Amrita Rao was warned that a leading actress, whose name starts with K, harboured negativity towards her – Times of India

Amrita Rao blazed to success with Ishq Vishk, Vivaah and Main Hoon Na. One after another, she got three back-to-back successes and became the talk of the industry. This was an unbelievable feat for someone who had no filmy connections! The Poonam of Vivaah and Sanjana of Main Hoon Na became the iconic girl everyone wanted for a daughter, wife or girlfriend.
One would imagine that the golden girl who shot to such amazing success was touched by the Divine hand and everything in her life would be magical. But in her recently released book Couple of Things, Amrita reveals what a tough time she had in the industry despite her epic professional success. She talks of how difficult it was for her to form bonds within an industry that leaned towards what she tellingly calls the “blue-blooded actor” or other superstars. She also hints at Bollywood politics that she often fell prey to as a young and often naive outsider to the industry, despite her phenomenal success.

Amrita Rao and RJ Anmol have laid out their entire life, career and relationship in Couple Of Things. The couple have not shied away from sharing intimate details about their life, career and relationship, and their book has some startling revelations and engaging confessions.

Talking of how other stars got invited to personal gatherings and socialised irrespective of how good or bad their performances were, Amrita says in Couple Of Things, “My journey was different though. For example, despite the epic films in my kitty, the topmost coveted film magazines never approached me for a cover shoot.” She reveals an episode around an awards show and a magazine shoot. She had won the award and along with her Vivah co-star Shahid Kapoor, she was taken to the official photoshoot. Amrita and Shahid were made to sit in the centre of the winners, while other senior stars stood around them. But when the magazine’s edition was released, Amrita was shocked to see she had been moved to the background and another photo of hers was used. Later she found out from a journalist friend that an actress who was a ‘superstar’ had got the cover realigned. Though Amrita does not reveal the name of the actress, it is not very difficult for those who know the cinema of the early 2000s to put two and two together and come up with the name!

In another chapter from Couple Of Things, Amrita reveals how a tarot card reader in Australia warned her of a competing actress who harboured negativity towards her.

Amrita recalls the trip to Sydney where she had gone to shoot for her film Victory (2009). It was there that Amrita was introduced to a tarot card reader who made some unsettling claims. Amrita writes, “One day, I asked the local production controller on our movie if he knew a good tarot reader and he promised to take me to one exceptionally talented woman after pack-up. I found myself sitting in front of a dusky lady who had partial Indian roots. I had so many questions flowing through my head, questions about where my career was going, about this guy who was chasing me, and about finding true love.”

One of the first revelations that the lady made, really caught Amrita off-guard. The tarot reader told Amrita about the fate of her upcoming films and the ill-intention of one of her competitors. Amrita revealed, “We sat by her kitchen door that opened into a small backyard garden. It was dark outside. She looked at the cards I had selected and said, ‘The two films that you are shooting for currently will not do well at the box office.’ Okay! ‘Hmmm..,’ she continued, ‘there is a woman with the alphabet K who is very negative towards you,’ she added!”

The lady also predicted certain things about Amrita’s love life, that came true later. Amrita writes, “When I told her about this guy who was after me, she remarked, ‘My God, he has such a negative and flippy energy that I’m having a hard time catching it!’ I asked her about my personal life, she said, ‘There is this guy I can see, who will come into your life. He has an athletic physique and a sharp nose and keeps his sleeves mostly rolled up. He will be just 1 or 2 years older than you. ‘There will be a lot of opposition towards your relationship but you will stand by him firmly and this relationship too.’ I was perplexed and wondered how much truth there was in her words.”

The tarot lady’s words proved to be accurate years later. Many years on, Amrita and Anmol both have had prolific careers and have managed to achieve a lot, both on and off screen. Their book certainly provides a lot of interesting insights into their journey.