Indian film stars you didn't know were related

Bollywood is a big fat happy family. And why not? After all, it is not just about lending support to each other at film screenings, award shows or even on film sets. A lot of this "brotherhood also runs in Bollywood's bloodlines! So if I tell you that the Johars and Chopras are related, will you be surprised? Or that Pakistani singer Ali Zafar has family ties with Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, would you want to know more on that? I won't be surprised if the answer is yes!

Kangana Ranaut brought back the big nepotism debate last year. But in practice, a lot of filmy connections have gone unnoticed or even untalked about forever. Here, we unravel some lesser-known blood relations in Bollywood. Let's get our brains working to draw the family trees now!

1. Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra are first cousins

While we know the two of the biggest families of Bollywood are close, there is more to this bond. Karan Johar's mother Hiroo Johar is the sister of Yash Chopra. So when Karan made his first onscreen appearance in Aditya Chopra's directorial debut DDLJ, it was all in the family!

Rani Mukerji's marriage with Aditya Chopra makes her a relative of the Chopras and Johars.

2. Rani Mukerji is Simi Garewal's sister-in-law

Also Aditya Chopra's wife Rani Mukerji is the bhabhi' of Simi Garewal. Simi's mother Drashti and Pamela Chopra are sisters making Aditya and Simi first cousins.

3. Tabu is Shabana Azmi's niece

That's because Tabu's father Jamal Hashmi is Shabana Azmi's brother. Acting surely runs in their blood.

Farah Khan and Farhan Akhtar have worked in films like Don and Dil Chahta Hai.

4. Farhan Akhtar and Farah Khan are cousins

Farhan's mother Daisy Irani has two sisters Honey Irani and Maneka Irani, and Farah Khan is the daughter of Maneka. Hence, the two filmmakers are maternal cousins.

5. Sadhna and Babita are cousins

Nothing can be more fulfilling than having two of Bollywood's yesteryear divas with a family connection. Both their fathers are brothers making them first cousins. Hence, Sadhna is also the maasi' of Karisma-Kareena.

Lata Mangeshkar felicitated Shraddha Kapoor at the 72nd Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards.

6. Shraddha Kapoor is a grandniece of Lata Mangeshkar

Now we know where Shraddha's singing talent comes from! Her grandfather is Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle's cousin.

7. Armaan Malik is Anu Malik's nephew

That's one chacha-bhatija' singing duo. Armaan's father Daboo Malik is Anu Malik's brother. Do you know what they do during family dinners? They cook make music!

The surname of Sonam Kapoor and Ranveer Singh's grandmothers is Bhavnani.

8. Sonam Kapoor and Ranveer Singh are maternal cousins

This means the two heartthrobs might never get paired onscreen! Let's put it this way Sonam Kapoor's nani' and Ranveer Singh's daadi' are real sisters. No wonder, even Ranveer and Arjun Kapoor are thick friends.

9. Fardeen Khan is Mumtaz's son-in-law

Fardeen tied the knot with Mumtaz's daughter Natasha. Interestingly, Mumtaz and Feroz Khan were not just a hit onscreen pair of the '70s but also got related courtesy their kids.

Kajol, Ayan Mukerji and Sharbani come from the influential Mukherjee family in Bollywood.

10. Kajol, Ayan Mukerji and Sharbani Mukherjee are all cousins

Kajol's father Shomu Mukherjee, Ayan's father Deb and Sharbani's father Rono are all real brothers. This makes the Mukherjee family, a big one! We still wait to see Ayan casting all his cousin sisters in his film.

11. Guru Dutt and Amrita Rao are related

Amrita's grandfather and Guru Dutt were second cousins. This, even Amrita got to know very late when her granny revealed the family's relationship with the legendary actor-filmmaker.

Sharman Joshi and Prem Chopra make a lot of public appearances together.

12. Sharman Joshi is Prem Chopra's son-in-law

Sharman is married to legendary actor Prem Chopra's daughter Prerana. Here's another one. Sharman's sister Manasi Joshi is actor Rohit Roy's wife.

13. Ayub Khan is Dilip Kumar's nephew

Ayub's father Nasir Khan is Dilip Kumar's younger brother. Hence, Dilip Kumar aka Yusuf Khan is Ayub's uncle.

Aamir Khan was reportedly taken aback when he got to know he was related to Pakistani singer-actor Ali Zafar.

14. Ali Zafar and Aamir Khan are related

Ali Zafar's wife Ayesha Fazli is Aamir Khan's distant cousin. Apparently, Aamir was shocked when Ali pointed out this relationship with him when they met. This also makes Ali, the maternal uncle of Imran Khan. Funny that Ali and Imran actually played brothers in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan!

15. Sussanne Khan is DJ Aqeel's sister-in-law

Sussanne Khan has two sisters Farah Khan Ali and Simone Arora. Music composer and celebrity DJ Aqeel Ali is married to Farah Ali Khan.

Fans wish to see Emraan Hashmi and Alia Bhatt play onscreen brother-sister too.

16. Alia Bhatt and Emraan Hashmi are cousins

This might be known to many, but let's rewind. Emraan's mother is Mahesh Bhatt's cousin sister. This makes the Bhatt senior his mama' and Alia's cousin. Right?

17. Shekhar Kapur is Dev Anand's nephew

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur's mother Sheela Kanta was Dev Anand's sister. Here's more. Actor Purab Kohli is Shekhar Kapur's nephew as Purab's dad Harsh is Kapur's cousin.

Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam are two powerful personalities of Tamil cinema.

18. Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan are related

Kamal Haasan's brother Charuhasan is more than 24 years older to him. And Mani Ratnam is Charuhasan's son-in-law. This establishes a connection between Kamal and Mani too.

19. Aditya Chopra and Vidhu Vinod Chopra are also cousins

VVC's father DN Chopra is Yash Chopra's brother. Producing Bollywood blockbusters runs in their family. Thankfully, their style of filmmaking is poles apart!

Sonakshi Sinha and Pooja Ruparel have never really made any public appearance together.

20. Sonakshi Sinha and Pooja Ruparel are cousins

We remember Pooja Ruparel as DDLJ's Chutki. Now, point to note is Pooja and Sonakshi Sinha's grandmothers are real sisters. This makes them related.

Kamal has a niece, Suhasini who Mani married.

They are not blood related to say genes/talent is in their family ! Their relation is like father/son in law !and mani is husband of south actresses suhasini ! Obviously one talented person marries another talented one and makes whole family talented...😆

except Ranveer I did not know any of these

🤣

Already knew ALL these film industry relationships except the Amrita Rao and Guru Dutt one and also that Mani Ratnam is Kamal Haasan's brother's SIL...those 2 are New Info for me.