The year comes to a close, and with it so does another chapter chock-full of Bollywood drama. But before that happens, we can’t resist taking one last look at the biggest stories this year – so if you’ve not been keeping up with your Bollywood goss, take a seat – you’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
1. Everyone got pregnant.
I don’t know what it was about 2011, but there were so many pregnancy stories. The biggie was Aishwarya Rai – the birth of #BetiB caused quite a stir (psst, Abhishek, we don’t know the baby’s name yet – tell us, please?!), but there were also so much more pregnancy news. Lara Dutta, Shilpa Shetty, Celina Jaitly all shared good news with us as well. Here’s wishing all these parents (and parents-to-be) all the best with their little ones!
2. Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao became proud parents.
Earlier this month, Aamir Khan let the media houses know that, through IVF (surrogacy), he and Kiran Rao became parents to a baby boy (named Azad). Many congratulations and luck to them, and extra kudos for managing to keep major news under wraps!
3. John Abraham and Bipasha Basu broke up.
In what was probably Bollywood’s Brad/Jennifer (or would Shahid/Kareena take that tag?), Bipasha Basu and John Abraham separated after a decade-long relationship, allegedly because he was not willing to commit…
4. …except that John turned around and hinted at marriage plans with someone else!
So if John’s hesitancy to commit was the reason for the end of his relationship with Bipasha, we have to wonder how come he started hinting at marriage plans soon after! The special lady in his life is Priya Runchal, an analyst with the World Bank. We are definitely wondering what went on here!
5. Priyanka Chopra signed a music deal.
Priyanka added another feather to her cap this year – she signed a worldwide recording agreement with Desi Hits and UMG! The recording took her to America, where she kept us updated via Twitter.
6. Bollywood lost some of its best.
On a more serious note, 2011 was the year Bollywood lost some of its biggest and brightest stars. We lost Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Jagjit Singh, Ustad Sultan Khan and Bhupen Hazarika. In addition, cricketing legend Mansoor Ali Khan also passed away.
7. Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza announced their engagement
After years of denying their relationship, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza finally announced that they’re engaged! Just some time before that, we had spotted Riteish looking at wedding cards so our gossip alarm was already blaring – and then they confirmed it themselves. We wish them all the best for their upcoming wedding!
8. Saif Ali Khan confirmed his plan to marry Kareena Kapoor
Speaking of weddings, this couple has finally announced (after so much speculation), that yes, they do plan on getting married – and it will be before March of 2012, no matter what happens. We wish them both all the best as well.
9. Hollywood invaded India.
2011 saw big Hollywood figures coming to India for the first time. Lady Gaga was here to perform at the Grand Prix after-party, Paris Hilton came to launch her range of handbags, and Tom Cruise visited to promote his upcoming Mission Impossible movie.
10. Dating rumors galore!
There have been so many dating rumors doing the rounds in 2011. There’s Vidya Balan and Siddharth Roy Kapur‘s unconfirmed relationship (and the rumor that he bought her a 14 cr. flat in a building called Parineeta, funny eh?). Then there was a bit of hoopla about Sonam Kapoor and Punit Malhotra (though no one seems to care anymore), and of course the whole Ranveer Singh/Anushka Sharma deal. That seems to be off as of now for sure, but it’s very possible they were dating for sometime – and while we’re at it, we might as well mention the Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha rumors we were hearing, though I’m not sure if I believe that. And while it seems that Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra have definitely called it quits, they were quite possibly dating – and are now working on a film together as well.
Phew! Busy year for Bollywood, and this is not really even the half of it. What we do know for sure that is 2012 is going to bring with it another host of drama (we’re talking about Bollywood, after all), and of course we’re going to be here giving you the front-row seat to it all. Happy New Year, folks – see you in 2012 for a lot more drama and gossip, MissMalini style!