Rani Mukherjee in a still from Ta Ra Rum Pum.

By Vimla Patil

Whether the Roka or engagement ceremony of Aditya Chopra and Rani Mukherjee took place on Monday night this week or not, the news has certainly brought back vivid memories of the many famous second marriages and affairs in Bollywood through the past ages.

The Adi-Rani engagement report had said that Adi's divorce from former wife Payal was yet to be finalized. Concurrently, another news item in the same week confirmed that actress Mahima Choudhary gave birth to a baby girl after secretly marrying divorcee architect Bobby Mukherjee in the U.S. Mahima and Rani are not the only Bollywood stars to pair up with divorced or married-before men.

Earlier, through many decades, Bollywood heroines have hitched their wagons to married men without much compunction. In fact, just a few decades ago, South Indian heroines coming into Bollywood had set a deadly pattern of 'stealing other women's husbands.'

Vaijantimala married Dr. Bali, a married man, after allegedly having an affair with Raj Kapoor.

Earlier, the legendary love affair of Raj Kapoor and Nargis became the subject of many books!

Hema Malini

Hema Malini, the Dream Girl of Bollywood, openly married a very-much-married Dharmendra in a Vedic ceremony defying India's bigamy laws.

So did Jaya Prada when she married Srikanth Nahata.

Ironically, both the latter actresses are members of Rajya Sabha today.

Sri Devi, another South Indian bombshell, married Boney Kapoor, even as he lived with first wife Mona Shourie and two children.

Bigamy laws in India being non-cognizable, these marriages have gone Scot free from the clutches of law!

With heroines in Bollywood becoming more educated, assertive, independent-minded and progressive, the nature of second marriages has changed dramatically over the years.

It would seem that today's stars have no objection to marrying divorced heroes or having affairs with married actors. To wit, Jessica Hines, a British author who came to write about Bollywood, had a son Jaan by Aamir Khan.

Kiran Rao, who had an affair with Aamir during the making of Lagaan, married him after he divorced wife Reena Dutta, mother of his two children – Junaid and Aaira.

Saif Ali Khan paired up with Rosa and soon folded up his marriage with Amrita Singh, mother of his children Ibrahim and Sarah.

Other actresses have chosen to marry already divorced men.

Raveena Tandon is married to divorcee Anil Thadani.

Karisma is seen modelling Eros jewelry in this TV grab.

Karisma Kapur is married to Sanjay Kapur, former husband of designer Nandita Mahtani.

Sushmita Sen is romancing Manav Menon, a married man.

But when an affair threatens to break a Bollywood marriage, gossip mills work overtime.

For example, Priyanka Chopra's reported affair with Akshay Kumar during the making of Aitraaz hit the headlines for weeks and threatened his marriage with Twinkle Khanna.

Rani Mukherjee's secret romance with Aditya Chopra kept surfacing in the news long before the news of his estrangement with wife Payal and the alleged Roka.

Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty was rumored to be in a relationship with Anubhav Sinha, a married man!

So what's with heroines that they choose married men for marriage or romance?

An actress, who is currently in an affair, says under the cover of anonymity in Bombay Times, "It's their (the men's) experience of life. They have seen it all. Their ability to understand you, pamper you and not repeat the same mistake is alluring to women. It's dangerous ground to tread. But perhaps this is the most defining moment in a woman's life."

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