Has the biggest break-up in recent times happened in Bollywood? That is the question on the tip of everyone’s tongues as news swirls around that Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have decided to go their separate ways. There is a flurry of gossip in the media insinuating just as much, with more than one theory for why it should have happened. 
At the top of the list is, of course, his friendship with Deepika Padukone, an ex-girlfriend with whom he has a great working relationship, too. But one news snippet alleged that it was not Deepika but Alia Bhatt who was the cause. This is a bolt from the blue since there has never been any such talk before about the two. The rumour, in its details, said that Katrina had come to know that he had become too pally with Alia at filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s home where he had gone to discuss a movie. And then Katrina retaliated by blacklisting Alia and even asking filmmakers to drop her which disturbed Ranbir enough for him to move out of the home. Given the strange narrative, it is probably untrue. Another reason given for the split is that Katrina kept waiting for some sort of a long term commitment from Ranbir which was not forthcoming and at one point just gave up on it. This echoes her former relationship with Salman Khan; he too is famously reluctant to let a relationship progress to its next stage of marriage. A third reason is said to be professionally connected. They are both acting in Jagga Jasoos and Katrina’s dates didn’t match for a shooting and Ranbir felt upset at her inability to make time.  
In all these wild guesses over the cause, what seems to be not in question is that there is some truth to the split itself. Ranbir recently threw a party at the new house that he has moved into and guess who was not present — Katrina. And he has been living there alone since the middle of this month. Katrina, on the other hand, is said to have dived headlong into her work to deal with the break-up. How they will finish Jagga Jasoos together will be of keen interest to everyone. Newly separated lovers don’t make the best co-workers!

The last chess piece: Wazir’s  Farhan and wife divorce 

Farhan Akhtar and his wife Adhuna have been married for 16 years. She is a celebrated hair stylist and they were among the famous couples of Bollywood. But they have now called it quits and in a public statement said that they were divorcing and requested for privacy. Rumours of the split had been talked about ever since Farhan was seen coming alone in the promotional events of Wazir. But the marriage was anyway said to be non-functional over the last couple of years and some speculate it on Farhan having a roving eye. 
According to one rumour, Wazir itself was the trigger with Adhuna not approving of an intimate scene in it. But it is hard to believe that something as ludicrous as that could end a 16-year-old relationship. When Adhuna married Farhan, he was actually a nobody in Bollywood. It was soon after the marriage that his career took off.

Sunny side up: Resolute Leone sways many, Aamir included

Sunny Leone the porn star turned Hindi film actress is at the crest of her career in Bollywood, which has taken off better than what most people thought. Though she still gets typecast in sensual roles, the movies go on to do well. In fact, in the just released Mastizaade she has a double role, playing twins, something that heroines rarely get to do. She normally has a rule when agreeing for media interview about not answering questions on her stint of acting in porn movies. But one of the interviewers for a television channel decided to touch on the subject and did it in a not very graceful manner. His questions were insulting and along the lines of whether she felt her past a burden on her present, whether she represented a danger to public morality and so on. One of them was quite bizarre in that she was asked whether Aamir Khan would agree to work with her, presumably insinuating that he wouldn’t. After the interview, ironically, there 
was a groundswell of support for Sunny in how she had bravely faced the questions without walking out. She later said she felt like she was being interrogated 
and had been upset about it but she was not the sort of person to back away from anything. 
Meanwhile, to everyone’s surprise, Aamir himself tweeted, ‘ I think Sunny conductd herself wid a lot of grace & dignity.I wish I cud hav said the same abt the interviewer’ and ‘ Sunny,I wil b happy 2 wrk wid u.I hav absolutely no problems wid ur “past”, as the interviewer puts it.Stay http://blessed.Love .a.’

Intolerance debate divides tinsel town

Bollywood is increasingly divided into those who stand up for and against the government on charges it is fostering a climate of creative and communal intolerance in the country. Aamir has become the poster boy for all the anti-government voices given the kind of vicious retaliation that he got after saying at a public event that his wife had asked him whether they should move out of the country. 
At the other end is Anupam Kher, who bats completely for the government. Recently, a surprising personality inveigled himself into this debate. Akshay Kumar, who is usually apolitical, was asked about Aamir’s statement and instead of ducking the question he said that if you don’t like a product you should not endorse it. He was alluding to Aamir being a brand ambassador for Indian tourism when he spoke of the intolerance. 
Meanwhile, Karan Johar, at another public event, said that freedom of expression was a big joke in India and that speaking about one’s personal life could land a person in jail. This is a debate that is a long way from over yet. 

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