Went into depression after divorce; Akira hates being called Jr Powerstar: Renu Desai

Wedding bells are ringing again for Renu Desai, the ex-wife of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan. Stating that the marriage is between her fiance and her and not for the world, the Badri actress reveals her wedding plans. “I am not having a lavish wedding. The simple ceremony will be held at Linga Bhairavi Temple, Coimbatore, in December. We are getting married at the Isha Centre in the presence of a few family members. There will be no make-up or jewellery; instead of spending money on the wedding, we’ve decided to do Annadanam (serving food to people),” she says. 

Her friends, however, have been insisting on a lavish sangeet and mehendi. “Pawan got divorced in 2008 (with his first wife) and we got married in 2009. So it was a hush-hush ceremony, and we did not have a grand sangeet or mehendi. So this time around, my friends have been asking me for a big celebration; I’ll be inviting around 40 friends,” she adds. 

Renu also says she’s unable to focus on her new life as her detractors constantly troll her with hatred messages. But her kids (Akira and Aadhya) have bonded nicely with her fiancé. “They gel well and he’s like a father figure to them. They are super excited about the times ahead,” she explains. 

Though Pawan congratulated Renu on her new journey on Twitter, she feels, “Had he done that before, I wouldn’t have had to deal with so much negativity. I even asked him to give a press statement that it was a divorce on mutual consent, but he never did. So when I had enough of the hate messages on Twitter, I quit,” says the actor who left Twitter minutes after her celebrity ex-husband wished her. “That was a coincidence,” she adds. 

Opening up about her marriage with the actor, she states it was Pawan who had asked for the divorce. Revealing that life after marriage was miserable, Renu adds, “I went into depression after the divorce and had to undergo counselling. It was a very stressful period for me. Being single for the last eight years and raising two children alone is depressing. But I had the support of my friends and family. It just goes to show that a woman doesn’t need a man to complete her.”

When asked if her kids would like to follow in the footsteps of their father, she says, “Akira hates being called Jr Powerstar. He says he doesn’t want to be a hero but he wants to be a writer. I don’t want to control him. Let him figure out what he wants.”