'Yes, I'm married and expecting!' -Mahima

Mahima Chaudhary breaks silence on secret wedding and hidden pregnancy.


This is a BT exclusive. Actress Mahima Chaudhary has come clean. Yes, she is married. Her husband is her brother's best friend, the noted architect Bobby Mukherjee. And, yes, she is pregnant; the baby is due in a week. Finally, she is deliriously happy, and her now-on, then-off career in Bollywood is an inconsequential part of her life.

"Pregnancy is a beautiful phase. You put on lots of weight. But I must say I look well endowed," laughed Mahima, adding, "I think all mothers-to-be look most beautiful when they are expecting." She certainly does. Her skin glows, her eyes sparkle, and her emotions are running high.

Mahima's sister Aakansha has come down from Florida with her old maternity clothes and her little son's baby outfits. "In our custom, we don't allow the newborn to wear anything new for 15 days," explained Aakansha. Mahima, who is delighted with Aakansha's company, said, "Bobby wants a daughter. So do I. But it's fine if we are blessed with a son."

She laughed off the rumours of conceiving out of wedlock. "Just because I didn't invite the world for a reception, doesn't mean I am not married," she said. She legally married Bobby last year on March 19, in Las Vegas. He was earlier married but divorced when they met.

"It was at a hoteliers' conference in Vegas," Mahima recalled. "I was making an appearance there and marriage wasn't part of the plan. I had chopped off my long tresses and had a bob cut and was simply enjoying the holiday and attending the conference." But the beauty and magic of Vegas changed all that. And Mahima called her sister and a few friends over for the wedding.

"At a function on March 19, amongst about 10,000 Indian hoteliers and their families, we got married and nobody had an inkling. I wore a red sari as if I was decked up for the function," she said. The couple had a registered marriage, and later, on March 23, they got married according to Hindu rites with Mahima dressed up like a Bengali bride in a sari with red border and red and white Bengali bangles.

Having been born and brought up in Kolkata, Mahima speaks fluent Bengali but does not know how to cook Bengali food. "I am a vegetarian and he is a pucca Bong fishitarian," said the actress. But Bobby, in a display of affection, has given his wife a pet name that indicates the Bengali's love for food and all things sweet. "He calls me Mishti," blushed Mahima. The two will soon be shifting to their new house in Bandra.