New Delhi: The promo for Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna’s first joint appearance on Koffee With Karan sparked mixed reactions on social media after Vijay revealed that he had asked Rashmika to ask him about marriage 100 times. Some users even compared the couple to Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, calling them a “third copy” of the Bollywood couple.
With the episode now out, viewers have a better understanding of the context behind Vijay’s unusual request.
The conversation began when host Karan Johar asked Vijay, “Someone this stunning comes into your life, was there a proposal?” Rashmika then recalled how she first brought up the idea of marriage while the two were sitting at an airport. She told Vijay, “Let’s get married,” to which he replied, “Okay, you ask me a 100 times.”
Visibly surprised by the revelation, Karan asked Rashmika, “You asked him a hundred times?” She responded, “I asked him for an entire year.”
Vijay explained that his response stemmed from a desire to ensure they did not rush into such a significant decision.
Reflecting on his earlier views on relationships, he said, “If you look at my past interviews, I always talked about love with disrespect and disbelief. Like, I don’t believe in this concept, which was immature of me… And I was also very clouded by my ambition. For many years, for me, if something was not serving the purpose of career, money and growth, it felt like you were distracting me from my purpose, and I needed to cut it off.”
The actor then revealed how his feelings for Rashmika gradually deepened, beginning with fondness and eventually developing into a sense of dependence.
“I was like, I need her around because my day feels better. My meals feel better when we are sharing them. I sleep incredibly well when she is with me. Then I realised I want to be married to this woman, I want to be with her,” he said.
Explaining his reasoning behind the ‘100 times’ statement, the actor said, “I am not an ass***e.” Rashmika added that she never questioned or doubted his request because she understood where he was coming from.
“I am a person who would put the relationship through every obstacle there is to see it survive. Because there was one time she asked me, ‘Are you testing me?’ I felt really guilty then. I was testing myself. I was testing the relationship. When she asked me to get married, I was like, it cannot be an emotional impulse, like I am suddenly feeling a surge of love for you, so let’s get married,” Vijay explained.
“For me, it was like, let’s see if we feel this continuously through days when you are happy or upset, when I want to give my career everything, and through days when you feel you want to quit and be home. We have all those days in our life. I was like, through all of it, if marriage still feels so important, then we should do it.”
The actor said that beneath his rough exterior, he is a very “sensitive guy” who has been hurt immensely. He added that this fear makes him protective of himself.
“Which unfortunately she had to deal with, and now it’s beautiful,” Vijay added.
Vijay and Rashmika tied the knot on 26 February this year in Udaipur.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)