Why are actresses smitten by married men?

When Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty walks down the aisle to marry London-based businessman Raj Kundra this month, she will be following in the footsteps of Hema Malini, Sridevi and Raveena Tandon – actresses who famously entered into wedlock with men who had been married earlier. Shilpa met millionaire Kundra, 34, shortly after she found fame in Britain by winning the international reality series Celebrity Big Brother two years ago. Now she is marrying him Nov 22 at a private ceremony to be attended by close friends and family.Kundra was already separated when he met Shilpa, but his estranged wife Kavita publicly blamed the actress for the break-up of the marriage.

However, Shilpa was adamant she would date him only after he was officially separated.”To be honest, I think I was in love with Raj from day one but I was in denial. I made it clear to him that our relationship could go no further than friendship until he actually had his divorce,” the Daily Mail online had once quoted her as saying.”It actually made me feel physically ill.To be called a marriage-breaker was the worst thing possible. It brought such shame on to my parents, and I felt so bad for their sake,” she added.In the past, many actresses have found love in successful married men – who may or may not have been separated from their first wives. Even though yesteryear star Dharmendra was married to Prakash Kaur and had four children with her – two daughters and sons Sunny and Bobby Deol – Bollywood ‘dreamgirl’ Hema Malini got romantically involved with him.

Dharmendra converted to Islam to wed the actress in 1980. They have two daughters – Esha and Ahana.Bollywood’s former cabaret queen Helen also fell for screenwriter Salim Khan, who was married to Salma Khan (original name was Sushila Charak). Though he had four children from Salma – Salman, Sohail, Arbaaz and Alvira – he married Helen in 1980 and adopted a daughter named Arpita.Even Sridevi tied the knot with film producer Boney Kapoor, with whom she did films like “Lamhe” and “Mr. India”. Boney, the elder brother of Anil Kapoor, was married with two kids before he married Sridevi in 1996.Critically acclaimed actress Shabana Azmi fell in love with prolific writer Javed Akhtar, who was married to scriptwriter Honey Irani. Shabana and Akhtar entered into wedlock in 1984.

Akhtar had two kids – Farhan and Zoya – from his previous marriage.Raveena Tandon also decided to wed film distributor Anil Thadani, who was married to Natasha Sippy. It was reported that the actress had once lost her cool at Thadani’s former wife upon seeing Natasha trying to get too close to her husband at a New Year’s party in 2006.Popular actress Karisma Kapoor also entered into matrimony with a divorcee – Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Kapur. Mahima Chaudhary also wed architect Bobby Mukherjee, who was earlier married with two kids.These days, a prominent actress dating a divorcee is Kareena Kapoor. With Saif Ali Khan, she makes for one of Bollywood’s most talked about couples. The actor had once been married to actress Amrita Singh. Tabu is also reportedly dating southern star Nagarjuna, who is married to former actress Amala.

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Aamir-Kareena get sizzling and erotic

If you thought Kareena Kapoor could only shoot intimate scene with beau Saif Ali Khan you are wrong. Kareena recently shot a sizzling and erotic dance sequence with Aamir Khan for the movie 3 Idiots. Sources close to the movie reveal that the dance which was shot in artificial rain is one of the most sizzling scene in Aamir’s career.

The focal point of the movie is the romance between Aamir and Kareena and the dance establishes it all.Aamir Khan was in all praise for Kareena Kapoor and said she was one of the most hard working actresses in the industry. He hoped audience would like the rain dance as the entire team had put a lot of effort in it.

Kareena is also busy promoting her other movie Kurbaan with beau Saif Ali Khan where the real life couple have shot some very intimate scenes. It remains to be seen whether Kareena is more appreciated romancing her beau or Aamir Khan.

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Imran Khan takes a cue from Ranbir

After the heartbreaking failure of Kidnap and Luck – it was as if somebody had kidnapped his luck – Imran Khan has finally decided to take charge of his career. According to sources, instead of ‘different’ films, Imran will now stick to commercial films. The inspiration for this new strategy is good friend-cum-profession rival Ranbir Kapoor.

Imran, we hear, wants to do romantic comedies with popular heroines and famous banners.He recently turned down Dibakar Banerjee’s Abhay Deol- starrer since that was experimental cinema.Kunal Kohli also offered him a film but since the director was a newbie – Danish Khan – Imran refused.

He is currently is shooting for Karan Johar’s I Hate Love Stories with Sonam Kapoor. The boy wants it to release before his experimental venture Delhi Belly produced by uncle Aamir Khan.

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Freida Pinto has eyes only for Dev Patel

Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto is so love-struck with co-star Dev Patel that she couldn’t even take her eyes off him at a public do recently. The 25-year-old actress was surrounded by a string of admirers at the Britannia Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, but she batted them away only to focus her attention on Patel, New York Post reported.

“She only had eyes for Dev. They look like they are totally in love,” said a source. Director of the Oscar-winning film Danny Boyle, who was also present at the event, said, “I’m delighted for them, they seem to be real soul mates… and I’m sure more than that.”

Boyle was surprised to know that the onscreen couple were also dating in real life, as he had no inkling of an impending romance between them despite working together for months.

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Shahid Kapoor is all set to do an Aamir Khan

Choreographer Ahmad Khan is back from the US after months’ shooting for a song with his best-friend Shahid Kapoor. And Ahmad just can’t stop singing his star-pal’s praises for the generosity Shahid showed in the US. The actor actually made sure Ahmad Khan’s kids got a long-cherished dream to come true. Says Ahmad fondly, “I had been promising my two sons Azaan and Subhan a trip to Disneyland for months. Earlier when we shot in the US for another Yashraj Film Bachna Ae Haseenon I kept hoping there would be time. But I couldn’t manage to get away. But this time, Shahid made sure it happened.”

Apparently Shahid not only ensured that Ahmad wrapped up his work as quickly as possible he made all the arrangements for Ahmad his wife Saira and two sons to take off for Disneyland.“And why not?” says Ahmad defensively. “Shahid and I are childhood friends. Before my mother held my sons Shahid took them in his arms. So it’s perfectly natural for him to look out for me and my family.”Recalling the fabulous experience Ahmed says, “Out of the one month I spent in the US only 12 days were devoted to shooting the song. It wasn’t even a dance song. It was a concept number showing the hero and his friends splurging and binging all over the US. We shot at casinos and at various pleasure and tourist spots in Philadelphia, Orlando, New York, New Jersey and Chicago.”

Shahid will now be seen in Ahmad Khan’s directorial project Pathshala. “In a 2-hour long film Shahid is there for an hour. So he’s there for 55 minutes. His role is like Aamir Khan’s in Taare Zameen Par. He comes in mid-way and yes, he’s the teacher. Both Shahid and I have decided to focus on the kids in the marketing rather than on Shahid.”

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Preity Zinta more than just a ‘dumb actress’

Preity Zinta is hard at work, proving to herself and her fellow students that there is more to her than the bubbly Indian actress label. Yes, Preity has taken herself and her dimples to get some education and what better place to prove her intellectual mettle than Harvard University in the US. Preity just took to her twitter account to tweet, “Stepped into the Harvard campus with the biggest smile !

Saw my course and homework and got a heart attack !Now i am the official book worm!” She added, “good night everyone ! I need to work hard otherwise i will be seen as a dumb actress …. and that cannot happen so wish me luck ! muaah !”

The pretty Preity has enrolled in a course on Negotiations and The Deal Process! So I guess all her future producers and directors should watch out!

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Girls all over Emraan Hashmi

The serial kisser was at the receiving end of kisses from his female fans in Kolkata last week while promoting his upcoming film Tum Mile, co-starring Soha Ali Khan.Emraan Hashmi was caught off guard while he was about to step onto an escalator in a mall where the promotional event was being held.

A group of his female fans approached him quietly and threw themselves upon him.
One of the girls planted kisses on Emi boy’s cheeks. In the melee, Emraan’s shirt ripped apart. The actor took this outpouring of adulation from female fans sportingly, even though he emerged out of it with lip-stick stains on his cheek and a torn shirt.

The next thing Emraan did was to buy a brand new shirt and replace it with the torn one. Emraan made a light of the whole incident but his wife Parveen might be feeling a bit jealous.

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Shahid not too happy about his vegetarian ways!

Bollywood’s much-celebrated vegetarian Shahid Kapur doesn’t seem very happy for being the way he is! The actor recently revealed that he is not too happy with the limited variety of food that he gets whenever he is out of India, because he is a staunch vegetarian.A few months back, Shahid was voted as the ‘Sexiest Vegetarian in Asia’ in a poll conducted by PETA.And now, the actor is a feeling a bit edgy as he is all set to fly to Bangkok for a shooting schedule, since he is worried about the fact that he won’t get sufficient variety of veg food there.

The actor revealed that he also had a tough time for the same reason in the US where he stayed for 40 days last month while shooting for the same film. A friend of Shahid says, “Shahid serves non-vegetarian food to his friends whenever he has a party at home but himself is a staunch vegetarian. He doesn’t even eat eggs.”“Many hotels abroad do not have much to offer as far as vegetarian food is concerned.

When he was in the US last month, his man Friday had to especially instruct the chefs in the hotel what he likes and dislikes so that they could accordingly cook for him. A similar thing might happen in Bangkok,” adds Shahid’s friend.

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Ranbir Kapoor’s new girls fight it out

Well, on the one hand there’s this young debutant Shazahn Padamsee who claims to be great friend of the Kapoor boy and is cast opposite him in YRF’s next Rocket Singh – Salesman Of The Year. And on the other hand, there’s model turned actress Gauhar Khan who’s finally bagged a big role for herself who claims it’s her the audience will remember after watching Rocket Singh. Just the other day, at the wrap up party of the film, the air around the two ladies was sub-zero. Made me want to go back and get my mink coat. (Oh my! Is it illegal these days?). However, after catching a terrible cold post that, Juicy Mausi just couldn’t resist doing a little snoopin’ around. And guess what all people said.

A little birdie who kept hovering around the unit during the making of the film told me that Shazahn was more of show off than anything else. Apparently she has been doing all it takes to publicise herself. She had started talking about her acting and dancing classes and all of that when she had only shot for four days. She even went around saying that she had nothing to do with Gauhar. She hasn’t shot with Gauhar (they have, actually, ONCE). And that she has only shot with Ranbir who happens to be a great friend.Also, Shazahn apparently was heard saying that though she has only shot for four days as opposed to the four months of Gauhar, it is the quality of work and the character that defines who the female lead inthe film is.

Not too tactful, huh? Me thinks these young ones have to grow up so much! I mean, just see the way Gauhar handled the entire situation. My friend, the little birdie, went to ask her about all that was going on. The Khan girl said that she definitely has not interacted with Padamsee on a ’social’ level. (How about anti-social level? One wonders…). And about who’s playing the lead, Gauhar was heard saying that though Shazahn is cast opposite Ranbir, she did not think she could be called the ‘lead’. In fact the ‘lead’ should be the one who leaves an impression on the audience. And well, she very diplomatically left it to the audience to decide.

WOW. Wonder what Ranbir boy was doing between the two women. Probably enjoying the fireworks, eh?

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Careless Karan Johar!

Karan Johar was in London recently promoting his upcoming film Kurbaan. He lost his wallet containing several credit cards and some cash whilst he was there.KJo was busy promoting the film and didn’t realize he had lost his wallet until he wanted to use his credit card.A source tells us, ‘KJo didn’t get a chance to shop in London this time as he was there only for a couple of days which were spent interacting with the press for Kurbaan. He went out for lunch with Saif and Kareena which is probably when he realized that his wallet was missing.’

‘Usually when Karan is in London he makes it a point to indulge in retail therapy and visit his favourite restaurants. He prefers carrying cards to money as it is more convenient. When he lost his wallet, he called up his friends and borrowed some money from them. Also, this is not the first time that he has lost his wallet so he didn’t feel lost or helpless. He immediately called up the credit card companies to cancel his cards. Even the credit card companies are used to him losing his cards and then calling them to cancel them,’ adds our source.

Karan is currently in Mumbai and is busy at the editing studio with My Name is Khan. He will be in New York next week for the promotion of Kurbaan which releases on November 20.When contacted, Karan said, ‘I don’t want to talk about such silly things as they hardly matter.

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Kareena to star opposite SRK in ‘Ra.One’

Finally, we will get to see Kareena and SRK together in the leading pair for Shah Rukh Khan’s home production Ra.One, about a flying superhero. The two had appeared together in 2001 for ‘Asoka’ which bombed at the box –office. Since, then Kareena has only done two item numbers for SRK- one in ‘Don’ and the other in ‘Billu Barber’. Now, reports have it that she has finally given the nod for the lead role opposite SRK in this sci-fi venture from Red Chillies providing some major scripts changes are made. She does not want to be known as ‘King Khan’s flop Queen’. Therefore, she wanted a much meatier part in this film.”

Kareena will be doing some very good stunts in the film apart from flying in the skies and saving people. Production will begin end of this year and continue well into 2009. The film is expected to be shot in USA. No release date has been finalized as of yet but it is expected that the film should hit the screens by Diwali 2010.

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When Big B knelt down and touched Sanjay Dutt’s feet

The makers of the film ‘Aladdin’ were quite apprehensive about the key sequence in their film which required the character played by legendry Amitabh Bachchan to kneel before Sanjay Dutt’s character and also touch his feet. The scene was an important part of the film’s narrative where Genius-the Genie (played by Big B) surrenders before the ringmaster (played by Sanjay Dutt).

Sujoy and others feared how exactly millions of Amitabh Bachchan fans would accept this scene. For Sanjay Dutt too it was challenging since Amitabh Bachchan is too big a name to be kneeling down.

But, given the professionalism of the Shehenshah of Bollywood everything went on perfectly as Big B was game of the scene and quite well understood its importance. The film does convey the message of good’s win over evil and the scene heightens the impact of the final result.

“That’s the beauty of working with Mr. Bachchan”, says Sujoy, “He lets himself be driven as wanted by the director. We were a bunch of kids wondering how to approach Sir to do this scene and there he was game to do whatever that went well with the character. He has always stated that once he is committed to a project, he doesn’t protest on anything. This is why we could can such a crucial scene without any hindrance. It is indeed one of the highlights of the film.”

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Asin faints, has a restful birthday

Asin has been so over worked and busy these days that finally, her body could not take the strain and she passes out at an Andheri club because of non-stop interviews that she had to give for her latest film, ‘London Dreams’. The actress had reportedly slept for barely 3-4 hours last week and on that day, she had no sleep or food. This, added to the fact that she was on a slimming diet, led to her collapse and she had to be revived by her staff and friends by instant energy boosters.

Later, she rested at home on her birthday. When she came home on Sunday evening, her parents had done up the entire house with balloons, like they used to when she was younger. The night was spent with close friends who came over to dinner after which they made her cut the cake at midnight. She also spent some part of her day with children from her building.

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Aamir-Bebo get wet and wild

Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor will be seen getting hot and wild in their upcoming flick 3 Idiots.

Kareena Kapoor, who is acting opposite Aamir Khan for the first time is in dilemma about promoting her both movies Kurbaan and 3 Idiots.

Bebo says, “Both Saif and Aamir are very dear to me. I think I’ve created magic with both co-stars and it is impossible for me to choose one over the other.”

Aamir who also romanced Bebo’s elder sister Karishma Kapoor,says, “Kareena is one of the most beautiful actresses that we have today. She is also a very good friend and we have both worked very hard on this rain song. I hope people like it.”

3 Idiots will be hitting the theaters on 25th December.

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