Mumbai: They could well be a yin and yang couple but what perhaps binds Sonali Bendre and Goldie Behl is their straight-forward energy and sense of humour.

As he paces about the kitchen at their ornate Juhu home, getting his coffee done and shouts out, "Know why I married her? I wanted educated, slim kids and thought I'd alter my genes," she laughs and shoots him a look in retort.

ATen years ago when he fell for "that girl reading the Collective Works of Hitchcock on a film set," nothing has changed, he says, "It's like being married to your best friend," he adds. "Sonali's a very typical person and a complete realist. She can show me the mirror and I love her for that," he explains.

While they are a quintessential part of Bollywood -- Goldie's father and grandfather are part of the industry and she having carved her niche with several big banners only to step away from much of the glitter in favour of home and hearth, the two haven't quite had it tailor-made either. "It hasn't been easy," says Goldie squarely, referring to his film Drona. "I guess the palate here isn't ready for contemporary mythology. For long it plagued my mind and left me so disappointed," he continues. "But it also gave me a new hope and challenge, after all I don't know if I can do anything else," he breaks off to sip on his brew.

"Failures are the best teachers," she joins in lovingly. "If you have the zest for life it falls into place." That would translate into the relationship they share with Goldie's childhood pal Abhishek Bachchan.

What about planning to work together? "We're not willing to risk it," she laughs. "I think we're like two parts of a whole sometimes. I like classic literature while Goldie is fond of graphic novels and I could be reading a book for over a week whereas he will be reading three of them -- and watching films too," she laughs. And he admits to love to get away from the grind of the city, "Even live outside it, if I could," while she's happier being a full-time mother to their three-and-a-half year old son Ranveer.

Like life, love finds its way into the everyday. "Goldie wrote me a beautiful poem on our recent anniversary," she announces happily, while he admits that they do have their share of fights. "It's fun to have arguments; she tries but doesn't succeed," he grins.