It's heartbreak headlines in Splitsville

new delhi: so, it's final. as of 12:01 am pacific time on wednesday, actors tom cruise and nicole kidman were officially divorced. ironically, just a few hours earlier on tuesday night, hollywood's hottest ex- power couple appeared under the same roof to celebrate the opening of their new movie, the others. on thursday, they join hollywood's ever-growing list of estranged couples, setting aside their decade-old relationship for exotic vacations in exclusive islands with `the other' ^ penelope cruz for tom and russell crowe for nicole.officially, the couple seems to have split ``citing difficulties inherent in divergent careers which constantly keep them apart''. but the hollywood grapevine is awash with sundry theories. nicole wasn't devoted 100 per cent to scientology ^ hollywood's latest fad. tom was and wanted to bring up their kids that way. hence they split. nicole was faithful, tom wasn't. tom was a superstar, nicole was jealous...how does it matter in splitsville where emotions are slippery and relationships brittle. as liz smith, a new york post columnist, points out: ``if kim (bassinger) and alec (baldwin) can't stay together, if meg (ryan) and dennis (quaid) can't, it's unrealistic for us to expect nicole and tom to hold down the fort.'' so, love's gone bad in hollywood. in fact, hollywood has always had a history of heartache headlines. fairy-tale marriages, which were supposed to have been stamped with the till-death-do-us-part seal, have been felled by the ravages of fickle emotions and impermanent passions. janet leigh and tony curtis, debbie reynolds and eddie fisher, liz taylor and richard burton, robert wagner and natalie wood, woody allen and mia farrow, don johnson and melanie griffith (married and separated twice)...the marital merry-go-round has been on a whirlwind whiz in hollywood. be it power, money, career pressures, cupid does seem to have lost his bow and arrow in hollywood. even america's sweetest sweetheart isn't able to settle for a happily-ever-after affair. julia roberts jilted kiefer sutherland at the altar, paired up with jason patric but left him to marry country singer lyle lovett, only to leave him for benjamin bratt. and now, we hear she's split wide open with bratt too. why is it so difficult to be rich, famous and happy too in hollywood? because of an old tinseltown saying which states: `in hollywood, the eternal triangle consists of an actor, his wife and himself/herself'. ``on a quiet evening, you can hear the clash of egos in the hollywood hills,'' says douglas thomas, hollywood biographer. ``in a town where you can't be too thin or too rich, you can be too famous to make marriages and relationships last long-term,'' he adds. nevertheless, there are a handful of contemporary couples ^ besides paul newman and joan woodward ^ who might just break the jinx despite long location shoots, beautiful co-stars with perfect bodies, perfect teeth and perfect plastic surgeons. ready to place your bets on bruce willis-demi moore, warren beatty-annette bening, sean penn-robin wright penn, michael douglas-catherine zeta jones, john travolta-kelly preston, tim robbins-susan sarandon, brad pitt-jennifer aniston?