The New-Age Single Mothers

As we celebrate National Singles Week, BollyCurry lists a few brave mothers who singular raised their children.

Published: Wednesday,Sep 18, 2013 20:09 PM GMT-06:00

Jenifer Y.

Parents are the first people in children's life and the first we make a social contact with. While most of us have two such people whilst growing up, unfortunate circumstances can sometimes take one of them away. In such a situation, a single parent has to carry the responsibility of two. Bollywood, too, has seen it's fair share of women who have single-handedly brought up their kids. As we celebrate National Singles Week, BollyCurry lists a few of these brave single mothers.

Honey Irani

This award-winning screenwriter raised her two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, as a single parent after her marriage to famous lyricist Javed Akhtar ended in a divorce. She took to embroidering sarees to earn extra income and support her children before she received a breakthrough in her career as a scriptwriter with the film Lamhe in 1991. She and both her children maintain cordial relations with Javed Akhtar and his current actress wife, Shabana Azmi.

Sushmita Sen

In 2000, at the mere age of 25, former Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen, went against socially acceptable norms when she decided to adopt her first daughter, Renee, and raise her as a single mother. In 2010, she again adopted her second daughter, Alisah. She is still single and has never married so far, despite her various link-ups and break-ups to various actors as well as a cricketer across the border.

Neena Gupta

Neena Gupta never married West Indies cricketer Viv Richards but she did give birth to their love child when she was in a relationship with him. She has since been a single mother to Masaba Gupta who has carved quite a famous name for herself in the fashion industry. Though Neena married a New Delhi-based Chartered Accountant in 2008, her daughter still remains her first priority.

Neelima Azim

She married the award-wining actor Pankaj Kapur in 1975 but their marriage lasted for nine years. When the couple divorced in 1984, Neelima won custody of their son, Shahid Kapoor. Today, Shahid, also known as Shahid Khattar, is himself a famous Bollywood actor and known very well for his dancing skills.

Pooja Bedi

In her nine years of marriage to Farhan Ebrahim Furniturewalla, she had a daughter and a son. Post her divorce, she has been raising her children as a single mother. For the record, Pooja's parents too separated when she was very young and at the age of 28, her mother passed away.

Amrita Singh

She married actor Saif Ali Khan and the couple had two children. Following their divorce in 2004, Amrita single-handedly raised their two kids. She also made a comeback to Bollywood shortly after, where she had previously left the industry to dedicate to her family life prior to the divorce.

Babita Kapoor

She had a short but successful career in the film industry before she married actor Randhir Kapoor in 1971. The couple have two daughters who are now well-known names in Bollywood. However, both Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor owe their success to their mother as Babita Kapoor was single when she raised her children and groomed them for the industry. Babita and Randhir separated for 20 years owing to his alcoholism and neglecting his family. In 2007, however, the couple reunited.

Before concluding the article, we would like to make an honorable mention of a single father too - Rahul Dev, who lost his wife to cancer in 2009 leaving him as the only parent to their son, Siddharth.

Good parenting can ensure the well-being of a child even with one parent. Being a single parent is never easy but these women have faced that hardship with strength and determination. BollyCurry wishes happiness and prosperity to every parent and child regardless of their status.

Author: Neethi B.

Editor(s): Saraa K. and Jenifer Y.

Graphics: Marsh P.