Opposites attract. And bad boys are infinitely sexy and attractive. But the lovely Rani Padmini and wicked Allaudin Khilji aren’t allowed any screen time together in Padmaavat by the film’s tyrannical director Sanjay Leela Bhansali because the history books have no record of this ever happening and the bullying Karni Sena won’t stand for it. But there was no stopping the actors behind these awesome characters in the period drama from stepping out together and attending the film’s premiere show hand-in-hand.

If Bhansali, who had forbidden them from saying or doing anything about Padmaavat earlier, didn’t like it – then he wisely didn’t show his displeasure. This was the mercurial director’s moment as much as the actors’. And so, at the PVR Phoenix last night, contradicting their hate-you-to-death status in the film, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh made a rare public appearance together and went beaming and giggling to see what Padmaavat is all about.

Recommended Read: Padmaavat Film Review- Rajputs…Be Proud!

The media went into overdrive. And why not? As the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said, all the world loves a lover. But does this mean, as one media person naively asked, that it’s “official” between them? And being seen hand-in-hand in public is an admission of being engaged? Quite frankly, how does it matter? It’s not as if the actors are going to be asking the media’s permission to get engaged or get married in future. What matters is that they can be seen heaving a palpable sigh of relief that all the stress over the film’s release, the Karni Sena’s violent opposition, the death threats, Censor Board cuts, it’s all over and the film is finally out for public consumption.

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If there’s any drama about Padmaavat now it’s only in the script and between the characters on screen. The Karni Sena has folded its tent and disappeared into the night. Step out Deepika and Ranveer. And you too, Shahid Kapoor.