“When we were 22...we travelled the world to eat local fare,” say Rohit and Manasi Joshi Roy

The couple take a nostalgic trip down the memory lane to when they started seeing each other

Where were you career-wise?

Manasi: I was a model. It was fun and exciting.

Rohit Roy: I accidentally became assistant director to ad filmmaker Kunal Kapoor and then an actor.

Then and now: Rohit and Manasi, at 22 (left) and now (right), at 51 and 52 respectively

And your finances?

Manasi: I was making a lot of money!

Rohit Roy: I had a grand total of zero rupees in my bank!

“My scooter was my most prized possession ‘coz I understood what mom must have gone through to buy it for me!” —Rohit Roy

Any romance in your life?

Manasi & Rohit: I was seeing Manasi for about a year then, and I married her seven years later in 1999!

The couple in a café in Manhattan, during their US trip in 2001

What was your mindset like?

Manasi: I was gung-ho. I wanted to act.

Rohit Roy: I used to hate acting. The only reason I stayed back in Mumbai was because my US visa got rejected and I was giving my exams at Indian management institutes. Once, I got a chance to model and that’s when the glamour bug struck me.

A clipping of Manasi’s ad when she was modelling for a popular fairness face cream brand back in the day

Your favourite food...?

Manasi & Rohit: We travelled the world only to eat local fare.

“My most prized possession at 22 was the Maruti Zen I bought with my own money” —Manasi Joshi Roy

What was your fashion sense?

Manasi: Simple clothes, but I coloured my hair auburn.

Rohit Roy: I was Ranveer Singh x 10! In my first show, Swabhimaan, I wore yellow, purple, magenta suits, bracelets, earrings and rings!

Rohit’s first photoshoot for his first film Jazbaat when he fell in love with the camera

And your most prized possession?

Manasi: The Zen I bought with my own money.

Rohit Roy: My scooter, because I understood what mom must have gone through to buy it for me.

Rohit and Manasi posing at the Flats in Cleveland. Rohit says Manasi looked so pretty that he felt like her spotboy-cum-body guard when this pic was being clicked.

Finally, what did you do for fitness?

Manasi: I was never athletic. I guess my metabolism was great.

Rohit Roy: Haha, zero!

From HT Brunch, October 04, 2020

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