This time, last decade: Showing sparkle and spunk as an actress with much promise, Vidya Balan who had breezed in a few years earlier with Bhalo Theko (2003) and Parineeta (2005), had joked with me, “I have a house, I have a great career. How about a great guy in my life?”

Today, at the dawn of a new decade, Vidya’s man and marriage (in 2012) have settled down as comfortably as she has as an actress whose name commands respect. She is the new Shabana and Rekha rolled into one, an actress comfortable in sarees and in her skin, epitomising a reliable blend of the sensible and the saleable.

This time, last decade:

The exciting new girls who were vying for the top spot were Priyanka Chopra (debut in 2003 with The Hero and Andaaz), Katrina Kaif (debut in 2003 with Boom), Kangana Ranaut (debut in 2006 with Gangster), Deepika Padukone (debut in 2007 with Om Shanti Om) and Anushka Sharma (debut in 2008 with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi).

Neither Anushka nor the rest of India knew virtually anything about a certain right-handed batsman who captained “India Under-19s” to victory at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. Indeed, aggressive, gaali-spouting Virat Kohli was quite the unknown item when Anushka made her entry as Shah Rukh Khan’s heroine. But by the turn of the decade, he turned into a winning machine, became captain of the Indian cricket team, the top-ranked batsman in the world and the 1st in Test rankings. Besides becoming Anushka’s husband in 2017.

Neither Deepika nor the public knew anything about a certain Sindhi-Sikh boy nicknamed Rocky who had a degree from Indiana University Bloomington. But before the arrival of 2020, he would climb to the top spot and watch his movie go to the Oscars. Indeed, Ranveer Singh had not yet come into the public space as a wedding planner with Band Bajaa Baraat (2010) though he had the guts to turn real life bridegroom before the decade was out when he and Deepika wed in 2018.

In fact, the whole of the last decade, Priyanka (who wed Nick Jonas in 2018), Deepika, Anushka, Kangana and Kareena Kapoor (who had debuted much earlier in 2000) were the colourful leading ladies who lit up the gossip columns with their dalliances before all of them (excluding Katrina and Kangana) became beaming brides of the decade we just bid farewell to.

Kareena not just glowed as Saif Ali Khan’s wife in 2012 but also spent the rest of the decade proving that neither marriage nor motherhood (in 2016) would take the shine out of her career or her gorgeous good looks as she topped successes like Ki & Ka, Udta Punjab and Veere Di Wedding with Good Newwz.

This time, last decade: The immensely gifted Ranbir Kapoor had debuted in 2007 with Saawariya but kept celebrity-watchers busy all through with his wandering heart.

People only knew filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and David Dhawan and not their children, Alia and Varun respectively — they would debut only two years later with Student Of The Year. But Alia and Varun spent the remaining eight years of the decade energising the box-office and feeding the tabloids. As the new decade beckons, the spotlight’s on Alia’s sure-footed entry into the Kapoor fold, Varun’s commitment to girlfriend Natasha Dalal, and Katrina’s move from the much-older Salman and same-age bracket Ranbir to five years younger Vicky Kaushal.

Question: will Shraddha Kapoor (debut in 2010 with Teen Patti), wed her photographer boyfriend in the new decade? Fun fact: it was his dad who was her aunt Padmini Kolhapure’s favourite photographer at one time.

This time, last decade: Who would know that producer Boney Kapoor who had two wives doting on him would see tragedy twice over? When Mona died of cancer on 25 March 2012, two months before she could see her son Arjun debut in May, none knew that the same fate awaited Sridevi on February 24, 2018. Next month, it’ll be two years since Sridevi met with an unexpected end and daughter Janhvi made her debut five months later in July.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author