Director’s desire: Fatal attraction

Guru Dutt was smitten by Waheeda Rahman just as Raj Kapoor was obsessed with Nargis, Mahesh Bhatt with Praveen Babi and Ramgopal Verma with Urmila Matdonkar. Bollywood directors have a history of falling for their heroines. Here's a low-down on some of the other famous directors who have succumbed to the charms of their leading ladies in recent times.

Who: Rohan Sippy: Object of desire: Priyanka Chopra

Rohan Sippy dumped Aishwarya Rai and signed Priyanka Chopra for Bluffmaster. The director and actress hit it off during the shooting of the film, with Rohan gifting Priyanka a computer and jewellery. Abhishek, who was the lead in the film and good friends with both, would often tease them and they would turn shades of red. However, post the release and the success of the film, this special friendship hit the dust as Priyanka chose to go back to longtime boyfriend Harman Baweja.

Who: Kunal Kohli : Object of desire: Amisha Patel

Kunal Kohli and Amisha started seeing each other on the sets of Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Originally, Amisha was supposed to do just a cameo, but Kunal increased her role, much to the chagrin of the film's lead actress Rani Mukherjee. Amisha now has a new boyfriend – hotelier Kanav Puri.

Who: Madhur Bhandarkar: Object of desire: Tabu

Madhur Bhandarkar (then unmarried) fell for the earthy looks of Tabu while directing her in Chandni Bar. So much so that he used to spend hours in Tabu's van. Their special friendship, however, turned sour when Madhur overlooked her and instead signed Raveena Tandon for his next movie Satta.

Who: Subhash Ghai : Object of desire: Mahima Chaudhary

Subhash Ghai gave Ritu Chaudhary not only a break (Pardes) but also a new name – Mahima. The two remained very close until Ghai cast Aishwarya Rai in Taal. An angry Mahima called Ghai a womaniser; Ghai in return sent her a legal notice for breach of contract which Mahima challenged in court and won.

Who: Vikram Bhatt: Object of desire: Sushmita Sen

She was India's first Miss Universe and he a much-married director. The two got cozy on the sets of Dastak. Their affair almost destroyed Vikram's marriage but the relationship ended when Sush dumped Vikram for restaurateur Sanjay Narang. Vikram reacted by making a film on his affair and portraying Sush in bad light.