ANJU MAHENDRU & GARFIELD SOBERS
1966: Way back in the sixties, Sir Garfield Sobers, the West Indian cricketer already on his way to being a legend, fell in love with a young actress called Anju Mahendru, who was an avid cricket aficionado. Rumouredly, she was not even out of her teens when he swept her off her feet. The West Indies were in India to play a match with the Indian Cricket team, only this one happened off-field. Anju Mahendru was in a tumultuous live-in relationship with Rajesh Khanna, who was only just being acknowledged as a superstar. Whilst there are rumors that Sobers and Anju were engaged, and even married, the truth was possible that the relationship with Garfield Sobers gave her a respite from Khanna. Old stories state that Anju denied being in love with Sobers. Whatever it was, that brought to an ill-fated end to Anju’s engagement and impending marriage to a bitter Rajesh Khanna, who never forgave her for jilting him for another, even though Anju and Sobers were never publicly married. Distance and professional circumstance prevented the blossoming of a permanent relationship and that affair died a slow death, as did Anju’s relationship with Khanna too.
