Bollywood's 'other women'

Secret affairs have been a side effect of Bollywood fame for years. They peddle happily ever after on screen, but it's not unusual for much married stars to look beyond home and hearth. Here, we bring you some of the famous ‘other' women of Bollywood.

Rekha: The most famous 'other woman' in Bollywood is, of course, Rekha. Her rumoured affair with Amitabh Bachchan, who was already married to Jaya Bachchan when he met her, has been so much talked about that even thirty years down the line, it's still fodder for the gossip mills.

Hema Malini: A rare happy ending for this storied love affair, which blossomed on the sets of Sholay. Dharmendra had to convert to Islam so that he could marry Hema Malini, while remaining married to first wife Prakash Kaur.

Waheeda Rehman: The Waheeda-Guru Dutt connection has passed into Bollywood lore. Their film together Kaagaz Ke Phool, the story of a filmmaker and his muse, is considered a close reflection of their real life love affair. This story had the most tragic of endings. Guru Dutt committed suicide in 1964, and his wife, Geeta Dutt, drank herself to death 10 years later.

Nargis: Co-stars Nargis and Raj Kapoor's screen romance spilled over to real life while the actor was married to Krishna Malhotra, the mother of Randhir, Rishi and Rajeev Kapoor. At the end of their affair, Nargis married actor Sunil Dutt and remained married to him till her death.

Sridevi: This South Indian beauty was tagged the ‘other woman' more than once. Sridevi started dating, and possibly even secretly married, Mithun Chakrabarty while he was still married to Yogita Bali. She is said to have had her own marriage to Mithun annulled when she discovered that he was not divorced from his first wife. Later, she married producer Boney Kapoor who had been married to his first wife, Mona Kapoor, when he met Sridevi and fell in love with her. Strangely enough, Mona continued to live in Boney Kapoor's house for ten years after him and Sridevi tied the knot.

Zeenat Aman: The unconventional actress was publicly involved with director Sanjay Khan while he was married to Zarine Khan. The affair ended when Zeenat was reportedly assaulted by Sanjay and Zarine in public which permanently damaged her eye.

Parveen Babi: The luminous but troubled beauty was a serial ‘other woman.' She had a two year affair with director Mahesh Bhatt who was then married to Kiran Bhatt. Mahesh Bhatt went on to write and direct Arth, a fictionalized account of his time with Parveen. She also dated Danny Denzongpa and Kabir Bedi, both married at the time. Parveen Babi was also rumoured to have had an affair with Amar Akbar Anthony co-star Amitabh Bachchan, who she later accused of conspiring to kill her.

Shilpa Shetty: Another story with a happy ending, Shilpa was accused of breaking up husband Raj Kundra's first marriage.

Sushmita Sen: The actress fell in love with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt while shooting for her first movie, Dastak. Vikram Bhatt divorced childhood sweetheart Aditi to be with the beauty queen, but there was to be no happily ever after for them. Like Mahesh Bhatt before him, Vikram Bhatt wrote and directed the semi-autobiographical Ankahee in which Esha Deol's character was reported to have been based on Sushmita.

Rani Mukherjee: This talented actress' relationship with director Aditya Chopra has been an open secret in Bollywood for some years now. Aditya only recently divorced wife Payal Khanna. And wedding bells are rumoured to be in the offing for Rani who was spotted celebrating Diwali at the filmmaker's home last year.