From Alia Bhatt to Sonam Kapoor — a short history of Bollywood’s leading ladies and maternity

When Bhatt first announced her pregnancy, it predictably led to widespread discourse on social media about the future of her career. Bhatt herself said, “Agar aap fit ho, healthy ho, fine ho toh koi rest lene ki zarurat hai hi nahi. Kaam karna mujhe sukoon deta hai, meri passion hai (If you’re fit and healthy, you don’t need to rest during pregnancy. Work gives me peace, acting is my passion)”.

Why are we talking about the connection between Bollywood actors’ wedding/ maternity and their professional careers?

In August this year, actor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja welcomed her first child with husband Anand Ahuja. The National Award-winning actor is set to star in Sujoy Ghosh’s production ‘Blind’, the shooting for which has been wrapped up.

While there hasn’t been a lot of discussion regarding Kapoor Ahuja’s career after becoming a mother, it wouldn’t be surprising if she continues to pick up unconventional roles, as many women in contemporary Bollywood have done post marriage and maternity. Kapoor Ahuja herself played a lesbian character in ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ in 2019, a couple of her months after her marriage.

Kareena Kapoor Khan has also come out in support of Bhatt. She said, “… she is such a brave actor, and such a brave person, and this (pregnancy) is such a normal thing. She is going to continue this great run of her career because she is supremely talented, you just need to have conviction in your own self and that is the most important thing.”

In 2016, around the time Kapoor Khan gave birth to her first child, she was adamant about not having a maternity break and said, “I think people give too much thought that an actress has got married and now she has a kid or kids”.

During the shooting of her latest film Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), Kapoor Khan said she was five months pregnant, “which was easy… In fact, I worked till the eighth month. It was very cool of him [co-star Aamir Khan] to be so open about the fact that I could come to shoot at that time.”

It’s not just Bhatt and Kapoor Khan though– plenty of actresses today are choosing to continue their careers with the same momentum after marriage and motherhood. Some examples include Priyanka Chopra Jonas (who recently gave birth to a daughter), Deepika Padukone and Yami Gautam. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is known for her work in Tamil and Telugu industries, also chose not to let her marriage into a prominent Telugu film family stop her from pursuing her ambitions.

In fact, even though the questions surrounding a leading lady’s career post-marriage and motherhood announcements are yet to die down completely, rebuttals to the same are getting more common. A common comeback is that no one wonders if an actor’s career will be over after he gets married or becomes a father.

This shows that things are changing in Bollywood, when it comes to discourse about actresses’ “shelf life” and how they are perceived by both the industry and audiences after marriage and motherhood.

Have actresses always been quitting films after marriage or motherhood?

Nargis, one of the earliest stars of the ‘golden era of Hindi cinema’ (roughly defined between late 1940s to 60s), decided to quit acting after marrying Sunil Dutt in 1958. However, she came back in 1967 with Raat Aur Din for which she won the inaugural National Award for Best Actress. Media reports claim that her brother Jaffer Hussain, who was the producer, convinced her to act in the film.

Vyajayanthimala, who achieved fame in both Tamil and Hindi film industries, retired after her marriage to Dr Chamanlal Bali in 1968. Her last film was Ganwaar (1970), which she had signed before getting married.

However, there have been several notable exceptions too. Nutan continued acting in films after her marriage to naval Lieutenant-Commander Rajnish Bahl in 1959, and the birth of her son Mohnish in 1961. In fact, some of her most memorable films came after these events: Milan (1967), Saraswatichandra (1968) and Saudagar (1973).

Sharmila Tagore too continued as the leading lady in films after marying Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi in 1968. She had her first child, Saif Ali Khan, in 1970, and like Nutan, a lot of her iconic roles happened after marriage and motherhood. One of her most successful pairings was with Rajesh Khanna, and the duo did ten films together which include Aradhana (1969), Amar Prem (1972) and Daag (1973).

Waheeda Rehman, in her biography (Nasreen Munni Kabir’s Conversations with Waheeda Rehman), says that after her marriage to Shashi Rekhy in 1974, she “didn’t miss acting very much.” She moved to Bangalore with her husband and children, after which if she agreed to act in a film, it was for “financial reasons”. She also says that she married when she was 34, a time when her career was “no longer at its peak because Hindi cinema as such does not have good roles for women over 30”.

What about the ladies who married into the Kapoor ‘khandaan’?

For years, there has been a perception that the Kapoor family, which is one of the most prominent Hindi film families, does not allow either its daughters or daughters-in-law to work in the industry. This has also been used as an example of the patriarchy that governs Bollywood, and how even the most successful actresses often have to give up either their career or their family life due to such notions.

Geeta Bali, who married Shammi Kapoor in 1955, continued acting till her death in 1965. Actress Mumtaz claimed that Kapoor proposed marriage to her after Bali passed away; however, she refused because he wanted her to give up her career.

English actress Jennifer Kendal married Shashi Kapoor in 1958, and continued her acting career. She starred in critically acclaimed films like 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) Heat and Dust (1983).

However, Babita had to give up her career after marrying Randhir Kapoor in 1971, despite having starred in several box office successes. It was her daughter Karisma who would become the first ‘Kapoor girl’ to break with family tradition and establish herself as an actress. Kareena Kapoor Khan who shows no sign of slowing down after motherhood is her younger daughter.

Neetu Singh married Rishi Kapoor in 1980, after which she took a long break from films. However, she has repeated over the years that it was her “personal choice” and not a part of the Kapoor family’s tradition.

Now Alia Bhatt, who is married to Neetu and Rishi’s son Ranbir, is set to venture into film production along with acting. Her debut film as a producer, Darlings (2022), has won both critical acclaim and audience approval.

What about other female superstars over the years?

Sridevi, who was popular all over India during the 80s and 90s, left films after her marriage to producer Boney Kapoor and the birth of her daughter Janhvi Kapoor in 1997. In 2004, she acted in the TV series Malini Iyer produced by her husband, before making a proper comeback in 2012 with English Vinglish.

Sridevi’s contemporary Jayaprada also married a producer, Srikanth Nahata in 1986. However, the marriage did not curtail her career, and she only started cutting back on films after entering politics.

Meenakshi Seshadri, one of Hindi cinema’s leading heroines in the 80s, left the industry for good after her marriage to investment banker Harish Mysore in 1995. She subsequently moved to the United States with him to start a family.

Another top actress who shifted to US post-marriage was Madhuri Dixit, who married Dr Shriram Nene in 1999. After the birth of her first son, Arin, Dixit took a five-year break from acting, returning with Aaja Nachle (2007). She has acted in five films since then, along with a few special appearances.

Kajol married Ajay Devgn in 1999. After the blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2002), she took a a sabbatical from work to focus on her marriage. She insisted that she had not quit films, even though there were speculations in the media that her career was over. She did return to films in 2006 with Fanaa. She has often spoken of the term ‘comeback’ with disdain, saying that she never went away in the first place.

Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai married Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, and gave birth to her daughter Aaradhya in 2011. Rai took a sabbatical from films in 2010, and returned with Jazbaa in 2015. Since then, she has acted in four films, with the latest, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan, becoming one of her most acclaimed roles yet.