Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; January 19, 2015)

It had to happen sooner or later. Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha, who were rumoured to be together ever since they have started shooting for Tevar, are no longer ‘close’. In fact, when Sona skipped one of the film’s promotional events, to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for her brother Kush’s wedding recently, it was a clear indication that her priorities had changed.

There had been a lot of buzz about their bonding in the past few months. Amid all the rumours, Arjun had clarified that he knew Sonakshi since childhood as they stayed in the same neighbourhood and went to the same school.

Sizzling chemistry
The Arjun-Sona case is not the first and it won’t be the last either. Bollywood films thrive on the romance of their lead cast. It is as if that is a project’s USP, never mind the content. There is this assumption that the audience would actually step out to ascertain the chemistry between the actors on screen as well. There have been instances when actors have even faked romances. At times, it proved benefical for the film, but mostly, it did not.

Sonakshi and Arjun stoked the ‘affair’ fire when they were spotted at a suburban multiplex catching up on a film. Then there were rumours of a vacation in Turkey. The actors would often tweet to each other and post pictures together, fuelling further speculations.

In reality, not many stars openly admit to seeing anyone. So it is a clear give away that it is only for the film.


Recent instances
In 2013, Sonakshi was linked to her R… Rajkumar co- star Shahid Kapoor. Their love story was apparently getting stronger by the day as they pranced to the film’s Gandi Baat and Sari Ke Fall Sa tracks. However, when their film released, things just fizzled out, no one knows exactly when. And their so-called relationship died a natural death.


Hot gets hotter
Another pair which did not want to be Alone, unlike their film’s name, was Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover. While shooting for their film, there was speculation that all was not well between her and beau Harman Baweja. Though there are many theories that did the rounds about what made them drift apart, Bips supposedly lost no time in hooking up with Karan. She gave him a 10 on 10 for his well chiselled body (remember Bips was in a relationship with another hot bod John Abraham for years?) and even gave up wearing her killer heels to avoid towering over him. She became his friend, philosopher and guide as Karan stepped into Bollywood. On his part, Karan would often be parked at her place and even travel in her fancy wheels to promotional events. As he was just starting off, he did not have a car to match her pair of hot wheels. So far so good. The film is out now and Bips will soon take off to Australia for the shoot of her next project Nia with ex-flame Rana Daggubatti. What happens to KSG? Your guess is as good as ours.


Too many links
Alia Bhatt is another B-Town youngster who keeps getting linked to her co-stars. Though currently she is said to be seeing her Student of the Year co-star Sidharth Malhotra, she has been linked to Arjun Kapoor (during 2 States) and Varun Dhawan (during Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania).

The youngster preferred to term it as the downside of her profession as actors easily fall prey to gossip. Arjun and Varun now seem to be in the distant past, with Sid in her scheme of things.


The taste of love
When Parineeti Chopra was shooting for Daawat-e-Ishq (2014), there was buzz about her being more than just friends with co-star Aditya Roy Kapur. As Aditya was allegedly seeing Shraddha Kapoor ever since their Aashiqui 2 (2013) days, it was made to be a love triangle as a marketing gimmick for the film. Aditya and Parineeti had apparently grown fond of each other over platefuls of kababs, even though the Aashiqui 2 co-stars were very much together.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
- Sonal Chauhan and Neil Nitin Mukesh’s affair during the shoot of their horror film 3G (2013). During the shoot in Fiji, the two were inseparable and returned from the shoot in colour coordinated outfits. The film tanked — and so did their affair.

- During the filming of Heartless (2014), Adhyayan Suman was linked to co-star New York-based Ariana Ayam. They parted ways after the release of the film as their long distance relationship was posing to be difficult. Now Adhyayan is linked to Sara Loren, who features with him in Ishq Click.