Rinke: Home together

Her father had taken two memorable celluloid trips down the Hooghly — first humming Woh shaam kuch ajeeb thi with Waheeda Rehman and then singing Chingari koi bhadke for Sharmila Tagore. Her mother had spent days in a highrise on Southern Avenue, with a telephone for company, to bring alive Mrinal Sen’s Antareen…

Now, Rinke Khanna is set to become Calcutta’s bahu and, maybe, set up home here. “Samir (Saran) and I have not decided whether to set up base in Calcutta or London, where he is already running a business… It’s natural that wherever he goes, I will go with him,” said the daughter of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, before leaving town following her ‘no-publicity-please’ engagement.

Confirming that she will tie the knot with the Calcutta boy “sometime in 2003”, the girl who shot to four-minute fame shaking a leg and shooting the Kem chhe question at Govinda in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai, made it clear that last week’s ceremony (starring Rajesh, Dimple, Twinkle, Akshay Kumar and Jaya Bachchan) was kept completely closed-door to suit the Sarans. “My in-laws are basically from Calcutta, though they do business in London. They have always maintained a low profile and so, a sudden media splash could have upset them,” claimed the actress, who met Samir in London, found him “very likeable” and agreed to the marriage “right away”.

Marriage will not see Rinke turning her back on the arclights, but it will definitely signal a shift in the kind of roles she signs up. It’s time for more “meaningful” films now. “I don’t think Samir or my in-laws have any objection to that. My next line of films is quite different from the kind that I have done so far. There’s Mango Souffle (with Rahul Bose), Ek Din Anjana, Jhankar Beats and Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye,” said the communications graduate from Massachusetts, who also plans to take up the pen as consultant beauty editor of a fashion magazine right after marriage. Marriage moves are on in full swing. Abu Jani could have a hand in designing the wedding gown, with Rinke’s pet designer Ashley Rebello playing a part throughout. “I am waiting for Rinke to return to Mumbai,” said Abu Jani from Delhi. “And the talk about me having played matchmaker is false; they met on their own.”