Love Mocktail couple Milana Nagraj and Darling Krishna are the new Sandalwood favourites. This Valentine’s Day marks the reel-life couple turned real-life couple’s first anniversary after they tied the knot amidst the pandemic last year. Here’s what the duo has to say about their love life and more.

Milana Nagraj:
“I was always a practical and disciplined girl since childhood; love had no place in my life”

Milana grew up in a home that was focused on academics and sports. “I was a national-level swimmer and I remember my father waking up at the crack of dawn every morning so that he could take me for swimming classes. My parents were so involved in my upbringing and hands-on about everything. So from childhood, I was organised and disciplined about everything. And I liked people around me also being the same way. I know it might not sound politically correct, but I disliked anyone around me being lazy and with no goals in life,” shares Milana looking back on a childhood that set the tone for her growing years.

“So, for me life was all about studying well, aiming higher and setting new benchmarks for myself. Not once did my mind waver, so I never had any crushes as such. Yes, I did watch films and read novels, but I guess I was way too practical as a person that the thoughts of a tall, dark and handsome knight sweeping me off my feet never struck me. In college, maybe I did have that one odd crush like all girls, but that too soon passed. I knew that if I had to like someone, that person had to be as focused and disciplined like me and share a similar outlook towards life. I got into engineering and there too I was all about studies,” reminisces the actor.

When I got into films, I had told parents that no matter how my career goes, they can find a groom for me:
Milana has been in the industry for nearly a decade but it was Love Mocktail that redeemed all her hard work. “I had done a few films but they hadn’t fated as well as expected, but it didn’t bother me. Coming from a sports background, one doesn’t really care about the rat race and your training toughens you for life. Struggles and failures never affected me because my days as a swimmer had prepared for everything. I had seen the highs on the sporting field and I had not even taken that into my head and gloat with pride. A couple of years into cinema, I had in fact told my parents that they are free to look for a groom if they wish. I think that kind of pacified them too as they too had responsibilities to fulfill. But they were never the ones to force their decision on me. Meanwhile, I met Krishna and we had even done a film together by then. He was struggling to make it and I was also doing ads and earning quite well actually. But we were good friends and sailing the same boat,” states Milana.

We witnessed failures, struggles and wins together, and that’s our strength as a couple:
Krishna who is better known as Darling Krishna proposed to Milana a few years after knowing each other as friends. “We had done the film Nam Duniya Nam Style together and were good friends. Our outlook was similar, our family values and above all, we both are sticklers for discipline. Krishna is also extremely time conscious and always punctual. It wasn’t love at first sight or a story out of one of those sappy on screen romances. When Krishna said he liked me, I didn’t immediately say yes. I took my time. And I realised we matched in so many ways. We are not your typical starry couple who party. Both of us are teetotalers and love working. I realised deep down I liked him too. We had both witnessed failure, struggles and finally found favour with Love Mocktail. That film did so much for us in all ways. It won big and a film that also saw us play an on screen couple. It brought us closer and last year, we tied the knot on Valentine’s Day. We still have a long way to go. We are now looking forward to the release of the sequel Love Mocktail 2. For me Krishna will always be my ultimate man,” sums up Milana.

Darling Krishna talks about Love Mocktail 2 and his myriad experiences of love through the years
I’ve experienced love in various ways; in childhood it was through Ravichandran’s films. I had a very romantic and rosy notion of love. When I came to college, I realised love is not what’s shown on screen and getting a girlfriend is not as easy as it seems! Of course, I did get into relationships subsequently but while I was extremely sincere and honest in my feelings, unfortunately the same wasn’t reciprocated. I found true love in Milana. She has been as sincere as she is today from day one. We had acted together and it wasn’t love at first sight kind of story. There was a lot of respect from both our sides even before we began dating. When I was auditioning for Love Mocktail 2, the youngsters shared how they don’t believe that a pair like Adi and Nidhima (characters of Milana and Krishna in Love Mocktail) exists in real life. I said Milana and I are proof that they do. I want to tell today’s generation that true love exists; don’t ever give up on it.

– By Madhu Daithota