Chiranjeevi's visits were intended at making Srija feel like any other girl, whose parents took interest in her activities and made her feel cherished. He even dreamt that Srija would one day become a badminton player of some standing. But that was not to be. However, it wasn't the unfulfilled badminton dream that let Chiranjeevi down. That happened on that fateful day when Srija eloped to get married to Sirish Bharadwaj on October 17, 2007. ( Pics: Srija and Sirish in happier times )
Cut to March, 2011: Srija's marriage makes headlines with her filing a case of dowry harassment against her husband Sirish. ( Chiru's daughter alleges torture by husband )
Within minutes of the news breaking, Chiranjeevi fan websites were on fire with blogs and comments on the `mistake' a young and naive Srija had made and how sense had finally prevailed. Some fans gave credit to superstar Chiranjeevi for getting his daughter back home.
If Sirish and Srija had savoured a moment of victory by managing to get married, it was shortlived. However, those in the know say it lasted longer than anybody expected, hinting at the rumblings of discontent that could be heard and felt by observers of this marriage from earlier.
On Valentine's day last month, the most celebrated couple in this state in recent years revealed that there was a distance between them even though they sat together for a television chat. Srija was uncomfortable to the point of refusing to even get to talk more about their love. "Those questions are too personal. I do not want to talk about them," Srija said, dismissing all questions about her relationship with Sirish.
If it was clear that all was not well in the Srija-Sirish marriage, the couple surprised many, a few days later on February 26, when they presented a happy picture of themselves at a party at a pub at Begumpet. The occasion was Sirish catapulting himself into the big leagues as he tied up business-wise with Goa-based event management company, Tito's Global Events, Goa to manage its Hyderabad operations. It is learnt that Sirish joined this company only three to four months ago. "Sirish got all wannabe actors and actresses to the party. It was obvious that since his wife was Chiranjeevi's daughter, he was making use of the fact to promote his business interests," a source said.
So what went wrong between this once madly-in-love couple? In the last three-and-a-half years since they have been married, it possibly dawned on Srija that Sirish was not all that she had thought he was. And somewhere alongside, a script that Chiranjeevi's family had come up with, was being played out.
"Sirish was never acceptable to Chiranjeevi, though he made it clear that Srija was always welcome home," a producer close to Chiranjeevi said.
Srija was first seen back at her parents' home when Chiranjeevi's father passed away towards the end of 2007. The visits home became more frequent in recent times with Srija even attending public functions with her parents. But Sirish was nowhere to be seen at any of these events.
The signals were loud and clear for Sirish to see and hear that his wife was choosing to go to her parents' without him. It is possible Sirish thought that Chiranjeevi would have a change of heart with the birth of his grandaughter, in 2008 and accept the two of them as a couple but that was not be to. Only Chiranjeevi's wife Surekha, and Srija's brother Ram Charan Tej, visited Srija when she gave birth to her daughter in the hospital. A desperate Sirish reportedly had been growing restive over being ignored by the Chiranjeevi family, even as Srija was getting closer to her parents.
"Though they would attend parties together, the film industry as such had not bonded with the couple as it was clear that Sirish Bharadwaj was not acceptable to Chiranjeevi," a producer-director said.
Film industry sources said Srija was counselled by her relatives who told her how much her father and family cared for her and by falling for Sirish, she had caused them much anguish.
"More than counselling, it would be appropriate to call it brainwashing. What is surprising is that we thought the marriage would last for not more than three weeks but it did for more than three years. About dowry harassment I do not know, but what is to be shown to the world is that Srija has got back to her parents, walking out on Sirish," a film producer, known to be a critic of Chiranjeevi, alleged.
Meanwhile, Sirish's display picture on Facebook still has a family portrait clicked in happier times: the couple with their child flashing a toothy grin for the camera. Srija too has posted her daughter's picture, sans her husband.
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