• Home
• /
• Lifestyle

Just another star wife? Not quite

Anil and Sunita Bhambhani Kapoor's love story is stuff tinseltown romances are made of

Since she's stubbornly shy of any form of public attention, she'll probably yell at me for writing this. I've been waiting to for the longest time. So here's throwing caution to the wind to (formally) introduce you to the woman who's behind the reinvented life and career of Anil Kapoor.

The story of Sunita Bhambhani Kapoor, daughter of a banker and, an occasional model during her teenage years, is stuff Bollywood fairytales are made of. Anil and she have been married for over 35 years now, and the actor repeatedly asserts, "I've fallen in love all over again. Once, I was living in a la-la land enwrapped in my own work. Today, I'm more grounded, I've landed on my feet in Sunita-land."
A while ago, Anil - all of 62 now - and I were lunching at a restaurant in Hyderabad's elegant Taj Falaknuma Palace hotel. Since he has to follow a strict diet, he sought to ignore the aroma of tender lamb biryani on my plate, making an 'I'm-so-deprived' face as he dug into a spartan broccoli and cucumber salad. Suddenly, he called Sunita in Mumbai to ask if he could binge. "Alright, if you must," she responded. "But only a spoonful or two."
Few remember that Sunita had initiated a chain of gyms way before they mushroomed all over the city of Mumbai and its suburbs. She was into gym exercises, diet control and spiritual solace way before Anil, who's now justly rated as the fittest actor among his peers. His meals are monitored at home, although his hearty Punjabi appetite gravitates towards the high-calorie content in Indian cuisine. At the lunch table, he's watched over with hawk-eyed vigilance.
Their romance began unusually enough with a prank. Anil wanted Sunita to play Cupid, which wasn't to be. The other girl moved on, and finding himself heartbroken, he realised that it was Cupid herself who was destined to be his wife. She was the quintessential SoBo girl, residing in the tony Malabar Hill neighbourhood. He lived in the far-flung suburb of Chembur. The problem of distance was quite easily solved. Since Anil was struggling to find a toe-hold in Bollywood as an actor (he even had plans to become a playback singer), his girlfriend would pay for his to-and-fro cab fares.
Patience paid. Once Anil landed a big break with Subhash Ghai's Meri Jung (1985) - a role originally conceived by Javed Akhtar for Amitabh Bachchan - he was on a more secure footing. His film assignments were being strategised by big brother Boney Kapoor. Since their father, film producer Surinder Kapoor, was going through a rough patch after a series of flops - notably Shehzada (1972), Ponga Pandit (1975) and Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1978) - the Kapoor sons were determined to pull the family out of the doldrums.
Meanwhile, I suspect Sunita was uneasy. Anil would scoot off to out-of-town locations for shoots, he'd promise to take a call on their wedding as soon as he achieved a measure of confidence. Which he did one fine evening, telling the startled Sunita, the shaadi had to be now or never. In a frantic rush, the wedding ceremony was solemnised.
Down the decades since, Anil Kapoor's career may have faced fluctuations. And it's quite apparent that his wife served as an unwavering support system. The three-storey Anil Kapoor House, as it is known, on Mumbai's Juhu-Vile Parle Development Scheme, remained the fulcrum.
It was here that their three children - Sonam, Rhea and Harshvardhan - were raised by their mother, encouraged to follow their hearts while growing up. "I regret not spending sufficient time with my kids," admits Anil. "But Sunita made it a point not to make them miss my presence. Incidentally, I'm making up for lost time now and am proud that all of them have a mind and identity of their own. They are way more intelligent than I am."
Sunita Kapoor never does interviews. Off the record, though, she's an affable conversationalist. Nope, she doesn't discuss Bollywood at all or touch upon her experience in costume designing in movies. Her interests are wide-ranging, which is why she perhaps has one of the best art collections in town, which adorn the walls of the Anil Kapoor House. A sprinkling of artworks, artefacts, antiques, ethnic rugs and carpets, chunky coffee table books besides vases stacked with freshly-cut flowers, are some of the elements that make theirs one of the most tasteful homes of Bollywood stars.
When called upon to handle an unexpected tragedy - notably, the shocking death last year of her sister-in-law Sridevi - Sunita had been composed rather than overwrought. The paparazzi had engulfed the Anil Kapoor House. Instead of becoming peeved, she sent out water and packets of food to the paps who had kept vigil to click the celebrity visitors.
To a degree, Sunita has come out of her shell. Once in a blue moon, she does post photographs on her social media accounts, when she's visiting London, an overseas spa or a holiday resort. Not surprisingly, though, it's always her husband and children whom she keeps at the forefront.
It's not all glow and glam for star wives, then. They have to deal with the mega-adulation that their husbands command, their moods and temperaments, their triumphs and disappointments. Hence, here's my little salaam to Sunita Kapoor, the perfectly cool match - as time and tide have proved - for Bollywood's ever gung-ho Mr India.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com