The biggest Breakups of 2016 in Bollywood

By Subhash K. Jha -

December 31, 2016 - 11:32 AM IST

2016 would be recorded as the year of the most heart breaking split since Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor went their separate ways. In 2016 the seemingly perfect Brad Pitt-Angelia Jolie togetherness dissolved. No one knows why it happened. Was it just meant to be? The Indian entertainment industry has never seen so many seemingly perfect couples ending their relationships.

The biggest Breakups of 2016 in Bollywood

1. Farhan Akhtar - Adhuna: The year started with the absolutely shocking end of Farhan Akhtar’s 15-year marriage with Adhuna with a simple mutual statement that spoke of growing apart. Farhan’s close family and friends were caught aback. Says a Farhan confidante, “We had no clue this was coming. Sometimes you see a marriage falling apart in front of your eyes. This one, we didn’t see coming. Farhan and Ahuna never let their differences show in public, never fought in front of family and friends.” If 2015 shocked us with Hrithik and Susanne’s split this year it was Farhan and his hairstylist wife Adhuna who split in spite of their genuine concerns about their two growing daughters. Talk about a ‘heir’-raising experience.

2. Sushant Singh Rajput - Ankita Lokhande: We thought they were for keeps. When rumours of Sushant and his girlfriend of 7 years calling it quits began to float around, Ankita Lokhande firmly denied them. But Sushant remained ominously quiet. He had made up his mind to move on. Says a mutual friend, “Ankita never saw the split coming. She thought she had Sushant on a tight leash. But Sushant felt dominated and smothered. After stardom he was getting a lot of female attention. He wanted to play the field. He pulled the plug.” Amen.

3. Ranbir Kapoor - Katrina Kaif: Katrina was stunningly devoted and hopelessly in love, more so than she had ever been. As she confided in a friend, “I’ve actually had only one previous relationship (with Salman Khan). And he was, and is, more like a mentor, guide than a boyfriend.” Ranbir was Katrina’s first real boyfriend. And she enjoyed playing the girlfriend, looking after their home together, planning a life ahead, and so on. She even decided to cut down on her work for love. But then Ranbir did what he always does. After the conquest he got tired of the victory. He moved on. RIP.

4. Arbaaz Khan - Malaika Arora: It’s final. It’s official. Arbaaz and Malaika are getting a divorce. How did the couple part ways after 18 years of marriage? Apparently Malaika wanted out. Says a friend of the Khan family, “After their differences became apparent to both of them, Arbaaz tried hard to stop the marriage from dissolving. He even got his brother Salman to intervene. But Malaika wouldn’t hear of a patch-up. Mentally she had moved on a year ago. She waited patiently for the right time to put a formal closure to a marriage that died at least 5 years ago. She just couldn’t bear to be married to a man who couldn’t really get out of his superstar-brother’s shadow. There are rumours of a relationship with a star-son. And those rumours are true. Goodbye, marriage vows. Hello freedom.

5. Pulkit Samrat - Shweta Rohira: This was the marriage of denial. Though Samrat denied there was another woman on the scene, his wife very clearly blamed actress Yami Gautam for their broken marriage. We knew whom to believe. And this time, we didn’t really care.