Choreographer Pony Verma has shared fresh details about her marriage to actor Prakash Raj, revealing that her family jokingly feared she would “die from eating sambar every day” after marrying into a South Indian household. In a candid conversation on Prema’s YouTube channel, Verma also recalled how her friends strongly questioned the 12-year age gap between the couple before their 2010 wedding.
The interview, which surfaced in early November 2026, offers a rare look at the personal doubts and cultural misunderstandings that surrounded one of Indian cinema’s most private inter-regional marriages. Verma, a Punjabi choreographer raised in Mumbai, and Raj, a South Indian actor from the Bunt community, married on August 24, 2010, in an intimate Punjabi ceremony in Mumbai.
Family Had No Idea About South Indian Food Habits
Verma recalled that her relatives, unfamiliar with South Indian daily food habits, genuinely worried about how she would adjust after marriage. Their concern centered on one dish in particular.
“They had no idea about South Indians. They’re telling me, every day you’ll eat sambar, you’ll die. We eat idli sambar sometimes at a hotel; it’s good. I said, no, but I like sambar”.
The remark, delivered with evident humour, captures how little her family knew about the life she was choosing. Verma’s roots are Punjabi, while Raj’s cultural background is rooted in South India—a contrast that her relatives struggled to picture.
Verma also remembered telling them she genuinely enjoyed sambar, which did little to ease their worries at the time.
Friends Were “Mad” Over the 12-Year Age Difference
The food concerns were only part of the resistance. Verma said her friends were openly unhappy about the age gap between her and Raj, who is twelve years older than her.
“My friends were like, why are you getting married to a man who’s 12 years older than you? A big hue and cry happened”.
Another version of the same recollection puts it more directly:
“My friends were mad because I was marrying a man who was 12 years older than me”.
Verma has consistently framed this gap not as a problem but as the very reason the relationship worked. According to her, Raj’s greater life experience gave him a depth of understanding that someone her own age could not have offered.
“I feel happy that we have a 12-year gap because I think a man like Prakash could really understand me and the depth of my life, where I have come from, how I think, and how I struggled”.
How Prakash Raj Brought Calm Into Her Life
Verma described herself as someone who was constantly moving, emotionally unsettled, and unable to slow down. She credited Raj with changing that.
“I was like a wave that was going… Prakash came like a shore. To sit down calmly and eat—that was not a part of our life. Prakash was like, leave the spoon to the side and eat with your hand. Be comfortable. Don’t think of anything”.
She added that his presence removed the pressure she had always felt about time and achievement.
“There is calmness that Prakash Raj brought into my life. So just sit back, enjoy the food, it’s all good. Nothing is going away, no time is running out, you’re not falling behind in life. Everything will work out”.
Verma also said that only a man who had lived through Raj’s particular set of experiences could have handled her personality.
“Honestly, only a guy who’s been through what Prakash Raj has could’ve handled me well”.
Prakash Raj Was Direct About Marriage From the Start
One quality that drew Verma to Raj was his lack of pretence. She said he never tried to impress her with grand gestures or a flashy lifestyle.
“He was very honest with his approach. He never tried to impress me. He never tried to make it all flashy for me, a girl from Mumbai. No, he was just himself, really simple. That’s what I loved about him”.
Raj was equally clear about his intentions. Verma recalled him saying he wanted a long-term commitment and had no interest in wasting time. That directness, she said, became one of the foundations of their relationship.
Meeting During Difficult Phases of Their Lives
The couple grew close at a time when both were dealing with personal pain. Verma was grieving the death of her mother, while Raj was going through a divorce from his first wife, Lalitha Kumari—an actress he had married in 1994 and divorced in 2009.
Raj’s first marriage produced three children: daughters Meghana and Pooja, and a son named Siddharth, who died in 2004 at the age of five after injuries sustained in a fall while flying a kite. The loss remains one of the most painful chapters of Raj’s personal life.
Verma and Raj welcomed their son, Vedhanth, in 2015. In 2021, the couple renewed their wedding vows on their 11th anniversary so that Vedhanth could witness the rituals.
A Warm Bond With Raj’s Daughters From His First Marriage
Verma also spoke about her relationship with Meghana and Pooja, Raj’s daughters from his first marriage. She described a bond that has remained active and warm for over sixteen years.
“Pooja and Meghana keep coming home. On the wedding day, they were standing in front of me during the ceremony, putting mehendi and haldi on the father during the wedding. They stood with us throughout”.
She added that the family gathers every December and for every important milestone.
“Every December, we are always together. We are together for every important milestone. It has been a really warm relationship between us, and we have maintained it”.
Verma’s account makes clear that the daughters were not on the sidelines of the wedding—they were part of the ceremony itself.
Prakash Raj’s Political Stand Came at a Professional Cost
The same interview also touched on Raj’s outspoken political views and the professional setbacks that followed. Verma said the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, a close friend of Raj, left him devastated and pushed him to speak more openly about issues he believed were wrong.
“I know how much his work got affected in the industry. The Ad projects went off, films were taken away from him. Before giving the advance, people have backed out. He has suffered immensely with his profession”.
Verma added that Raj has been banned multiple times in the Telugu film industry and has remained firm in his convictions despite the consequences.
She also recalled his participation in the Chalo Sansad march and student protests in 2026, where he slept at the protest site despite her offer to book him a hotel room.
“I said, okay, you want to go, go there. Can I book a hotel for you? Please, at least stay in a hotel and come back. He says, no. He slept there only on the stage. No water, nothing”.
Raj’s response, according to Verma, was that he was doing it for the future of the country and the children.
Who Is Pony Verma
Rashmi Verma, known professionally as Pony Verma, was born on September 15, 1977, and began her choreography career in 2000. She has choreographed some of Bollywood’s most recognisable dance sequences, including songs in Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), The Dirty Picture (2011), and Prince (2010). Her work also extends to Ponniyin Selvan and Kalki 2898 AD.
She won the Zee Cine Award for Best Choreography in 2012 for the song “Oh La La La” from The Dirty Picture. Verma has worked with actors including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Kareena Kapoor.
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A Marriage That Outlasted the Doubts
Sixteen years after the wedding, Verma speaks about the marriage without a trace of the hesitation that once surrounded it. The sambar warning, the friends who were “mad” about the age gap, and the cultural gap between a Punjabi household and a South Indian one are now stories she tells with ease.
Her account does not present the doubts as obstacles that were overcome through drama. They were simply concerns that existed, and the marriage continued regardless—built, in her telling, on Raj’s steadiness and his willingness to be exactly who he was.
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