Valentine's Day special! Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan: Life is full of chores, love can’t be one of them (Exclusive)

For close to two decades, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan have defined – and defied – what it means to be a Bollywood power couple. Long before social media turned celebrity romance into a spectacle, they wore their love unapologetically, from choosing each other at the peak of their careers to building a family while remaining fiercely individual stars.

Popularly christened Saifeena, they became Bollywood’s original ‘it’ couple. Kareena and Saif, who recently visited the Tiffany & Co. boutique in Mumbai, talk to us about quiet celebrations over grand gestures, friendship as the foundation of romance, raising children while protecting their individuality, and why – in a world full of responsibilities – love should never feel like just another mundane thing. Excerpts from the Valentine's Day special interview as followed... ‘If we’re together, unhurried, that’s celebration enough'To start off, we ask them how they spend their Valentine’s Day. “We don’t plan grand gestures. We watch a movie, stay at home, lounge on the couch, and have a night in with pizza and some great wine or Chinese food,” says Saif. Kareena adds, “If we’re together and unhurried, that’s celebration enough.” So, is there any Valentine’s Day gift that Saif is planning to give Kareena? He replies, “I like to gift her when it feels right.

Not just because the calendar says so.” She quickly agrees and adds, “It’s nicer when it comes with a thought behind it.”

‘We didn’t fall in love trying to impress anyone’Next year marks two decades of them being together. They met on the sets of Tashan - the movie may not have been a success, but it led to a very successful union between the two. “We didn’t fall in love trying to impress anyone. We were working, talking, arguing, laughing and one day it just became obvious.

That honesty is still the base of everything,” Saif reminisces. Kareena says, “We chose each other as people first. Everything else came later.

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‘It’s very romantic to wake up with a woman this beautiful every day’Saif and Kareena have been an inspiration to many when it comes to love. Ask them how they feel about their love story being romanticised by many, and Kareena, in her trademark spunky style, declares, “I’d say the love story is far better in real life.” Saif, on the other hand, elaborates, “It’s very romantic to wake up with a woman this beautiful every day.

But the story has required a lot more than what meets the eye. Relationships are about romance but also about intent.

And mostly friendship.”How does their relationship look to them today? Kareena feels “settled and anchored, in the best way.” To that, Saif says, “I feel chosen every day by a wonderful woman, who is brilliant, beautiful and kind.”‘Kareena is more romantic’ As Shah Rukh Khan once famously said, ‘Pyaar dosti hai’, for both Saif and Kareena, friendship came before romance, and it continues to define their relationship.

Kareena couldn’t agree more. “Completely! He’s still the person I want to gossip with at the end of the day.” Saif chimes in, “And she’s the first person I want to share things with, good or bad.” Quiz them on who is more romantic, and Saif promptly responds, “She is!” She laughs and adds, “We both have different styles, but I will take that, I am.

”‘We just get each other without words’From friends to partners to parents (to Taimur and Jeh), has anything changed? Kareena quickly explains, “What’s changed is perspective.

What hasn’t changed is comfort. He is home!” Saif adds, “There’s no pretending. That’s a luxury in itself. The ease of being around someone is the best leisure.”The two continue to live life on their own terms, in matters of family and love, too. “More than ever. Especially after children. Having Saifu by my side... is my favourite part of everyday life,” Kareena confesses. Saif explains, “When you’re free with each other, everything else becomes easier. Life is full of chores, love can’t be one of them. We don’t have to explain anything to each other. We just get each other without words.

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