Journalism of Courage
Actress Urmila Matondkar, 42, married Kashmir-based businessman Mohsin Akhtar Mir on Thursday (March 3) afternoon in a quiet ceremony. The ceremony was a simple one devoid of any usual Bollywood strappings. Apart from Urmila's close family members. The only person from B-town in attendance was designer Manish Malhotra. The wedding was solemnised as per Hindu rituals at Urmila's residence.
Read Urmila Matondkar marries Mohsin Akhtar Mir
Actress Preity Zinta tied the knot with her US-based fiance Gene Goodenough in Los Angeles recently. Confirmation of Preity's marriage came via a congratulatory message by veteran actor Kabir Bedi's tweet. He tweeted: "HUGE CONGRATS my friend @realpreityzinta on your marriage to Gene in Los Angeles, City of Angels. Blessings!"
Read Confirmed! Preity Zinta marries Gene Goodenough, Kabir Bedi congratulates the actress
Veteran actor Kabir Bedi, who celebrated his 70th birthday on January 16, with his close friends also tied the knot with his long-time partner Parveen Dusanj, 42, on January 15. Actor Gulshan Grover who attended Kabir Bedi’s birthday celebration on January 16 night said he wished him 10 more marriages. The couple had visited the gurudwara on January 14 to seek blessings, and the wedding was held on January 15, attended by close family and friends. Bedi was married thrice before this wedding. He first got hitched to model-turned-Odissi dancer, with whom he had two children Pooja and Siddharth.
Rani Mukherji and director Aditya Chopra secretly tied the knot on Monday (April 21, 2014) in a private ceremony in Italy. Though the couple never admitted to their romance, Rani was often a popular face at the Chopra residence. Aditya was initially married to Payal Khanna whom he divorced in 2009.
While we're known for our big weddings amidst much celebrations, some of our Bollywood folk like Rani and Aditya chose to tie the knot in secret due to different reasons. Here's a look at some of the secret Bollywood weddings.
Actor Kunal Kapoor tied the knot with fiancee and Amitabh Bachchan's niece Naina Bachchan at a secret ceremony in Seychelles on Monday (February 9). Kunal and Naina, who had been together for almost two years, got married in the presence of their immediate family members. (Source: Varinder Chawla)
Sanjay Dutt – Maanyata: The couple wed in 2008 in a private ceremony in Goa after being in a relationship for two years. Previous to this, Sanjay was married to Richa Sharma who passed away in 1996. He later married Rhea Pillai in 1998, but the couple divorced in 2005.
John Abraham – Priya Runchal: The actor secretly married Priya Runchal in an intimate ceremony in US. Though it's not quite certain whether the wedding took place in 2011, but reports suggest that the duo were definitely engaged during that time. John informed his friends in a New Year tweet: "Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed 2014! May this year bring you love, good fortune and joy. Love, John and Priya Abraham.
John was initially in a nine-year-long relationship with actress Bipasha Basu.
Dharmendra – Hema Malini: Bollywood’ dream girl is said to have fallen in love with Dharmendra on the sets of ‘Sholay’. They eloped to Khandala and got married in 1980. It is also believed that Dharmendra, who was already married had converted to Islam, in order to marry Hema. (Express Archive Photo)
Sridevi - Boney Kapoor: Though Boney Kapoor was already married, he secretly tied the knot to Sridevi and divorced his first wife later. When Sridevi announced her marriage to Boney Kapoor, she was, reportedly, seven months pregnant. (Express Archive Photo)
Soon after Rani Mukerji-Aditya Chopra's hush-hush up wedding, we get the news of another Bollywood actor tying the knot in a similar manner. Actor Aftab Shivdasini secretly tied the knot with his fiancee Nin Dusanj. According to reports, the couple met through common friends a while back and had been dating ever since. The two got hitched at a private ceremony attended by their respective families.
Nin Dusanj was working in Hong Kong for six years as a consultant in a luxury brand industry before relocating to India in 2012.
The couple plan to have an elaborate celebration at the end of the year. (Source: Varinder Chawla)
Aamir Khan - Reena: Aamir Khan eloped with his then childhood sweetheart Reena and got married but kept denying his marital status, until he became a star. The couple tied the knot on April 18, 1986. However, after 25 years of marriage, they got divorced. (Express Archive Photo)
Saif Ali Khan - Amrita Singh: Amrita Singh was about 12 years senior to Saif. When the actor announced his wish to marry her, his parents strongly opposed it. But the couple married secretly in October 1991. However, after being married for 13 years, the couple divorced in 2004. Saif is now married to Kareena Kapoor. (Express Archive Photo)
Shammi Kapoor - Geeta Bali: The duo is said to have met during the shooting of the film ‘Rangeen Raaten’ in 1955. The actor was afraid that his parents would never accept Geeta Bali as she was a year older to him. Shammi Kapoor and Geeta married secretly at Mumbai's Banganga temple at midnight in 1955.(Express Archive Photo)
Juhi Chawla - Jai Mehta: The couple denied any romantic involvement and maintained that they were 'just friends' for a long time. Finally, Juhi Chawla married the industrialist in a simple ceremony in 2001.
Gul Panag - Rishi Attari: Actress Gul Panag took everybody by surprise with her sudden wedding to her long time boyfriend Rishi Attari, a pilot in 2011. The wedding took place at a gurudwara in Chandigarh in a traditional Punjabi Sikh ceremony. The next day the actress simply tweeted, “Got got married yesterday. Super fun it was."
Kim Sharma - Ali Punjani: After dating cricketer Yuvraj Singh and being engaged to Spanish musician Carlos, Kim shocked all when she called off her engagement. She secretly tied the knot with a wealthy business tycoon from Kenya, Ali Punjani. The marriage ceremony took place in Mombasa and was attended by close friends and family.
Konkana Sen – Ranvir Shorey: The couple was always mumb about their romance. Konkona Sen married Ranvir Shorey in a quiet wedding at the former’s Mumbai residence in 2010. However, there were reports of troule in paradise when Konkana moved out of their house. But, all seems to be well between the two now.
Manoj Bajpai – Neha: Always known to be extremely private, Manoj Bajpai married pretty actress, Neha in a private ceremony in 2005. Apparently, even his parents were unable to attend the wedding as it was a sudden decision.
Pooja Bhatt - Munir Makhija: Pooja Bhatt, who was initially in a relationship with Ranvir Shorey, has never made any effort to hide her romances. However, she surprised everybody when she married VJ Udham Singh aka Munir Makhija at a private ceremony at a temple in Goa.
Celina Jaitley - Peter Hagg: Actress Celina Jaitley married Austrian businessman and hotelier Peter Hagg on July 23, 2011 at monastery in Austria. But, the actress broke the news to her fans on Twitter only a month later.
Akshay Kumar – Twinkle Khanna: In 2001, Bollywood’s ‘playboy’ Akshay married Twinkle in a low-key ceremony. The affair was attended only by Rajesh Khanna, Dimple Kapadia and other close family members.
Former 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston married her longtime boyfriend Justin Theroux at their Los Angeles-area home in a secret ceremony that took the media and many of the couple's guests by surprise. People magazine and Us Weekly, citing unidentified sources, said the couple, who have been dating for four years, exchanged vows in front of some 70 family members and friends at their Bel-Air home on Wednesday. Representatives of the couple did not return requests for comment. But celebrity news website TMZ.com posted photos of a stage, an outdoor dance floor, dining tables and a large cake being brought into the house that Aniston and Theroux share in Bel-Air, a posh hilltop neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Source: Reuters)
Popstar Cheryl Ann Cole married her french beau Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini at a secret wedding ceremony on a Caribbean island. The 'X-Factor' judge took to photo sharing website 'Instagram' to put an end to all the speculations going around about her personal life. “I usually do not discuss my personal life but to stop the speculation I want to share my happy news..Jean-Bernard and I married on 7/7/2014... We are very happy and excited to move forward wit our lives together...” shared Cheryl. The couple had only four people as guests. The two had been dating each other for the past three months. Cheryl was earlier married to Ashley Cole and the two got divorced in 2010.
