Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, famous for her role opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, candidly discusses her challenging marriage with Shekhar Kapur.
Actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthi has dropped multiple truth bombs on her past marriage with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. The two married in 1999 and got divorced in 2007. They have a daughter named Kaveri, who will soon make her Bollywood debut.
Suchitra is best known for appearing as the lead lady in Kundan Shah’s 1994 romantic comedy Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, that starred Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role. While she went on a sabbatical immediately after, she was most recently seen in the Prime Video India romantic film Odd Couple opposite Vijay Raaz and as Neela in Prime Video India legal drama series Guilty Minds last year.
Shekhar Kapur never wanted his wife to act
“My husband was very clear that he doesn’t want his wife to act. I said, ‘Okay, no big deal.’ I was too naive, too young to understand ki jab koi kisi ko bolta hai ki kaam mat karo, wo thinking kya hai (what’s one thinking when they tell another person to stop working). I always had more talent than ambition so I didn’t think anything would stop in my life. Though it did,” Suchitra said in an interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan.
She added that she doesn’t regret missing out on the stardom, but learnt a lot from her “very difficult and very painful” marriage. Suchitra said that while Shekhar didn’t mind her singing professionally and appearing in music videos after marriage, he didn’t want her to act in films anymore. She attributed it to Shekhar believing that people get corrupted in showbiz.
Trouble started in the first year, according to Suchitra
“Actually, when I got pregnant, main shadi chhod rahi thi (I was leaving the marriage). I was moving to the Berklee College of Music. Mujhe part scholarship mil gaya tha (I got part scholarship) and I wanted to learn music because it was always my dream. But I discovered I was pregnant. So, fate has its own way of unravelling itself and unravelling your life story. So, I stayed for a few years phir I was like, forget it mere se nahi hota (then I thought I can’t take this anymore). I remember a lot of very posh ladies telling me, ‘You’ll be finished. Just have another baby.’ A lot of women do that. When marriage is in peril, bachcha kar lete hain (they have a baby). So maine kaha nahi (I said no), what’s the big deal? I would rather be on my own and live my own story with dignity then carry on in something that’s soul-crushing for me, that’s not serving me, just for status and image and money. Maine bola tha main ja ke jhopdi mein rahungi, mujhe kuchh nahi chahiye (I’d said I don’t want anything and am ready to live in a hut),” Suchitra said in the same interview.
Disclaimer: Except the headline and synopsis, this story has been taken from the HT News Service