Page 47 - Seniorstoday July-2023 Issue

of two kids. They never admitted to the
affair, and were never seen together in
public, at least not by themselves. But
Rekha dreamily alluded to ‘him’ in her
interviews. Eventually, she married
Delhi businessman Mukesh Agarwal.
The marriage was shortlived, because
he died by suicide. The tabloids went to
town over the tragedy, and all but blamed
her for driving him to it. Rekha did the
wisest thing—just refused to talk about it
or dignify the rumours with a comment
of any sort. Over time, they died down, as
scuttlebutt often tends to.
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #49 | JULY 2023
It was a Bollywood cliche-- married man
having an affair with an actress. The Sanjay
Khan-Zeenat Aman romance would have
gone the predictable way, with a break-
up, because Bollywood men seldom ended
their marriages to be with their lady loves
(though Sanjay Khan’s brother Feroz did
leave his wife Sundari). But this one went
the ugly way. The gossip mags were full
of shocked reports of Khan and his wife
Zarine assaulting Zeenat at a party in full
view of other guests, leaving her with a
damaged eye. That she recovered from the
trauma and maintained her poise said a
lot for her strength. The Khan marriage
survived the scandal.
Shiney Ahuja’s career was on the
upswing, he had talent and good looks.
Then he was accused of rape by his
maid, and arrested. The industry can get
all righteous about the real or alleged
misdemeanors of others. His career was
finished even before the facts could be
checked. His wife seemed to stand by him,
and Mahesh Bhatt spoke up for him on a
couple of occasions, but he just dropped out
of the scene, and nobody bothered to keep
track of where he landed.
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