Journalism of Courage
It is Sridevi and Boney Kapoor’s 25th wedding anniversary today. The couple, parents to Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor, would have celebrated their silver jubilee this year. Sridevi died at the age of 54 in 2018. Here's looking at Boney Kapoor and Sridevi's love story. (Photo: Express Archive)
Sridevi and Boney Kapoor married in 1996 in a simple ceremony. (Photo: Janhvi Kapoor/Instagram)
Sridevi died months before her elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor’s debut as an actor in film Dhadak. (Photo: Janhvi Kapoor/Instagram)
At an event in 2013, Boney shared how his and Sridevi's love blossomed. "This is something which I enjoy talking about, and this is something which she doesn't want me to talk about," he said at an India Today event. (Photo: Janhvi Kapoor/Instagram)
In Boney Kapoor's words, he was smitten from the moment he first saw Sridevi. "It happened the first time I saw her on screen, this was probably in the late 70s, when I saw one of her Tamil films. I said to myself that this is someone I would want to have in my film," he said. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
Boney Kapoor then shared that he next saw Sridevi on screen in her film Solva Sawan, "Now, Solva Sawan is not a glamorous film, but somehow, she had some kind of impact on me which is hard to describe. She was on my mind all the time." (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
This was when Boney decided to sign Sridevi for Shekhar Kapur's Mr India, which he produced. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
"I went up to her set, met her. When I met her, it was almost like a dream come true. You know, she is an introvert and doesn't communicate very easily with strangers, and I was a stranger at that point of time. The few words that she spoke in broken Hindi and broken English, they touched me and moved me, and I got more curious to know her," he revealed. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
It was Sridevi's mother then who handled her professional meetings. Boney flew to Chennai to offer her the film and she quoted a figure of Rs 10 lakh. "Sri was the highest paid actor, among the females. I knew she had done a film for around Rs 8-8.5 lakh, and probably, this was her mother's way of negotiating. I heard her figure and I said 'No, I'll pay Rs 11 lakh.' She thought I was a mad producer from Bombay who is offering more than what she asked for! Well, that's how I got close to her mother," he said. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
After Mr India went on floors, Boney went all out to impress Sridevi and went the extra mile to pamper her. "I saw to it that she was the most comfortable on sets, she got all what she wanted and even more," he said. Every time Boney met Sridevi, he, in his own words "started getting more and more affected by her," and he was head over heels in love with her. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
"I was married then. In fact, I had confessed to my ex-wife that I'm in love with her. I couldn't hold myself back," he admitted. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
In love, Boney even followed Sridevi to Switzerland while she was shooting for Chandni. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
By then Sridevi began returning his feelings. "She saw that this man is too persistent and perhaps realised that I was sincere and not looking for a fling. Somehow, things fell in place," he said. (Photo: Sridevi/Instagram)
Sridevi's father passed away, and Boney stood by her and her family like a rock. This care and concern made Sridevi see Boney in a different light. (Photo: Janhvi Kapoor/Instagram)
