— Vi

Pune University, 2001

“Oh my god, did you see?? Akshaye Khanna and Y/n L/n are dating!!” A college squealed dropping a magazine in front of her friends.

“Oh yes, they’re so gorgeous together!” Another one replied, staring at the couple on page six.

“Lucky her!” Third one said.

Akshaye Khanna and Y/n l/n were the IT couple of Bollywood in the 2000s. When the news of the two being a couple came out it was absolute chaos. The fans were lost their minds and loved the duo immensely, demanding more of the couple both on and off screen. The two worked together in several movies, directors and producers lining up to cast them together knowing the movie would become blockbuster even if it story sucked. The people loved them enough to watch three hours of bull crap just to see them together on the screen.

Zoom TV, 2003

“Bollywood’s favourite couple, Akshaye Khanna and Y/n L/n part ways after three years together.” The TV anchor spoke in a sensational tone, as if telling the tale of the century. “Dono adakaro ne apne raaste alag karliye hain, surtron ki maanen toh inn dono ke bich mahino se ann ban chal rahi thi aur akhir me dono ne alag hone ka faisla kar liya.” She added, staring into the camera. “Kya iss break up wajah Akshaye ki Karishma Kapoor ke sath nazdikiyaan toh nahi? Ya shayad Akshaye ko Y/n ka apne co star John Abraham ke sath promotions karna pasand nahi! Iss raaz ke khulase ke liye humare saath jude rahiye, sirf Zoom tv par!”

Somewhere in a salon a woman gasped, somewhere in an office a man cheered as if he had a chance with Y/n, and somewhere in a teenage was sobbing into her pillow that her favourite couple was no longer together, making all her comfort movies her worst nightmare. The emotions were high.

Bandra, February 2024

Y/n L/n had an amazing Bollywood career, she stared off as a child actor, then grew up to be the leading lady of almost every other early 2000s Bollywood movies. As she aged she sometimes took up on roles of older sisters or young aunt, then gracefully took an exit from the industry, choosing to keep her dignity intact. To say she was surprised when Aditya Dhar approached her for the role of Rehman Dakait’s wife in his upcoming movie Dhurandhar. But she didn’t deny it, she didn’t ask who would be playing Rehman Dakait, she just took on the role as wanted to be a part of such an amazing story. She could tell it was going to break all records.

Alibaug, February 2024

Akshaye was skeptical about the role, he didn’t want to do it at first, he didn’t want to play a terrorist. “I’ll dwell on it,” he’d told Mukesh Chabra with no intention of giving it a second thought. The script laid idly on the table of his office in his house in Alibaug, he glanced at it in passing and paused. He picked it up when his eyes landed on the cast list,

Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari

Rehman Dakait TBD

Danish Pandor as Uzair Baloch

Y/n L/n as Ulfat Baloch

Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal

Aslam Chaudhary TBD

He paused at that one name, Y/n L/n. He scanned the sheet with his eyes and realised she’d be playing the role of his wife. Twenty years passed and still his heartbeat quickened at the sight of her name. Twenty years passed and yet the two of them had never married anyone else. Twenty years later they were going to work again if he agreed to the role. That had to mean something right? Maybe this was fate giving them another chance. He didn’t think twice before calling Aditya to let him know he’s on board.

The shoot started five months later, the set was buzzing with excitement and determination, crew running around to make sure everything was perfect, while the actors went over their lines, fighting off the nerves. Y/n had learnt about Akshaye playing Rehman and she almost backed out of the movie because even after twenty years her heart still skipped a beat at the thought of being in the same room as him, playing his wife, having to look at him like she loved him and still maintain boundary enough to sell it as acting. But she didn’t quit, she was a professional and she wouldn’t let her lingering feelings get in the way of her professionalism.

The reason of their breakup was marriage. She wanted to settle down while he wanted some time to figure himself out before taking such huge decision. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to marry her, he knew deep in his heart if he ever got married it would be to her but at that time he was scared to tie the knot, not because he didn’t love her, but because he was scared he wouldn’t be the best choice for her. He wanted to change himself for the better before they took the final decision. It was a case of right person wrong time. Things escalated, fights and arguments got too much. She decided to leave and he let go. Neither of them fought hard enough, blame it on the age or ego, but it happened. And even after being set free, Y/n couldn’t bring herself to marry anyone else.

Today they were shooting the hospital scene, the two of them were still yet to meet each other. Y/n was sitting on her makeup chair, wearing a simple suit, and her hair was tied into a loose braid, a few stray locks framing her face. Tears streaming down her face and it looked like she had been crying for a while.

“You okay?” She heard a familiar voice behind her, a voice she hadn’t heard in person in twenty years. She raised her head to look at Akshaye standing behind her, clad in his all black pathani, his wig perfectly set on his head. He looked so handsome that she had to take moment to collect herself.

“Hm? Yeah! Just wanted to look like I’d been crying. You know, before scene rituals.” She said standing up to face him. Her face was wet from the tears but to him she looked ethereal in even in a simple suit.

“No glycerin?” He chuckled awkwardly.

“You know it.” She replied with ease, like it was just as easy to banter with him even after years of distance. And he did know that she didn’t rely on makeup or glycerin to make her seem sad. It was raw and real acting.

“Kaisi ho?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Theek. Tum?” She bit her lip, looking at him. That one strand of hair falling over his forehead doing things to her heart.

“Theek,” he mimicked the nod of her head. They both stayed silent for a few seconds, only for the silence to be interrupted by one and only Ranveer Singh.

“Kya sir, Y/n ma’am ko bol rahe ho araam se thappad maare?” He joked appearing behind Akshaye, who rolled his eyes while Y/n chuckled.

“Hello to you too Ranveer.” She giggled looking over at the hyper excited man.

“Iski baat mat suno, you hit me as hard you need to, bas screen pe accha dikhna chaiye.” Akshaye said firmly, and for a second she hesitated but agreed nonetheless.

Soon they all called for the scene, everyone turned serious and into work mode as Aditya yelled “Action!” The doors opened and Akshaye turned to see y/n walking in angrily, the pre crying looked amazing as now her face perfectly captured the expressions of a woman who’d lost her son. She stopped one foot away from him, glared at him and slapped him. He flinched then pulled her into his arms as she sobbed. “Meri jaan hai tu!” He whispered his dialogue feeling it more than he should’ve.

“CUT!!” They did a few more takes before they called it a day.

A few weeks passed in the blur of hectic shoot days, y/n was sitting on her chair scrolling through Instagram when she stumbled upon a bts picture posted by Aditya Dhar.

adityadhar you are not ready for this! @yourusername #akshayekhanna

User1: Dhar sahab cooked with the casting

Akshayefan: please get back together @yourusername #akshayekhanna

Riya123: my 2000s heart is healing #yourshipname

y/n_updates: i will sell my soul for these two to get back together

Y/n chuckled reading the comments, a weight settling in her heart. She too would sell her soul to get back with Akshaye if she was being honest. She shook her head and locked her phone.

“Kitna chupaegi, Tara?” She heard a voice from behind her, she was tired of people sneaking up on her from behind. She didn’t need to turn to see who it was, only one person called her Tara and talked in a certain way. Sanjay Dutt, her old friend, her rakhi brother who called her Tara because she was a star. “Tum dono kab tak ye bhagne ka khel kheloge? Itni umar me bhi thakte nahi ho kya?” He said sarcastically, dropping onto the chair beside her.

“Agar humari umar hogayi hai toh aapka apne baare me kya khayal hai?” She joked changing the subject but he saw through it.

“Accha mazak hai, par mai seriously nahi leta.” He laughed leaning back into the chair. “But seriously, kya laga rakha hai? Dono sirf aahein bharte rehte ho, bees saal kaafi nahi hai kya samjhne ko?”

“Apko kuch nahi pata. Mai aagy badh gayi hoon.”

“Sindoor to nahi dikhta.” He retorted coolly.

“Sirf shadi karne se move on nahi hota.”

“Par chora bhi toh shadi ke liye hi tha na?” He was not going easy on her, he kept throwing in facts at her that she couldn’t defend or deny. “Baat karne se masle hal hote hai.” He gave her a knowing look. A look that said trust me. He patted her head and walked back to where he came from.

While shooting the scene on the bridge, where they were supposed to take Faizal to the hospital, her mind kept replaying the conversation with Sanjay, in the cramped space of the car, Y/n sat on the car floorboard, overwhelmed by the way Akshaye was looking at her, “Rehman,” she whispered with tears in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and something inside her broke which she was sure was caught by camera, which wasn’t Ulfat. All Y/n.

The director yelled cut and before they could call for a retake she marched towards her vanity, slamming the door behind her. She hated it was affecting her so much, she hated that even after twenty years his lips had an effect on her body. She hated that the line between acting and reality was blurring. She wiped her face with a tissue paper, crumbling the material in her hand afterwards.

The doorknob moved and the door creaked open, slowly. Akshaye walked in with tentative steps, reading the room. She stiffened looking at him through the mirror. More tears poured down her eyes as he inched closer. Even after two decades he knew her body, knew her mannerisms, he just knew. He walked closer slowly and pulled her into his chest. She didn’t fight it, she didn’t push him away, she clutched his shirt pulling him closer. He leaned down to press a hard kiss to her head. “I’m sorry.” He muttered lowly.

“Me too.” She sniffled nuzzling further into his chest.

Neither of them spoke, but the air in the room had changed, charged with unspoken feelings. They didn’t need words to relay how they felt. They knew and it was enough. His arms around her tightened as if to say, “ I love you” and she turned her head slightly so her cheek was pressed into his chest, an action that screamed, “I love you more.” And this time neither of them were letting go.

Tags:

Hopefully yall like it