Remember when filmmaker Guru Dutt was keen on marrying the beauteous Waheeda Rehman, she had just one condition. He must convert to Islam to marry her. Guru Dutt refused. That was six decades ago.
Recently, when the brit girl Hazel Keech agreed to change her name to Gurbasant Kaur, it came as a surprise. The entertainment industry has a long history of women artistes refusing to change their names to convert their marital status.
In 1969, when she married the cricketing icon Mansoor Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore was officially christened Ayesha Sultan. This for an actress who had constantly broken all taboo and changed the image of the Hindi film heroine, was surprising indeed.
But as Sharmila explains, “There was no compulsion to do anything after marriage. This (the changing of the name) was just a token gesture which I willingly made. I never used the name that was given to me. I’ve always been known as Sharmila Tagore.”
Now, her daughter-in-law Kareena Kapoor has added a ‘Khan’ to her maiden name. But in her case, too, there was never any compulsion to change her name or religious belief.
Way back when Kishore Kumar married Madhubala, he officially converted to Islam and was renamed Karim Abdul, a name that no one knows the legendary singer by. When Sunil Dutt married Nargis, it is believed from unconfirmed reports that Nargis converted to Hinduism and was re-christened Nirmala Dutt.
However, Hinduism has no provision for conversion. At the most, Nargis must have made the token gesture of adopting her husband’s name and culture out of love.
Salman Khan’s mother, whose maiden name was Sushila Charak changed to Salma Khan after she married writer Salim Khan. Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri Chibba also assumed the ‘Khan’ surname after marriage.
“But it was her choice. There was never any compulsion. And in Shah Rukh’s home, religious beliefs from Islam and Hinduism co-exist. The children are free to adopt whatever faith they choose,” says a close family friend.
On the whole, the entertainment industry is a supremely secular place. Inter-religious marriages occur without a murmur. Aamir Khan’s wife Kiran Rao has remained who she is after marriage. Aamir’s nephew Imran Khan is happily married to Avantika Malik. Director Kabir Khan’s wife Mini Mathur’s name remains changed.
When Amrita Singh married Saif Ali Khan, she continued to be known in the film industry by her original name. “It is entirely up to the lady who marries out of her religion whether she wants to change her name. Kiran Rao didn’t. Hazel Keech did. Her choice.Yuvraj didn’t force her to assume the new name. She desired the change. And we must respect that,” says an entrepreneur friend of Yuvraj Singh.
