Celebrity Breakups: Famous Bollywood Love Stories with a Sad Ending

These Bollywood Stars were madly in love with each other at some time. Unfortunately they did not end up marrying each other.

Most of the time, an exploding chemistry in reel life also turns out into a heated affair in real life, which we (as fans) have been witnessing for decades. We have seen our favorite stars fall in love (sometimes outside their marriage), giving us plenty of spicy news to gossip about!

Here are Bollywood stars, who at some time, were head-over-heels in love with each other. However, these love stories had a sad ending; these relationships (extra-marital affairs in some cases) broke up due to several reasons – ego, cheating, one of them was married (usually the male), family interference, and so on, forcing these celebs to not marry their love.

Here are the tragic love stories of our Bollywood stars, witnessed over the years, that ended on a sad note.

Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha

He’s the Shahenshah of Bollywood and anything related to him has to be big news, and this one is about his affair, so its not going to die down for years to come.

This one is the most famous and probably the most talked about affairs of all time. Although the Big B was married to the sweet Guddi in 1973, his affair with the Umrao Jaan became apparent during the making of their film Silsila. There were even rumours that Rekha and Amitabh have got secretly married; Rekha even turned up at Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh’s wedding wearing sindoor and mangalsutra. Although, Rekha boldly admitted her love for him, Amitabh Bachchan never admitted it in public.

In an interview given to Filmfare magazine in 1984, Rekha spoke about Amitabh’s denial of their relationship. She said, “Why should he have not done it? He did it to protect his image, his family, his children. Why should the public know of my love for him or his love for me? I love him and he loves me – that’s it!”

‘Silsila’ was the last film in this couple starred together. Rekha soon realized that she had no future in this relationship, and their relationship quickly began to fade.

However, even after decades, this sad love-story is still talked about! These two personalities still make newspaper headlines, if they’re seen near each other (in a flight or during some event).

Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai

Another much-talked about relationship, that went wrong!

Salman Khan and Aishwarya’s famous love story began on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, however Aishwarya’s parents never approved of the relationship right from the beginning. However Ash called off the relationship because Salman used to cheat on her. Salman was unable to come to terms with the breakup initially; he went wild and created a ruckus during the shooting of Chalte Chalte (because of which Ash was replaced by Rani Mukherji). Its said that Salman even physically hit Ash on several occasions. When Ash got closer to Vivek Oberoi, Salman even threatened Vivek (their rift was out in the open later).

Aishwarya is now married to Abhishek Bachchan, and Salman Khan is still single!

Karisma Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan

Before Abhishek Bachchan got married to Ash, Karisma Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan were every bit a couple in love, and they were even engaged to each other on Amitabh Bachchan’s 60th Birthday. However, it seems interference from their families resulted in the relationship going kaput.

There were several rumors floating around during this break up. One was that the Bachchan parivar did not want Lolo to work post marriage which infuriated lolo’s mother Babita. Another story is that Amar Singh, who at that time was close to the Bachchans, put detectives behind Lolo to reveal her alleged closeness to Sahara head Subroto Roy. This led to an ugly confrontation between Babita and Jaya Bachchan, and the wedding was called off.

Abhishek Bachchan is now happily married to Aishwarya Rai. However, Karishma Kapoor’s marriage Sanjay kapur seems to be headed to divorce.

Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor

For many, the news of the breakup of Shahid Kapoor & Kareena Kapoor was shocking! How could a couple who were so deeply in love with each other, break up (you could see their chemistry in movies like ‘Jab We Met’).

Bebo was the one who was always crazy about Shahid Kapoor and is said to have initiated the first move. However, after four years, cracks started developing in their relationship. Kareena fell for Saif (in Ladakh) during the filming of Tashan. Shahid was also rumoured to be getting close to his Kismet Konnection co-star Vidya Balan. However, it was Bebo who was apparently blamed for infidelity. She moved on and got married to the Chote Nawab (Saif Ali Khan). Shahid is still single (was linked to Priyanka Chopra some time back).

Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor

Not many are aware, but even Bebo and Hrithik were madly in love at one time, despite the fact that Hrithik was already dating his sweetheart Sussanne Khan (Sanjay Khan’s daughter). However it was short-lived and Hrithik got married to Sussanne, and Kareena Kapoor started dating Shahid Kapoor.

Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori

Hrithik Roshan and Suzanne were childhood sweethearts, but during the making of ‘Kites’, Hrithik got too close to his Mexican co-star Barbara Mori. Although Barbara Mori went back, it did a lot of damage to Hrithik’s family life. Hrithik and Suzanne are now divorced.

Bipasha Basu and John Abraham

Their relationship seemed to be the strongest of all; they had known each other since their modelling days and were reportedly dating for around eight years. So their break-up really came across as a shocker to their fans. Though the couple chose to stay mum over the reasons, the Bong beauty did hint at John’s infidelity being the reason for their breakup. They have moved on since then. John Abraham is now married to Priya Runchal (a banker), and Bips is now dating Harman Baweja.

Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra

The Baadshah of Bollywood (married to Gauri Khan) has had sizzling chemistry with several actresses like Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta (and was never linked with anyone). However, there were rumors of him having an affair with Priyanka Chopra (some even say that they’re married).

Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit

Sanjay Dutt was married to Richa Sharma (Trishala is their daughter). But her untimely death due to cancer, left the actor devastated.

Around this time (in the 90s) Sanjay was linked to the beautiful Madhuri Dixit, the Dhak Dhak girl of Bollywood. The two allegedly got close to each other on the sets of Saajan, which surprised many (even Madhuri’s father was unhappy) because Sanjay Dutt aka Sanju was the bad boy of the industry. However, after Sanjay’s TADA arrest, it was time for Madhuri to move on.

She got married to Dr Nene and moved to the US for few years; the Nene family is now back in Mumbai.

Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty

Akshay and Shilpa Shetty worked together in several films, and it was during the making of one such film that love between the two blossomed. However, Shilpa soon found out that Akshay was two timing her (with her then best friend, Twinkle Khanna). But before anyone could comprehend what was happening, Akshay had tied the knot with Twinkle Khanna (daughter of Dimple and Rajesh Khanna). Shilpa shetty got married to Raj Kundra, a UK-based businessman!

After a long gap, when they both met again on the sets of Bigg Boss, Shilpa had introduced Akshay, saying, “Aapne zindagi mein bahaut saare stunts kiye hain” to which Akshay promptly replied, “Ji aapse aacha kaun jaanta hain mere stunts ke baare mein.”

Akshay & Raveena

Before shilpa, Akshay & Raveena Tandon were in a serious relationship. However, during the making of ‘Khiladiyon ka Khiladi’ link-up stories of Akshay and Rekha became the sensational news in the media. Raveena, who was already dealing with the flamboyant nature of Akshay, could not take this infidelity anymore and with it, their relationship ended on a sour and sad note.

Mithun and Sridevi

Their love blossomed on the sets of Jaag Utha Insaan, but then, Mithun was already married to actress Yogita Bali. It seems Mithun and Sridevi had secretly got married, and Mithun had left his house to stay with Sridevi for some time. However, the twist in this tale came when Sridevi asked Mithun to officially marry her and divorce Yogita, and Mithun was not prepared for this! When Yogita tried to commit suicide (on hearing about their affair), Mithun broke-off all his relations with Sridevi and came back to his former wife. Sridevi would later go onto marry director Boney Kapoor.

Boney Kapoor and Sridevi

Not many are aware how this relationship started. You may call it a typical case of love, deceit and breach of trust. Filmmaker Boney Kapoor was happily married to Mona Shourie Kapoor (and had two kids). However, things went bad for Mona when she decided to help Sridevi and give her shelter in their own house. Soon, cupid struck between Boney and Sridevi and finally, one day, Sridevi was discovered pregnant. Soon, Mona and Boney got divorced; Mona
died of cancer recently, while Boney and Sridevi continue to enjoy their family life.

Sanjay Khan and Zeenat Aman

Zeenat Aman, the original seductress of B-town, attracted a lot of her co-stars, including Sanjay Khan (who was already married to Zarine Khan and had three children). Sparks flew and they even got married and lived together.Zarine khan was furious on knowing about this, and supposedly beat up Zeenat, damaging her eye permanently.

Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy

Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy gave several hits together, and passion was bound to grow between the two. Shatrughan Sinha was already married to Poonam, yet Reena wanted him to marry her. He refused, and Reena had no other choice but to move on.

Kamal Hassan and Sarika

This one is a tale of multiple affairs and deceit. Kamal Hassan was married to classical dancer Vani Ganpathi, but when she failed to conceive, Kamal moved closer to actress Sarika, who became pregnant even before marriage. Sarika left her successful career at its peak, married Hassan and decided to settle down. However, Kamal Hassan cheated on her as well, and married another young actress. Sarika almost attempted suicide and took a long time to recover from the depression. The couple is now divorced.

Sanjeev Kumar and Hema Malini

Sanjeev Kumar, at one time, was the most sought after actors and also a favourite among women. But Sanjeev Kumar lost his heart to the dream-girl of Bollywood, Hema Malini, who refused his proposal and chose Dharmendra. Haribhai (his real name) could never recover from this incident and was the reason that he chose to remain a bachelor for his entire life.

Dharmendra and Hema Malini

Dharmendra was married to Prakash Kaur (and had four children from her) when he fell for the “Dream Girl”. Established actors like Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra had already proposed to Hema, but she turned them all down and chose Dharam. When his wife Prakash refused to divorce him, Dharmendra converted to Islam so that he could marry his Dream Girl. The couple has two daughters, Esha and Ahana.

Raj Kapoor and Nargis

A passionate romance that became the talk of the whole nation! The iconic hindi song “Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua Hai” (from the movie Shree 420) is still a reflection of Raj Kapoor and Nargis’ real-life love.

However, this love story failed because Raj Kapoor was a married man who did not wish to leave his wife/family. Nargis was also not happy with Raj Kapoor’s womanizing ways, and went on to marry Sunil Dutt (they fell in love during the making of Mother India).

Dev Anand and Suraiya

Suraiya (top singer of her time) was at the peak of her career and Dev Anand was just another debutant in the industry, when they fell in love. But then love doesn’t care for such differences (a typical Hindi film dialogue, but holds true in real life as well). However, this love story could not have a happy ending because of family pressures (Suraiya’s grandmother was dead against the marriage).

Dev, who was devastated, even called her a coward publicly. Years later, Suraiya, in her interview to Stardust in 1972, recalled what Dev had told her, “The only religion is love. Don’t let social barriers or family influence your heart.” But despite all his efforts, Suraiya didn’t have the courage to go against her family and marry him, a decision which she regretted all her life!

Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman

Guru Dutt was a successful director, producer and actor, and was already married to singer Geeta Roy, when his proximity to Waheeda Rehman started affecting his family life.

Dutt loved both the women but as per Hindu customs it was not possible to marry them both (and he was not willing to convert). To find solace, he immersed himself completely in his work, ignoring his wife and family and made it even more miserable. Finally, Geeta Dutt left Dutt in despair, which drove him towards complete isolation. Things worsened so much that both Guru and Geeta took to heavy drinking, and finally Guru Dutt died in 1964 and Geeta in 1972. Guru Dutt attempted suicide thrice, but was successful in the last attempt.

Madhubala And Dilip Kumar

They were the most famous stars of their time and deeply in love with each other. However, disagreement started increasing between the two and their relationship headed for doom. There are several stories citing different reasons for their breakup. Some say that Madhubala’s father Attaullah Khan was against their love and never gave Madhubala the permission to marry Dilip Kumar, and she, being the obedient daughter never went against her father. Some say that Madhubala had asked Dilip to apologize to her father (because of some altercation), to which Dilip saab had refused.

However the truth, as revealed by Dilip sahab was completely different. It seems Madhubala’s father also owned a production company and he wanted both Dilip & Madhubala to work for his banner. However, Dilip Kumar made it clear that he would choose films based on its own merits and purely based on professional reasons. And that is where differences between Dilip Sahab & Attaullah Khan (Madhubala’s father) started increasing, which eventually led the two stars to go separate ways.

Although Madhubala moved on and married, it is said that she loved Dilip saab till the end of her life. Madhubala also had a severe heart condition which was incurable at that time. In the 1960’s her situation aggravated and she quit acting in movies. She married Kishore Kumar which turned out a loveless marriage. Kishore often pleaded her to get over Dilip and restrain herself from watching the movies they had starred in together, but it was of no help. Madhubala passed away in 1969 with Dilip’s name on her lips.

Love affairs and gossips rarely die, especially in Bollywood at least! With the kind of work/roles these guys do, you may even call it an occupational hazard. Is someone saying “Bade bade deshon mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain”? I hope you found these interesting (I bet you didn’t know about them all).