When Bipasha Basu came over to Koffee With Karan after being in love with John for 5 long years, she got a rocking 8/9 answers right in a compatibility test with John! You could see her gushing and silently beaming over the win on national television’s spiciest show.

John too came out with flying colours and the win didn’t seem to have moved him. He was his usual self who on camera (at least) didn’t give a damn about what people think about him.

After all, it was Koffee With Karan, the most sensational show on TV and what could have been better than surviving the hard hitting bouncers of K Jo?

It all went well.

source bollyspice

Because everything seemed too right to be wrong!

Who thinks of having a bad ending when every single thing seems so right?

There were so many striking similarities between Bipasha and John that to the world, there couldn’t be a better couple than them! Bipasha was spotted by Arjun Rampal’s wife Mehr Jesia back in 1996 when she won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest and the Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest.

This quintessential girl from a Bengali household was called ‘Lady Gunda’ in her days. John was the winner of Gladrag’s Manhunt Model in 1999 with a degree in Business Administration who had been working as a media planner with agencies.

source bollywoodlife

Both had their due share of struggle! Born in a middle class family in Ghatkopar, John came from a principled household with emphasis on education and career. His values were very humble and homely. John would distribute pamphlets at the airport to earn extra money, while people would sometimes throw them in his face of out of sheer irritability. John confessed that he then had only 550 at the Bank of Maharashtra.

source pinkvilla

Bipasha, who wanted to be a doctor but ended up studying for CA, was in Mumbai to take a chance and make a career in modelling. She used to stay in a shady place in Kalina, eat food for as less as 10 Rs, and sometimes rice for Rs.5 to share her chapattis with her friend. She wasn’t poor, but her money was in the US, and she didn’t want to trouble her parents. She was here to meet her own destiny and fight it out.

source indiatimes

But, where was the love story?
Two models, struggling to be actors, equally headstrong, highly principled, and both carrying the tag of ‘Sex Symbol’ were going to spend the next 9 years of their lives together with a hope forever.

Flashback: Rendezvous With Simi Garewal , two years apart, still dating, here’s what they both had to say!

A very young looking Bipasha Basu with copper hair, covered in layers of make up as a starlet, sat in immaculate white across the table with the serene Simi Garewal to chat about her life. While honestly, Bipasha didn’t look that attractive, there was a spark in her eyes that was very captivating. She was in love and she spoke to Simi about her relationship with John.

“If I like somebody I liked them for life… Being in love is essential to everybody… Being in love makes me go. It’s my driving force…. I want to be a sexy grandmother,” said Bipasha who was being very careful in speaking about her personal life at the start of her career. But, she was bold, she was accepting her relationship in public and that made John and Bipasha’s love quite respectable, because it wasn’t hidden behind curtains or sheets.

If you happen to switch into John’s interaction with Simi, you’ll see she asked him why the duo decided not to appear on her show together, two years ago. John had a very fair and honest answer to give. He didn’t want to be on a popular show like Rendezvous as Bipasha Basu’s boyfriend. He was still carving his niche and had a long way to go. He loved his singularity. “If she says this is right and you are wrong, I always believe I’m right. Earlier, there used to be a screaming and arguing, but now, there’s peaceful coexistence,” said John while answering a question on compatibility. He also asserted, “Bipasha is more forgiving than I am.”

He didn’t shy away from confessing, “I guess I was more insecure at the start of our relationship. I thought I was protective but I think when Bipasha and me argue, she says don’t treat me like your mother. I am very self-sufficient when I’m alone.”

Did someone say ‘insecurity’?
“She gets hit upon by actors all the time,” said a very proud John who didn’t show an inch of insecurity towards his love. Bipasha too was very confident about her relationship while she said, “There could be many women, but, they’re not like me!” She believed that he’s very attractive and she at some point of time found him immensely attractive and she thought very highly of herself too! So insecurities, no, you’re all mistaken! “She’s the original,” added a very happy looking John on Koffee With Karan. John seemed so much in love with her that he said, “There are two women in my life, but one woman keeps changing every six eight months (referring to his bike), the other one’s a constant (Bipasha).”

Sex Symbols

John and Bipasha were riding high on success after Dhoom and Corporate. But, they both shared one tag in common, which was ‘Sex Symbol’. Bipasha’s Beedi in Omkara, her bikini avatar in Dhoom 2 had made her as hot as sauna. John was no exception! Simi introduced John later in her new show as ‘He makes men marvel, and women dissolve’, while K Jo said, “He’s the sexiest thing to walk a pair of jeans! Women all over the world get all kinds of dirty thoughts at the mere mention of his name. He’s so hot to handle we’ll just think he’s fire but you can’t ignore his water.” Basically name the duo and the crowds would go nuts or wet if I may say so. Their lives had the right balance somehow. How compatible!

When they found a new friend at the gym!
John and Bipasha had a new visitor in the gym, and her name was Priya Runchal. She was an NRI from the World Bank and somehow, love happened. A nine year old rock steady relationship was suddenly on the rocks. John confessed that Bipasha wanted commitment, but he wasn’t ready. Both spoke after their break up, quite honestly, heart-broken but firm on their thoughts.

In an interview with a leading daily, Bipasha expressed her grief over a 8 year old relationship that had no meaning now. “I felt abandoned. I was living in a lala land till then. Now sitting today I feel I was so foolish. During those nine years, I retracted from my work, pushed back opportunities, stood like a rock for the man I loved, did not meet people just to give that extra time to make my relationship work and then I realised that the thing I was working so hard for was gone overnight. It took me months to realise that it's over and I am abandoned. I went through a lot of pain. I used to howl, went into isolation, it hurt. But then after some time the mind has to take over.”

John too met Simi again, but now as a bachelor. “Bipasha is very headstrong, I’m very headstrong,” he reasoned their breakup this way, while he confessed that the silence between them, lasted too long. “Somewhere down the line I point my fingers at myself and say, I probably didn’t match up to a lot of things. I had a different vision for this relationship. I probably wasn’t ready to commit at a point of time when the relationship needed culmination… We had a beautiful relationship, but it doesn’t exist anymore,” he precisely weaved his words while he spoke. You could sense the grief in his heavy voice when he added, “It is painful after a long relationship at the same time life goes on, you have to move on. When we parted ways, we spoke about it. Everything happens for a reason.”

Would they fall in love again?
Bipasha: Yes, I am not cynical about love. I am still a simple, uncomplicated trusting girl. I would again give my 100 per cent to a relationship if I were to have one. But I also believe that it's okay to be single and as a single woman I can be happy. (Quoted from an interview with TOI)

John: Totally! I’m capable of being a great boyfriend, husband, and a very fit grandfather. (It pinches the readers here because Bipasha once said something exactly same which shows that these two were very much in love, given the fact that they often used the same words in the same order to describe things, even on Koffee With Karan.) One day when love comes in, I’ll embrace it with both my arms and say I’m ready.

Priya Runchal and Bipasha Basu Singh Grover

John married Priya in 2014 and since then, he’s never looked back. The man who once had 550 Rs in the bank, has a beautiful villa! They make a few public appearances together, but very briefly. Bipasha is now Mrs. Bipasha Basu Singh Grover today and most strikingly, she’s married to TV’s heartthrob, Karan Singh Grover who is twice divorced. Bipasha faced a lot of flak and trolls on marrying KSG. The duo were given a week or ten days, but all we know is a lot of love pouring on social media for the duo, their honeymoon pictures, wedding albums, videos, Instagram, everything speaks positively about their relationship. While John curled back into his cocoon, Bipasha is still out there, outspoken about her relationship, very proud and protective about her nuptial with Karan, and that’s something which makes her a winner. That doesn’t mean that John’s silence gives any hint of trouble in his paradise, but the ex-couple are still similar like they were before. They’ve not changed an inch. He’s calm and doesn’t show off, whereas, Bipasha is open about her married life. He’s carved a niche for himself, and Bipasha has stood by her words that she might put her career at the back burner once her relationship comes into play. Love comes first for Bipasha and career follows.

The country never thought that their relationship would cease to exist, and today, there are ties that no one thought would happen. The models who had little money are now owners of posh houses, they’re both successful in their respective careers, and they’ve got new life and gym partners. Both are committed, but not to each other.

He’s headstrong. She’s headstrong.

Tags: Bipasha Basu , John Abraham , Karan Singh Grover

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