Why Saif isn't confirming his wedding date

  It’s been a while since his mother and sisters confirmed an October 16 wedding, but actor Saif Ali Khan still says no date has been decided upon. Is it to save fiancee Kareena Kapoor from Bollywood’s married-actress jinx that has made many leading ladies lose their career after they got  hitched? Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has clarified that it was he who dropped her from his forthcoming Romeo and Juliet adaptation as he did not want a ‘married Juliet’, and it wasn’t she who ditched him. While Kareena cites date conflicts as the reason, the ouster may just be the reason behind Saif’s denial of a definitive marriage date.

“I haven’t fixed a date for my wedding! I’m yet to meet Kareena’s parents to sort out the date ... the venue is also not finalised,” says the actor, maintaining the obvious: It’s going to be a year-end wedding.” He doesn’t sound very thrilled about it either. “As for excitement, we’ve been together [for a while], so what’s new? I’m 41, not an 18-year-old!” And, how are his kids taking it?

“Everyone is very happy,” he comes crisp, adding that he is saving for the future. For him, like for most other  male actors, there’s no career-lapse to fear. “There are good movies and great roles coming my way. I’m reuniting with Milan Luthria for another film, and I play a UP mafia don in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s next. Then there’s Sajid Khan’s film.”

Bebo, on the other hand, does not have a single project in her kitty after Aamir’s Talaash and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine. “Being a married actress is a curse in Bollywood, and precisely because of this reason, Saif and Kareena have time and again pushed their wedding date and are still not talking about it as it will not just affect her future films but also the ones that she is working on,” says a trade analyst, wishing not to be named.

Trade expert Amod Mehra says, “Bollywood, like our society, is chauvinistic. Actresses have a very small shelf life unlike in Hollywood. Once an actress gets married, her career ends as audiences stop desiring her.”