They looked stunning in monochromes and perfectly at ease despite all the surreptitious attention that came their way… Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia’s rare presence at the Ambani bash did set many records straight. Despite the long-standing rumours that they had been living separately since a while, and that they had even filed for divorce, the couple is still very much together – and evidently happy, too. The Sussanne Factor, which had once reportedly driven a spoke in the wheel of their marriage, is no longer a threat, and the Rampals have evidently come through the storm.

The couple had been snapped together earlier this year at the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganpati pandal, but that was clearly a publicity-driven exercise for Arjun’s Daddy, the biopic based on gangster turned politician Arun Gawli’s life. However, this appearance at the party hosted in honour of London mayor Sadiq Khan, proved that the couple has put their rocky past behind them, and is now on firmer ground.

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Arjun’s alleged fondness for Sussanne Roshan, had been touted to be the reason for the acrimony between him and Mehr. In fact, it had even been insinuated that this alleged liaison had created a rift in the Hrithik-Sussanne marriage. Matters had reached such a head, that Sussanne herself had issued a statement saying, “Arjun and Mehr are friends and have been for years. To poison a relationship such as this is malicious behaviour. I have, with Mehr Jesia, earlier stated in the same paper that there is no truth to the claim that Arjun and I are anything more than friends. I never was and am not an idle Bollywood wife who has all the time in the world to spread canards and lies that damage relationships and lives.”

However, unfolding events had told their own story… Like, their fight at a friend’s pre-wedding bash hosted by Fardeen Khan, where the two ladies tried being cordial but, half an hour into the party, had got into an ugly spat. It had led to Mehr even storming off home by herself…

The Rampals, once a much-seen and popular couple on the B-town party circuit, have become almost reclusive in the recent past. Besides their own personal turmoil, it was Mehr’s alleged run-in with Shah Rukh that had led to them being cut off from the inner circle. Back in September 2011, at an Eid party at Mannat, Mehr had reportedly gone up to SRK and confronted him about Priyanka Chopra being a part of the festivities. A close friend of Gauri’s, she apparently wanted the superstar to know how much Chopra’s presence was affecting his wife, given the thick rumours swirling about SRK-Priyanka at the time. That was the end of the Rampals’ closeness to the Khans, as they were promptly dropped from their close-knit clique.

While those bonds remain far from mended, if pictures are proof, the ties between Arjun and Mehr appear to have been restored to a large extent. Another one does not bite the dust, and we are heaving a sigh of relief!