Passion play

Passion play

ON-SCREEN lovers continuing to be in love after camera reels have stopped isn't unheard of in Bollywood. Such is the world of glamour that every day you come across so many striking faces that it doesn't take much for the sparks to fly.

While some sparks become flames others die a quiet death.

Some lovers try hard to keep their love life a secret but their star quotient makes them vulnerable and sets tongues wagging. When Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor fell for each other on the sets of Yashraj's Tashan, they didn't tell anyone. Unfortunately, photographers snapped them having a cozy dinner together and the cat was out of the bag. While everyone thought that Bebo was seeing Shahid, here she was wining and dining with Saif.

Initially dismissed as a fling, everyone realised that the fiery Kareena had tamed the Casanova in Saif when the later got 'Kareena,' tattooed on his arm.

Everyday a new love story headlines on Kareena and Saif. Recently when Kareena sported a diamond it was reported that the couple had tied the knot in a secret ceremony which Saif later denied (he had even denied his secret marriage to first wife Amrita till a newspaper proved them married!). Sources still insist that they are married but have sworn to keep it a secret because Kareena feels that her married status may mar her star popularity.

Every woman that's ever entered Sanjay Dutt's life has managed to make it to the front pages and Manyata is no different. From a struggling actress she became famous overnight when she held Sanjay's hand and walked into an award ceremony.

When a tabloid leaked that Manyata was a wannabe actress who had done a few C-grade films and an item number in a Prakash Jha film, Sanjay announced that Manyata was his wife and they had married in a secret ceremony. Later Sanjay went back on his statement saying he was drunk and wasn't serious about what he said.

That day onwards Manyata has been a constant fixture in Sanjay's life. Apparently she was the reason for his split with best buddy Sanjay Gupta, and it's said that Manyata remote controls him which his sisters don't approve of. Today, the news is out that he has officially married Manyata.

Sanjay Dutt's close friend Salman Khan also makes all his women famous. Katrina Kaif maybe a popular model but for a long time she was known as Salman's latest girlfriend.

She's in her early 20's and he's in his early 40's and is notorious for getting violent with his girlfriends but sources say that Katrina has a calming effect on him. Salman hooked up with Katrina shortly after Aishwarya Rai dumped him and one thought that it was love on the rebound. But the couple has been together for more than three-years now.

When Salman went to jail, Katrina rallied behind him and she attends all his family functions. But 2008 hasn't started on a good note for these two lovebirds as Katrina, sources report, is tired of Salman's possessiveness and dictatorial behaviour. While he wants her to be just his girlfriend (and even his wife) she wants to pursue her career first.

The Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan love story was the only good thing that came out of J P Dutta's Umrao Jaan. While reports of Bollywood's Most Eligible Bachelor and the former Miss World's friendship trickled in, the couple remained tightlipped. But the more Abhi and Ash kept their relationship exclusive, the more the press talked about it.

Finally in April 2007 they tied the knot at Abhishek's residence in the years most talked about event. While the Bachchan's tried their best to keep the event exclusive news and pictures filtered in and were all over the internet. Post marriage, Aishwarya's Karvachauth, to her cooking dinner in the Bachchan household to pregnancy rumours made headlines.

Among all these couples its Bipasha Basu and John Abraham who have been together for the longest time, six-years. The stunning couple, turn heads every time they step into the arc lights. What sets them apart is that they have always been open about their relationship.

But their journey of love hasn't been a path of roses; rumours of break-ups and flings with other actors have often done the rounds. In 2007 there were rumours that the couple had finally broken-off. Rumours arose that John was tired of Bipasha's possessiveness and Bipasha was tired of John's flings but the couple emerged strong and sources say that 2008 could see this couple sealing their love with a formal engagement. -BM&C