sportspersons from other fields too have sought love in Bollywood

India has only two obsessions - films and sports. So it is not very surprising that the two often meet. Big bucks, screen presence and widespread popularity, actors and sportspeople both have them all. And so, the kindred spirits sometimes falling for each other is hardly a matter of great surprise.

Recently, Om Shanti Om hottie Deepika Padukone was seen cootchie cooing with none other than cricket youth icon Yuvraj Singh. Yuvi seems to have a penchant for actresses, with Kim Sharma being his ex-girlfriend. Deepika, however, found actors to be a more interesting lot and moved on to Ranbir Kapoor.

She was the love interest of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni too. Though Deepika did not reciprocate his rather public feelings for her, he was linked to other actresses Tanushree Dutta and even Priyanka Chopra.

These hook-ups and break-ups have been making news lately. But the saga of cricketers being attracted to actresses is hardly new. One of the most significant and solid hook-up of this sort has been that between cricketer Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and yesteryear actress Sharmila Tagore. The two married in 1969 and have enjoyed holy matrimony for close to four decades now.

India’s ex cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin fell for and married actress Sangeeta Bijlani after she broke up with her longstanding boyfriend Salman Khan. Last heard, the two were happily married and settled in Hyderabad.

Manoj Prabhakar, the bad boy of Indian cricket, was linked with a Madhuri Dixit lookalike actress Farheen. He eventually divorced his first wife Sandhya and married her.

There were other Bollywood-cricket marriages too but they did not succeed that well. Actress Reena Roy tied the knot with Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan at the peak of her career in 1983. The marriage did not last long but produced a daughter Sanam. After a painful divorce, Reena came back to India with daughter in tow.

Some such romances didn’t even reach the altar. West Indian cricketer Vivian Richards’ affair with actress Neena Gupta produced a child out of wedlock. Richards went back to his homeland and his family, leaving her to bring up their daughter Masaba. Ever the tough woman, Neena did not shy away from the responsibility despite the social stigma attached.

Other relationships were pretty hush-hush. Rajesh Khanna’s ex-flame Anju Mahendroo was linked with West Indian cricket Gary Sobers when they were seen around town together. The two, however, never did confirm their romance and till date, Anju continues to maintain studied silence over the issue.

Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri, who had a massive female fan following in his heydays, was rumoured to be seeing actress Amrita Singh. The buzz died a natural death when Amrita tied the knot with Pataudi and Sharmila’s son Saif Ali Khan.

Former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly too had a roaring affair with actress Nagma. Tabloids had a field day claiming that the two had visited a temple to get married. However, the rumours died down and both moved on with their lives.

We even heard that the pretty Poonam Dhillon, after her divorce from film producer Ashok Thakeria in 1997, was seeing Sri Lankan cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga. The two denied any romantic involvement and the matter was left alone.

Known for his love for all things pretty, left-handed batsman Vinod Kambli was believed to have dated actress Aarti Chhabria. Malaika Arora-Khan’s little sister Amrita Arora was in a public relationship with British cricketer Usman Afzal. The couple split recently.

This is as far as cricket and films go. Recently, sportspersons from other fields too have sought love in Bollywood. One of the recent link-up with that of hottie Bipasha Basu with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. Even though Bips was in a relationship with fellow actor John Abraham, she was clicked sharing a smooch with the footballer. The lady denied the link-up and boyfriend John stayed faithfully by her side and still does.

Pardes actress Mahima Chaudhary had something of a rude awakening when her love affair with tennis star Leander Paes caused her heartbreak. The two were close to the altar when in walked model Rhea Pillai, who was earlier married to Sanjay Dutt. Leander dumped Mahima, fathered a child with Rhea and the two are now proud parents to a girl. Mahima too moved on and recently became mommy to a baby girl with Bobby Mukherjee.

The only sportswoman to have been linked with a Bollywood star is pathbreaking tennis star Sania Mirza. The sexy sportswoman is said to be seeing actor Shahid Kapur but both have kept mum on the rumours.

Bollywood maidens have always been bowling our sportspeople over. But who’s complaining?

July 21, 2008 | Filed Under Online Movies