‘Devastated’ Shammi Kapoor yelled when he heard of my wedding; married Neila Devi in the same temple we were to wed: Bina Ramani

In a recent interview with ANI, Bina revisited the memories of meeting Shammi Kapoor for the first time. She recalled being introduced to him by Krishna Kapoor, Raj Kapoor’s wife, whom she fondly addressed as Bhabhi ji. Despite Krishna Kapoor’s subtle matchmaking efforts, Bina admitted she had already decided to keep her distance. Raj Kapoor, however, was against this matchmaking effort even though Bina was his ‘rakhi sister’.

‘Krishna Kapoor wanted me to marry Shammi Kapoor’

Raj Kapoor with wife Krishna Kapoor.

“I never allowed myself to fall in love with him,” Bina said, explaining that she was conscious of not upsetting her family and was never immediately drawn to him. She described her first encounter with Shammi at Raj Kapoor’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner, where Shammi silently tried to communicate his feelings through his eyes—something she deliberately ignored. She also listed why she was against this matchmaking effort — he was a widower with two small children, was a movie star with quite a reputation and was known for his love for alcohol and smoking.

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“Raj ji had told bhabhi ji to not bring me there, yet she did and had warned Shammi about my presence. I met Raj ji and then was introduced to other members. When I met Shammi Kapoor, he looked straight into my eyes… I instantly looked away. I knew he was trying to talk to me through his eyes.”

‘Shammi wooed me, we fell in love’

Despite her resistance, Shammi continued to pursue her. At subsequent meetings, he expressed his love repeatedly, even in different languages, but Bina could never reciprocate. “I never fell in love with him,” she reiterated—before pausing and adding, “But I began to love him, and I still do. It’s a special kind of love. Mine was enduring love.”

‘I was ready to elope with Shammi when…’

“Shammi went on hunting for seven days, when I was suddenly introduced to this man, who was seven years older to me. I went to San Francisco,” she recalled meeting the man she would eventually marry, Andy Ramani on the insistence of her parents.

In her book, Bina wrote: “My parents weren’t comfortable too as the thought of losing their daughter to a movie star with a terrible reputation for ‘drinking’ and ‘womanising’ was alarming. I had plans of eloping with Shammi, when my parents introduced me to Andy while Shammi was away on a seven-day tour.”

She added it was her parents who threatened her to take her back to London. “We’ve shown you many men and you’ve said no, and Shammi Kapoor is not on, so either marry the next one or we go back to London and you come with us.”

She added: “I hated the option of London, so the next one who came along I got engaged to. It was Andy Ramani. I had no intention of marrying him, but a week before Shammi and I were to run away, Andy’s mother put pressure on my parents to do the marriage before New Year’s Eve. On December 31 the marriage took place.”

‘Shammi yelled when he heard about my marriage’

She recalled how he was devastated to learn, through a newspaper, about her sudden marriage to Andy Ramani while he was away. Shammi eventually married Neila Devi at the same temple where he had once promised to marry her. “I heard he yelled when he read the news. He had promised to marry me on January 2. He married Neila when he heard I was returning to India.”

Yet, despite everything, there was no bitterness between them. Shammi remained cordial with Bina and her second husband, even inviting them over. “Shammi got along well with George.”

Who is Bina Ramani?

Belonging to a rich Sindhi family from Britain, Bina is the sister of Binatone’s Gulu Lalvani. A socialite who has set up restuarants, boutiques and was known for hanging with the international jet-set, it was at her restaurant in Delhi’s Mehrauli that model Jessica Lal was shot dead by Manu Sharma.