In India, marriage is considered to be a pure and sacred bond of two soulmates for saatjanams (seven births) which is believed to be made by God. No power or force can break the relationship of a husband and his wife. But what if this sacred bond becomes the reason of your unhappiness? What if your spouse, whom you thought would be “the one” is not actually the perfect soulmate? What if your marriage starts hampering your and your spouse’s growth and well-being?
In our country, divorces are still a taboo in many cultures. It is never easy for a woman to walk out of an unfulfilling marriage and choose to fall in love again. She faces a lot of challenges in the form of societal pressure, family pressure and her own emotional turmoil. However, women possess the greatest power to withstand all kinds of challenges in life and come out as winners.
Here are some well-known Indian actresses who have shown their strength and endurance not only in reel life but in real life too by choosing their self-respect and happiness above all by walking out of unhappy marriages with dignity and dared to love again and marry again.
Kirron Kher, one of the most popular and versatile actresses of Indian theatre, cinema and television, singer, entertainment producer, Tv show host and a member of Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the best examples of a strong woman who overcame her failed marriage and chose to love and marry again. She married a Mumbai-based businessman, Gautam Berry in March 1979 and had a son Sikandar who is now an actor. In 1985, when Anupam Kher, whom Kirron had known since her college days, got his break in films starting with Saaransh, she divorced Gautam Berry. In the same year Kirron and Anupam tied the knot.
One of the most well-known actresses of the mid 80s and 90s, Neelam Kothari found the love of her life in her second husband. In October 2000, she married Rishi Sethia in Bangkok, son of a businessman in the U.K. However, their marriage was a short lived one. On 24 January 2011, she married actor Samir Soni. After 2 years of marriage, they adopted a daughter on 2 September 2013 and named her Ahana.
A strong and powerful actress, Neelima Azeem was well ahead of her time. At the age of sixteen, Azeem married Pankaj Kapur in 1975 and welcomed their only son, Shahid Kapoor in February 1981. The couple got divorced in 1984, when Shahid was just three years old. She remarried in the year 1990 to actor Rajesh Khattar. They welcomed a son, named Ishaan Khatteron 1 November 1995. However, they parted ways in 2001. After the failure of her second marriage, Neelima Azeem finally found her soulmate in her childhood friend Ustaad Raza Ali Khan.
Yogeeta Bali, a former Indian Bollywood actress, active through the 70s and the 80s also married twice in her life. Her first marriage was with Kishore Kumar in the year 1976 but they got divorced in 1978. She was the third wife of Kishore Kumar. She found love again in actor Mithun Chakraborty on the sets of their film Khwab and got married in the year 1979. Together they have a son, actor Mahaakshay Chakraborty.
Another popular actress of the 70s and 80s, Bindiya Goswami was known to follow her heart in the matters of love. She reportedly eloped with her first husband, her frequent co-star, Vinod Mehra who was already a married man. They parted ways in the year 1984. She eloped a second time and got married to director J.P. Dutta in the year 1985. The couple has two daughters, Nidhi and Siddhi.
Famous Hindi television actress Shweta Tiwari got married to Raja Chaudhary in 1998 and have a daughter named Palak. Tiwari filed for divorce in 2007, after 9 years of marriage. She complained that she suffered a troubled relationship characterized by Raja’s alcoholism and violence. Shweta and actor Abhinav Kohli got hitched on 13 July 2013 after dating for almost 3 years. On 27 November 2016, they welcomed a baby boy. In August 2019, the actress filed a complaint of domestic violence against Kohli and got separated in the same year.
Indian television actress, Sneha Wagh first tied the knot in 2006 at the age of nineteen with Marathi actor AvishkarDarvekar and soon got divorced due to domestic violence against her. She married again on 29 January 2015 with interior designer Anurag Solanki but they got separated within 8 months of their marriage.
Tanaaz Irani, an Indian actress got hitched to Farid Currim at a very young age and has a daughter named Zianne with him. However, she soon divorced him and started acting in serials. In 2006, she met actor Bakhtiyaar Irani and the duo fell in love. The couple tied the knot in 2007. They welcomed a son, named Zeus on 20 March 2008. They also have a daughter Zara, born on 19 September 2011.
Dipika Kakar known for her portrayal of the role Simar Bhardwaj in Sasural Simar Ka. First Kakar was married to Raunak Samson in 2011 but they got separated in 2015. Then, she married Shoaib Ibrahim, her co-star from Sasural Simar Ka on 22 February 2018 in Bhopal.
Dimpy Ganguli is an Indian model and television personality. In 2010, she married Rahul Mahajan, son of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, on Imagine TV's swayamvar reality show, Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Ganguli filed for divorce on the grounds of domestic violence and physical abuse. The couple finally divorced in February 2015. In November 2015, Dimpy married Dubai-based businessman, Rohit Roy. Their daughter Reanna was born on 20 June 2016.
Chahatt Khanna is an Indian film and television actress. Chahatt was first married to Bharat Narsinghani in December 2006, but got divorced after several months, alleging Narsinghani physically abused her. Her second husband is Farhan Mirza whom she married in February 2013. The couple has two daughters. She filed for divorce in 2018 citing sexual and mental harassment.
A well-known Indian television and film actress and model. She was first married to a commercial photographer Madhur Shroff, but couldn’t feel the connection and called it quit.Gautami Kapoor is married to her GharEk Mandir costar and actor Ram Kapoor. They met on the sets of the TV show GharEk Mandir and dated for a while before tying the knot on Valentine’s Day in 2003. They have two children, daughter Sia and son Aks.
Sweta Keswani is an Indian actress, dancer and model, who is known for her roles in Hindi TV shows, Bollywood films and TV commercials. Keswani married American actor AlexxO'Nell in 2008, however the pair divorced in 2011. In October 2012, she married Ken Andino, whom she met in New York City. In August 2013, she gave birth to their daughter.
Renuka Shahane, is an Indian actress working in the Bollywood film industry and in Indian television. Renuka has been married twice. Her first marriage was to Vijay Kenkare, a Marathi theater writer and director, but the marriage did not last long and they were soon divorced. She then married Ashutosh Rana, who is also a Bollywood actor. They have two sons, namely ShauryamanNeekhra and Satyendra Neekhra.
An Indian film and television actress, Shraddha Nigam also found her true love in her second husband. In 2008 Shraddha married Karan Singh Grover. They were divorced in 2009. In 2012 December Shraddha married Mayank Anand; the couple have jointly owned a fashion line since 2011 and have plans for joint furniture design and interior design.
Deepshika married to the actor Jeet Upender in 1996 at the peak of her career and divorced him after 10 years in 2007. She had two children from her first married who she looked after single handedly. She again tied the knot with her co-star and model turned actor Kaishav Arora in 2012 but the things too bitter turn when the actress filed an FIR against Kaishav for threatening to kill her and her kids. After the incident both of them started living separate, but luckily the things took positive turn and they realized their love for other. They gave their marriage a second chance and are now living together happily.
Indian actress Shefali Shah married television actor Harsh Chhaya on 1997 but divorced him shortly after a few years in 2001. After their divorce, she married director Vipul Amrutlal Shah. She has two sons with her current husband.
Rucha Gujarathi, who worked in many serials like Kusum, Kumkum and &TV’s Ganga also went through an abusive marriage. She married to a Mumbai based businessman, Mitul Sanghvi in October 2012 but parted ways in April 2013 due to physical violence and mental abuse. she finally found love in her friend Vishal and started a new journey by tying the knot with him. The couple got married on 12 December 2016.
Archana Puran Singh and ParmeetSethi’s love story is nothing less than a fairytale. After failing in her first marriage, the actress and judge of Comedy Circus lost interest in the constitution of wedding and decided to not marry again. However, her second marriage to actor ParmeetSethi was like a match made in heaven. Archana first met Parmeet at a common friend’s party and it was attraction at first sight for Parmeet. The couple had a live-in relationship for 5 years before officially tying the knot. Archana was older to Parmeet by 5 years but this did not affect the trust, honesty and understanding in their relationship. The couple faced a stiff resistance from Parmeet’s family. Despite all opposition, the couple walked down the aisle on June 30, 1992, and are parents to two sons, Aaryamann and Ayushmaan.
Famous Indian television and film actress, Ashwini Kalsekar was married to Nitesh Pandey in 1998. They were divorced for unknown reasons in 2002. She married film and television actor Murali Sharma in 2009.
Gunjan, who is currently seen in Naagin and was earlier in serials like SinndoorTere Naam Ka and KuchApneKuchParaye married Main NaaBhoolungi fame actor, VikkasManaktala in 2015. The two first met at a fleet management event in 2013 and after a few months, they started dating. The couple was in a relationship for almost 1.5 years before they made it official on April 21, 2015.Not many know that this is the second marriage for this pretty actress. She was first married to famous actor Sachin Verma who was a part of serials like KumKum, Reth, Pyar Ki Kashti Mein, Zoran and AnkhiyonKeJharokhon Se. The couple was married for a year before they called it quits.
Nandita Das is an Indian actor and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das won accolades for numerous performances, including in Fire, Earth, Bawandar, KannathilMuthamittal, Azhagi, Kamli, and Before The Rains.In 2002, Das married Saumya Sen. The couple began Leapfrog, a media organisation geared towards making socially conscious ad films.The couple divorced in 2007.After dating Subodh Maskara, a Mumbai industrialist, for a couple of months, she married him on 2 January 2010 and moved to Mumbai.Das and Maskara have a son named Vihaan. In January 2017, the couple announced that they have parted ways.
