Sunday 1 March 2020

The Boney Kapoor - Sridevi marriage: Scandal of the 90s: Sridevi's biggest Bollywood controversy



Boney Kapoor and Sridevi discuss their marriage

SCREEN, February 14, 1997


The marriage had taken place last June (June 2 1996 to be precise) at the Saibaba Temple at Shirdi. There were no invitees but only a few witnesses. It had been a very hush-hush affair. They even had a blissful honeymoon in the US of A. And now seven months later, Sridevi is seven months pregnant and a blushing bride again.

The second marriage took place because the traditional actress had been haunted all along by the fact that their marriage hand't been solemnizsed according to vedic rites. But since her parents are dead and her only sister Sreelatha has now gone to court demanding a share of the family wealth, there was no one she could confide in regarding her secret wish. So all this while she kept quiet and kept the marriage under wraps.

Then on January 22 1997, Dr Anitha VijayKumar, Manjula Vijaykumar's daughter and a close friend of Sridevi and Boney, attended the celebrations and at the family wedding, she opened her heart to the Vijaykumars - who promised to help her. According to custom, the married daughter returns to her parents house in the seventh month of her pregnancy for a ceremony. Sridevi, it seems wanted not just to formalise the marriage but also the traditional ceremony to take place. A superstitious person, she felt that her baby would be affected if these rituals weren't adhered to. The Vijaykumars decided to perform the ceremonies. They even agreed to give the bride away. Incidentally, Manjula who made her debut in the MGR starrer Rikshawakaran, and now plays character roles, is the second wife of Vijaykumar. Vijaykumar was a one-time hero of Tamil films and is now a much in demand character actor. He had till recently managed to keep both his wives and their children (some of them are upcoming artists) under one roof. And though the two families separated recently, they are still good friends.
Boney Kapoor, Sridevi and Sunita Kapoor

The day after Vijaykumar's daughter's wedding, Boney and Sridevi got married according to vedic rites a the house of Vijaykumar's first wife. On Sridevi's side, there was only her father's brother and her mother's sister along with her cousin Maheswari (an upcoming heroine). The groom's guest list included his brother Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita Kapoor [right] along with  few friends from Mumbai who had arrived the previous night and stayed at the Taj.

When the news of the wedding appeared in a Tamil morning paper, the couple who were then staying at Sridevi's CIT colony bungalow first issued a "No comments " statement . But the next day, they relented and called a press conference, in which they admitted that they have known each other for the last 15 years and that they had tied the knot in June last year. This wedding was mere formality. A beaming Boney Kapoor asserted. "I am very happy and lucky man." He refused to answer any more queries about his first wife.

Sridevi looking radiant in her maroon salwar-kameez was sporting a mangal sutra and kum kum in her maang. She flashed a smile and said, "For the first time in my life, I am really happy. I am fortunate to get a husband like Boney." For the first few years, the much-in-love couple made several attempts to hid their feelings for each other. However, the very professional actress said she has no plans of quitting films. She insisted that she would return to acting once she delivered the baby.

The Anil Kapoor,Sridevi, Urmila starrer Judaai, produced by Boney Kapoor is ready and should be released later this year.

Boney and Sridevi returned to Mumbai soon after and moved into Sridevi's Green Acres apartment.

Screen, Febrauary 14, 1997 

Boney Kapoor, Sridevi, Rajeshari and Ayappan (Sridevi's parents).
Photo from Sreelatha's (Sridevi's younger sister) wedding circa 1990


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