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Rafi Hossain: Welcome to Uncensored with Rafi Hossain. Today, I am joined by Srijit Mukherji and Rafiath Rashid Mithila. I would like to thank the both of you for giving us your time. How do you maintain a long-distance relationship?
Srijit Mukherji: I honestly wouldn’t say that a long-distance relationship is sustainable. Fortunately, for us, since the distance between Kolkata and Dhaka isn’t too much, we could manage to maintain the relationship. Still, there were issues. We are trying to find a way to reduce the distance between us.
Rafiath Rashid Mithila: We still haven’t figured out a way, but we hope to do so soon. We plan on living together in the near future. Right now, whenever Srijit gets a break from shooting, he comes here, and whenever I get a leave from my work, I go visit him. That’s how we’re doing things now.
Rafi: Mithila, will you be moving to Kolkata or will Srijit be coming to Bangladesh?
Mithila: I think that I will be moving to Kolkata. We had lengthy discussions about this, and since we both have careers, we had to see the pros and cons of each place. That’s why I think that we might end up settling in Kolkata.
Srijit: I have a lot of love for Dhaka and Bangladesh. My father is from Bikrampur and my mother is from Mymensingh, so Bangladesh seeps deep into my roots. And even though I’m not from Dhaka, the people here always accepted me as one of their own. But, we probably will settle in Kolkata as Mithila’s work can be done from any place, whereas mine cannot. She can continue doing her work even if we’re in Kolkata, but I cannot continue doing the same here.
Rafi: How did your relationship begin?
Mithila: Social media has become an essential part of our lives nowadays, and that is how our relationship started after we talked on Facebook.
Srijit: What some people fail to understand is that like everyone else, celebrities are people too. But, for celebrities, it is a little difficult as they can’t just use platforms like Tinder . That’s why I spent my time on Facebook and hoped to find someone. And one day, I saw Mithila’s profile pop up on the people you may know option. After it started to appear regularly, I went through her profile and found that she is a person who has achieved a lot throughout her life. After that, I knocked her, and from there, our love story started. We used to talk almost every day, and after around three weeks of talking, I came to Dhaka just to meet her.
Rafi: What was it about Mithila that made you come to Dhaka?
Srijit: She is a well-spoken person, a very intelligent and educated woman and also a very attractive lady. It also amazed me how she could manage to get two Masters degrees, while being a single mother. That made me come to Dhaka just to meet her.
Rafi: When did you both start loving each other?
Mithila: I don’t know exactly when I fell in love with him, but when I realised that I had, I knew that I wanted to marry him. We used to talk a lot, and would always help each other. Whenever I told Srijit about a problem, he would always give me a logical way to deal with it. He also got along very well with my daughter. This all made me certain that he is the man I want to marry. But, sometimes it feels like our marriage was arranged by our families as we haven’t known each other for that long. We are getting to know each other better now though.
Rafi: Both of you are very popular figures. How did your fans react to this marriage?
Srijit: I haven’t seen any bad reaction. As far as I know, everyone has given us their blessings. Maybe some were not happy about it, but I’m not aware of that. But, I have seen that many fans send Mithila messages asking how she could pick an old Indian, Hindu director over them. Whenever I see those, it makes me laugh a lot.
Mithila: Many also ask why I didn’t marry someone from Bangladesh. They then follow up with how India took everything from us, and now they also took me.
Rafi: What are you planning to do in the future?
Srijit: In the future, we plan to live together and make sure that both our careers haven’t been compromised. We will also make sure to prioritise Ayra. Ayra has grown to be a very good person, and it is obvious that her parents raised her well. She is also very social and well behaved. Ever since I met her, we have been able to form a good relationship.
Mithila: Ayra and Srijit are on very good terms. Whenever I scold Ayra about something, she tells me to call Srijit.
Rafi: How did your families take the marriage?
Srijit: My family was relieved because I couldn’t find anyone to marry for some time now, even though I tried. I have had many failed relationships, and my mother has seen many relationships fail which she thought would end in marriage. My mother and sister are very happy now that I got married, and they also love spending time with Mithila.
Mithila: They’re amazing people. My mother-in-law is a very simple person. She is a doctor, and she has always been supportive and loving towards me. Since I have a daughter from a previous marriage, it is normal to worry how my in-laws would treat me, but I never got treated badly by them. Srijit’s family always made me feel at home.
Srijit: Even though Mithila’s family supported the marriage, her parents were very hesitant at first. I can’t blame them as they are very simple people and are not very fond of the spotlight.
Mithila: After the news of the relationship went to the media, everyone would ask my mother about the details. Even my mother’s colleagues at the school she teaches in would ask her. My father worries a lot about everyone, and especially about me. That’s why we faced some problems at first.
Srijit: Later, my mother-in-law said that it would have been easier if the families had met each other earlier on. As of now, both mine and Mithila’s mothers have become very good friends.
Rafi: Do you have any parting message for the readers?
Srijit: I have always considered Bangladesh to be my own country. Just because someone once drew a border to separate Bangladesh and Kolkata doesn’t mean that it is separated. This is also my home. I am honoured to have received so much love and support here. I hope that I will keep on receiving this love and blessings in the days to come.
Mithila: I think that too many people are worried about me instead of focusing more on their own lives and trying to remain happy. We should all learn to be better people more than anything else.
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Ridwan Intisaar Mahbub