Prateik on his dark phase before 2nd marriage with Priya

Prateik Babbar who is now called Prateik Smita Patil as he chose to take his mother's name and surname recently got married to Priya Banerjee. They tied the knot on Valentine's Day this year. He was married earlier but it ended up in a

divorce

. Now in a recent interview, he has opened up on how dark and vengeful he had become after his first marriage ended.The 'Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na' actor said in a recent interview with

Bollywood

Bubble, "It was a huge mental block.

After what I went through, I had made up my mind that love and marriage were never an option. I gave it my all in my previous marriage. I stepped up to my role, no matter what life or that relationship threw at me. I wanted to be the best partner. But unfortunately, it didn’t work out. So I was extremely bitter about love and marriage." He spoke further about how he wanted to take revenge for his failed marriage from all the women kind actually. Prateik added, "I was very angry at my situation and vengeful. And out of vengeance, I ended up following thousands of pretty women on Instagram. I was like, ‘I was so good in my marriage… now let’s see.’ And ladies, be aware. It was really ladies vs. Prateik… the beast in me unleashed. That was my mindset."Priya was one of the people he followed and she followed him back. Talking about how love bloomed, Prateik said, "For the first three months, we didn’t strike a conversation. But finally, I had the courage to reply to her story and next thing I know, we were going on drives, we were meeting regularly… and the rest is history."

He admitted that he wasn't really looking for it, neither was Priya. "I wasn’t looking for it, neither was Priya. We weren’t looking for it, but we were meant to meet at this particular time in our lives. I don’t think it would have worked out if we had met earlier. It had to be at this divine timing.”While Prateik was going through a divorce, Priya came from a broken engagement and they happened to meet during the lockdown. "Kafi logon ke liye lockdown negative raha… kafi logon ki shaadiyaan toot gayi… par humne pyaar dhoond liya aur humari shaadi pakki ho gayi (For many people, the lockdown was a negative experience… a lot of marriages broke… but we found love, and our marriage got fixed)," he said.