Kareena, Shahid and Bobby’s reunion at IIFA 25 proves how time is the greatest healer

Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu): Time, though relative, is the greatest catalyst to everything that rests in the fabric of time and space continuum. A shining example of this was seen at the recent International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) event in Jaipur which saw long lost friends and ex-lovers sharing the stage. The event witnessed Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shahid Kapoor sharing the stage after so many years. The event also saw ‘Animal’ star Bobby Deol joining the two on stage. Histories and stories surrounding the actors were all bundled up within the boundaries of a 20 x 15 stage holding the artists together. However, it was not the space aspect of time-space which held them and their pasts together. It was also the time as it seems to have healed the long exposed wounds which once oozed bitterness and sorrow. Kareena and Shahid, who were once the “power couple” of Bollywood, had a very public and painful break up during the end leg of the shooting of their iconic film ‘Jab We Met’. The industry witnessed the breaking of hearts of two of its young stars, and while the heartbreak may not have made a huge noise, it surely triggered the tectonic movements in the lives of both the stars.

Kareena shot for ‘Tashan’ in parallel with ‘Jab We Met’. The actress, who placed her bet on ‘Tashan’ rather than ‘Jab We Met’, incidentally fell in love with actor Saif Ali Khan on the sets of the former. The premise of ‘Tashan’ and the positioning of its female lead would look tempting to any actor on paper. Kareena at one point even called 'Tashan' her 'Kill Bill' (the famous Quentin Tarantino violent cinematic fest starring Uma Thurman), and brushed 'Jab We Met' as just another film. However, it was the parting gift of Kareena and Shahid as a couple, ‘Jab We Met’ that would influence an entire generation and incite their faith in a timeless romance. ‘Tashan’, on the other hand, which breathed a new life in Kareena’s personal space with regards to love, sank without a trace upon its release, and is counted in current times as one of the biggest disasters of Bollywood. Both Kareena and Shahid went on to settle with their respective spouses, Saif and Mira Rajput. While it was a dramatic break-up back in the day, the two actors have greatly evolved in the past 18 years, and have shown tremendous maturity. They even did a film together, ‘Udta Punjab’. Although they didn’t share the screen in the film, Kareena and Shahid attended the trailer launch of the film in Mumbai, and appeared to be in their own spaces, rarely looking at each other or talking back in 2016. Last year, the two were also seen at the annual school events of their respective kids. The two were seen sitting close to each other but maintained a distance. They didn't interact, but the sight of them together made fans nostalgic about their past. Their fans called it a "Geet and Aditya" reunion, referring to their characters from ‘Jab We Met’.

The IIFA 2025 stage was different as the two actors appeared at so much ease, they even briefly chatted with each other, shared laughs and hugged each other sending a wave of nostalgia and delight among their fans. The stage also saw Bobby Deol or Lord Bobby, as the Internet likes to call him, sharing a moment with Kareena and Shahid. It was a pure stroke of serendipity as the relations between Kareena and Bobby soured after Shahid came on board for ‘Jab We Met’, and Bobby was left high and dry. Bobby had once claimed in an interview that the director of the film Imtiaz Ali offered ‘Jab We Met’ to him with Kareena as the female lead. However, before things could materialise at Bobby’s end, his role went to Shahid. Bobby had once accused Kareena of using her star power and influence to get her then boyfriend on board for the film and take away the opportunity from the ‘Animal’ star. All three of them, Kareena, Shahid and Bobby appeared in great spirits as they prepared to grace the upcoming awards ceremony of the very special edition of IIFA.