Cinema is a very important part of our Indian culture. It is not just a means for entertainment but a whole another religion for people. For us, celebrities are not just role models but deities. You might have heard incidences where people worshipped the legendary actors Rajnikanth and Amitabh Bachchan. Similarly, our love for them is so passionate and pure that their relationships feel very real to us and we start ‘shipping’ them together. The movies they do together break box-office collections and other co-stars start receiving flak for standing in the way of a happy couple. Since the inception of cinema, there have been some celebrated couples who later broke our hearts by going their separate ways. Here is a throwback to some of our favourite Iconic Bollywood couples who broke-up.
1. Dilip Kumar – Madhubala
Who hasn’t relished the beautiful pair of Anarkali and Salim in Mughal-E-Azam? They were one of the most successful on-screen couples of that time. They were so loved together that when the news of them being in a relationship went viral, their fans were ecstatic.
Dilip Kumar and Madhubala have worked in 4 films together. They met on the sets of the 1951 movie ‘Tarana’ when Madhubala was only eighteen years of age. During the shoot, she is said to have sent a note written in Urdu along with a red rose asking him to accept it if he loved her. This bold gesture fascinated Dilip Kumar and he couldn’t resist not accepting the rose.
They were madly in love and even got engaged, however, fate had other plans. There are many stories regarding how their relationship ended and the most common one is that when Dilip Sahab asked Madhubala to discontinue her acting career to marry him, she asked him to apologize to her father first for some troubles in the past and he, in all his ego, refused to do so. Soon after they went their separate ways, he got married to Saira Bano, and Madhubala chose to move on with the legendary singer, Kishore Kumar.
2. Raj Kapoor – Nargis
The romance between the first couple of Bollywood, Raj Kapoor and Nargis, was meant to be. These are among the most loved Iconic Bollywood couples who broke-up. They worked together in more than 16 films, out of which 6 were produced by Raj Kapoor himself. Raj Kapoor and Nargis met for the first time while filming Andaz when she was only 19 years old.
Raj Kapoor was already married to Krishna Kapoor and had kids when he fell in love with Nargis. However, she did not mind marrying him even then and is said to have consulted several legal experts to find some way of tying the knot to a married man. They were madly in love with each other, but it was evident that Raj Kapoor was not going to abandon his wife and children for Nargis. This revelation led her down the path of depression.
However, she soon recovered when she fell for Sunil Dutt while filming Mother India. Later, she got hitched to him in the year 1958. It is said that when Raj Kapoor heard this news, he was so miserable that he shut himself in his room and cried for hours.
3. Rajesh Khanna – Anju Mahendru
Their love story started when Rajesh Khanna and Anju Mahendru were both strugglers trying to set their foot in the industry. It was all very rosy during the start but once he became successful, he convinced Anju into withdrawing from her rising film career. The duo shared a very serious relationship of almost seven years and even moved together.
His professional success gave rise to a distance in his personal life. Due to their constant disagreements and arguments, the couple ended their relationship. However, Rajesh Khanna became so furious that he swore to completely end her career. There were also stories that Rajesh Khanna intentionally diverted his baraat’s route to pass in front of Anju’s house when he was getting married to Dimple Kapadia.
4. Amitabh Bachchan – Rekha
Amitabh and Rekha’s love story is one of the most talked-about affairs of Bollywood even today. Their love story blossomed on the sets of the film Do Anjaane when Amitabh was already married to Jaya. The duo kept their relationship a secret and never admitted to anything in public.
It is said that to hide their affair from the public eye, they met in a bungalow that belonged to Rekha’s friend. Rekha wanted to marry Amitabh and as she did not want to be known as the ‘other woman’ but he was in no mood to leave his wife for Rekha. With this, their tragic love story came to an end, both on-screen and off-screen with Silsila’ serving as the last film the couple starred in together.
5. Mahesh Bhatt – Parveen Babi
When it comes to tragic Bollywood love stories, Mahesh Bhatt and Parveen Babi’s doomed tale comes to mind. They were so much in love that Mahesh even left his wife and started living with Parveen. Things would have been completely different today, had it not been for Parveen’s unstable mental condition. Mahesh tried to help Parveen, but when nothing worked out, he decided to leave her and go back to his wife.
However, he could not abandon Parveen as her condition kept deteriorating. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and it became increasingly difficult for Mahesh as her delusions kept getting worse. He tried to distance himself from her as he believed that he was a part of the problem itself. When Parveen passed away in the year 2005, Mahesh was the one to claim her body.
These were some lovely couples with ill-fated love stories. Stay tuned for the next part on Iconic Bollywood couples who broke-up.
Also Read: Iconic Bollywood couples whose break-up broke our hearts : Part 2
