we all are fighting but together. The best part about Floyd would be that each song is a scene and their album is the movie. And finally my favourite, Coming Back to Life. I personally feel this is a song about love that happened and it comes from a place of disappointment, truce, love and anger.