Hazel Keech Is Now Gurbasant Kaur, She Isn’t The First

Bollywood folklore has it that filmmaker Guru Dutt was keenly interested in marrying the beauteous Waheeda Rehman. But she had one precondition . He must convert to Islam to marry her. Guru Dutt refused.And  right so.

It comes as a surprise to know that Hazel Keech  of  British origin has agreed to change her name to be Mrs Yuvraj Singh. The entertainment industry has a long history of female entertainers refusing to change their names to convert their marital status.

In 1969 when she married the love of her life the cricketing icon Mansoor Ali Khan , Sharmila Tagore was officially christened Ayesha Sultan.Coming  in the life of an actress who had constantly broken all taboo and has changed the image of the Hindi film heroine, this was surprising.

But as Sharmila explained to me, “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 Sharmila’s daughter-in-law Kareena Kapoor, married to Saif Ali Khan, has added a ‘Khan’ to her maiden name Kareena Kapoor. In her case too there was never any compulsion to change her name or religious belief.

Way back when Kishore Kumar married Madhubala he was  “officially” converted to Islam and 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.

[tooltip id=”88b6af99531f838ed90aed058b7d870a”][tooltip id=”c1b465420d07c688942ed18eadfd9f92″ keyword_color=”#000000″ background_color=”#ffffff”][tooltip id=”4db8f5608d45f5de7881d9bce162f4bf”]Salman Khan[/tooltip][/tooltip][/tooltip]’s Salma whose maiden name was Sushila Charak . She changed her name 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 to take on her husband’s name. 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 mumur of change. 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 a entrepreneur friend of Yuvraj Singh.[tooltip type=”box” html=”Input Your Content Here” box_background_color=”#eeeeee” box_opacity=”0.95″ box_padding=”10″ box_border_color=”#3F3F3F” box_border_width=”1″ box_border_radius=”0″ id=”88b6af99531f838ed90aed058b7d870a” /][tooltip type=”box” html=”Salman Khan Bollywood Actor” box_background_color=”#eeeeee” box_opacity=”0.95″ box_padding=”10″ box_border_color=”#3F3F3F” box_border_width=”1″ box_border_radius=”0″ id=”c1b465420d07c688942ed18eadfd9f92″ /]