Puja and Kunal get hitched but ditch grand celebration amid Covid-19 crisis in the country

Actors Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma were all set to tie the knot in the presence of their family and friends on April 15. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, made them change their plans and they shifted the wedding date to April 26. But given the extension of the lockdown period to May 3 in India, they decided to cancel the celebration altogether.

On Wednesday, Banerjee took to social media to share that since they had registered their marriage a month before itself, they are legally married. The actor also wrote, “A small contribution from our side... the money we were to spend for our marriage function, we are donating (it) to people who are in need now.” 

She tells us, “Like anyone else, I also dreamt of a grand Bengali wedding with family and friends around. All preparations were done, we had made advance payments. But not everything is in our hands. Thankfully, since I was going to start my new show Jag Jaanani Maa Vaishnodevi, we decided to get our marriage registered (in advance).”

The couple had met for the first time in October 2008 and got engaged in 2017. They are staying separately now and plan to move in together when things are back to normal.

Celebrations can wait till next year, Banerjee says, but in the current scenario, the couple wanted to extend support to the needy. “There are many out there suffering. They need help. We’ve distributed part of the money we were going to spend on the wedding to NGOs, funds and charitable organisations and also helped some of our unit members. This is the least we could do,” she adds. 

However, Banerjee is concerned about her parents who had gone to their ancestral house in West Bengal for some work and are stuck there now. She’s constantly in touch with them. “Once things get better, we’ll bring them back to Mumbai,” she adds.

Urging everyone who can, to help at least one person or animal, Banerjee adds, “It’s natural to feel low and upset. But this too shall pass if we all follow rules and extend support to each other.”

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