8 Bollywood heartthrobs who didn’t get the girl

If you think it’s only your regular guy in the office cubicle who woos in vain, here’s evidence to the contrary. A line-up of much-admired Bollywood heroes have given it their all and still failed in love.

So if you’ve been at the receiving end of a refusal, these stories should cheer you up. You’re in the company of a bunch of seriously rich, talented, successful and popular hunks!

Moving backwards in Bollywood time, let’s start with one of the biggest bachelor stars of all: Sallu himself. Now he’s always had a million women swooning for his attention any day of the week. But when it came to marriage, nothing he could do would keep Ash, who walked away and eventually married the Bachchan son and heir.

And Shahid Kapoor? Boyishly sexy Shahid Kapoor who set the dance floor aflame and had the girls eating out of his hand? Well, he started off with Kareena, who married Saif the nawab, went on to Vidya, who married the UTV bossman Siddharth Roy Kapur, and then nursed a broken heart yet again when Priyanka broke up with him for the umpteenth time. Clearly good looks, charm and a killer smile will only get you so far. Milegi Milegi, is how we’d put it: some day!

And of course, Salman Khan wasn’t the only B-town hunk left heartbroken by Aishwarya. Also in that august line up was Vivek Oberoi. Vivek withstood 41 threatening phone calls from Salman and even called him out to a duel during a rather ill thought through press conference. But the lady backed off in a great hurry, duel or no.

Then there’s the Hrithik lookalike Harman Baweja, who actually didn’t do a bad job at all of ‘What’s Your Rashee?’ But unfortunately for him, his rashee didn’t match that of the then rising star (ha ha, pun unintended) Priyanka Chopra. You see, in Bollywood, you have to be in the same league, and these two – it was obvious to all – were not.

Sunjay Dutt is another case in point. After a rollicking time with several starlets, he appeared to fall seriously in love with the No.1 heroine of the time, Madhuri Dixit. But he blotted his copybook by getting involved in the TADA case, and Madhuri, ever practical, elected to call it quits and head for the US with that dishy doctor husband. Probably the best decision she ever took, too.

And then there was Sanjeev Kumar, who fell so in love with Hema Malini that when she turned him down in favour of the much older and already married Dharmendra, Sanjeev stayed a life-long bachelor. Not an example we recommend; plenty of fish in the sea, we say! And the poets say so too… what was that famous Urdu line? Tu nahin to aur sahi, aur nahin to aur sahi.

Further back in B-town history, there was Dev Anand, so smitten by Suraiya that he was willing to overlook their religious differences and the objections of both families. But the lady was otherwise inclined.

And finally, the couple who brought life to the story of Salim and Anarkali: Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. They were the talk of the town till Madhubala decided her bossy father was more important than her boyfriend. And there ended that grand romance.

So all you forlorn lovers out there, take heart. The right woman is on her way!