‘I recommend marriage to everyone’

The mere mention of her beau,restaurateur Farhan Azmi,is enough to bring on a wide smile. Of course it’s early to ask the new bride on life after marriage,but we do. “Only my address has changed; I live in Colaba now,” she laughs.

“Seriously,being married makes me realise we should have done this the very day we met. I recommend it to everyone,” she says,still giggling.

The couple dated for five years before they finally tied the knot. While many of her colleagues dated,broke up and found new love again,Azmi and Takia went about town,professing their love for each other. “Farhan is perfect for me in all ways possible. A caring and loving husband,we connect at all levels. We got into the relationship knowing well that we’d get married,” she admits.

However,her decision sparked off rumours that the daughter-in-law of a political family—Farhan’s father Abu Azmi is an MP from Samajwadi Party—would not return to the glamour world. Takia,throughout,chose to neither accept nor deny the reports. “If people made assumptions without me having said a word,it didn’t make sense to comment on it either.” The actress is now shooting for Revathy S Sharma’s untitled film.

Married or not,the 23-year-old actress has maintained that she won’t kiss on-screen and neither will she ever wear a bikini. But in times like these,where bikini’s make the fortunes of even top actresses,why the fuss? “I’ve been brought up to believe it’s my work that matters and that I always have an option of opting out,” she says as she studies her reflection in the mirror. “And if the directors feel I ask for too much,they’re free to approach other actresses.”

One of her career’s greatest ironies is that her performances have received a slew of awards though none of her films have been hits. “Of course I’d like my films to do well but I’m pretty used to my films doing average business. It’d be an insult if they ran down my performance,” she admits.

The actress is now looking forward to the release of Paathshala opposite Shahid Kapoor,and Wanted: Dead and Alive opposite Salman Khan. “I’m really excited about the latter because it’s a typical masala film— something I’ve never done before,” she grins. Sharma’s women-oriented film will have Takia go de-glam again,which seems to be the latest trend in the industry. “For me,it isn’t about following a trend. If I was a part of the number game,I’d have done very different films,” she smiles.