“In the world of showbiz, if you can’t stage a show, then you got no biz..” This is one popular line that has been explaining the dynamics of the entertainment and showbiz industry globally. Colloquially in Bollywood, we define the same as, “Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai…” Over the years, the modes of publicity have changed for the better but the basics haven’t. Another thing very common in the Indian entertainment space is following trends. The ‘unofficial’ becomes ‘official’ in no time when too many people follow the same pattern. Well, as far as love and affection in B-Town is concerned, we see some couples and rumoured couples doing a similar thing.

Gone are those days when couples who were dating would officially give interviews together to leading film magazines of the country to confirm their relationship to the world. Today, it’s all about ‘Instagram’ folks. Be it showering love for one another in the comments section to posting photos of each other while still not stating the ‘obvious’ directly, this is one trend that has become extremely common in the industry. In today’s time, all you need to do to acknowledge your relationship in front of the world is post a photo together with a similar caption and at the same time and boom, the job is done. Sounds pretty similar to film promotional marketing gimmicks right where the entire cast post from their respective handles at the same time for maximum engagement and traction. Well, be it professional lives or personal lives, the line has certainly blurred between the two as ‘marketing’ yourself and your brand value perfectly is important in both aspects. While we always love sweet and mushy, adorable couple posts together, we simultaneously see them making headlines on newspapers and digital websites the very next moment and that’s certainly good content for publicity, ain’t it?

Another common trend observed in B-Town is how some rumoured couples will ‘almost’ make their relationship official on Instagram without saying it. It’s cute and cheeky at the same time. While rumoured couples like Sidharth Malhotra-Kiara Advani, Ishaan Khatter-Ananya Panday and Tiger Shroff-Disha Patani will not mind getting papped at airports and events together, never will they post photos together even when they go for exotic vacations together. Yes, you will see them getting clicked with the same background. Yes, you will see them enjoying the same food and yes, you will see them wearing each other’s outfits as well. But, you scroll their respective feeds and you will ‘NEVER’ (IN CAPS) see them post photos or videos together. All you need to do is refer to their respective ‘Maldives’ holiday snaps and you will understand this common pattern. That’s exactly why we say Instagram is a great tool for making a relationship both ‘official’ and ‘almost official’ at the same time. Even Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif were seen doing the same until the day they got married. It was only after that did they start posting romantic content together while also liking each other’s posts, something that they hardly did while dating, perhaps to avoid making speculative headlines.

It’s not just about love or rumoured love before marriage, ladies and gentlemen. All it takes Ranveer Singh is to post a romantic smooching pic of himself and Deepika on Instagram to promote his wife’s movie ‘Gehraiyaan’. All it takes Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma to make their respective anniversaries special are post-romantic content with a special message and the rest is taken care of there onwards.

Well, to sum things up in a nutshell, whether you want to propose to someone or acknowledge your relationship in public or even divorce and separate from someone, it has all boiled down to the medium of Instagram. While we happily love the way couples make each other feel special on the platform, it is also kinda strange and difficult to figure out why would some ‘rumoured’ couples leave their relationship status to ‘almost official’ where there are tons of ways by which they have already made it obvious? Are they saving up all the major traction and engagement for their ‘big day’? It’s a question that perhaps only their social media teams can answer. Only time will reveal when the audience can see the transformation of ‘almost official’ to ‘official’ on the same platform. Till then, here’s hoping that we continue to enjoy their ” ‘insta-nt’ love game ” in the best ways possible.