16 October 2007
IT IS almost two decades since the Babita and Randhir Kapoor marriage ended in a messy separation. But the good news is that the couple has finally decided to put all the bad times behind them and come together again!
This is possibly the most triumphant victory for elder daughter Karisma Kapoor, who has been trying for years together to see her parents reunited.
To revive the Kapoor love story, theirs was a relationship that initially broke all Kapoor norms. The then dashing young Randhir Kapoor had set his heart on saucy and extremely popular actress Babita Shivdasani and was determined to marry her. At the time, this was taboo in the Kapoor fold, since Kapoor men simply did not marry actresses. But Randhir wasn't relenting. Defying dad Raj Kapoor, Randhir stuck to his guns and said Babita or no one else!
Eventually the family gave their consent and all Hindi film fans were enthralled by their subsequent marriage. There was, however, one Kapoor condition: Babita, as their daughter-in-law, had to put an end to her successful career. She complied and along with Randhir, she lived at their sprawling Marble Arch flat in Napean Sea Road.
But by the time little Karisma came along, the cracks in this marriage began to show. Apparently, this had to do with Randhir not being very serious about his career (and therefore support his family) and the first signs of his alcoholism.
An attempt between the couple to patch things up overrode the tough times. But when second daughter Kareena followed, Babita and Randhir had all but reached the end of their tether. Babita was bitter and therefore demanding, while Randhir whiled away his time with friends and his drinking escalated. She also reportedly sought solace in the arms of someone else and this came as a shock to Randhir. But exactly who was to blame is not something outsiders were in a position to judge.
In the mid-'80s, Babita finally asked Randhir to leave their home and get out of her life. He went back to his parents' home in Deonar (the R.K. cottage) and Babita proceeded to bring up her daughters single-handedly. Apparently, she was also resentful of her in-laws, since they did not earlier take their son in hand by asking him to be serious about his career or give up his drinking.
So while Babita and Randhir split, she also cut off from the rest of the Kapoor family. Apparently, it was at this time that Randhir awoke with a rude shock and tried to make late promises to his wife that he would change. But the thing is, it was too late indeed.
Elder daughter Karisma was subsequently the key to her parents maintaining any kind of communication. Having witnessed the turmoil between them at a young age, and seeing her mum manage alone with two daughters it was early grow up time for Karisma. When of age, and Babita wanted her daughter to join films, Karisma readily acquiesced. This again shook up the Kapoor family, since no Kapoor daughter had ever stepped on to the silver screen.
Somewhere, Karisma obviously missed her father's participation in her life. And she did take his permission on a film career. In fact, for her very first film victory, she insisted that both her parents be present and this sparked off the communication between Babita and Randhir once again. Thereafter, both girls —Karisma and Kareena —were in touch with their dad and he took an active part in their lives. Kudos to Babita, she did not let her own resentment cloud her judgment where Randhir's fatherhood was concerned. While on his part, a sadder and wiser Randhir did all he could to be there for his daughters. Babita sold her flat at Napean Sea Road and moved to Bandra with her daughters, as this was a more convenient distance for Karisma and Kareena's film careers. Yet, there were no signs of Babita having forgiven Randhir personally and when Karisma was earlier slated to marry Abhishek Bachchan, this came to the fore. Apparently, Babita insisted that Randhir would not perform Karisma's 'kanyadaan' (the giving away of his daughter). However, this was again tided over when she eventually relented to his participation, when Karisma finally married Sanjay Kapur. Randhir, overlooking this, opened his heart and home at Deonar to his daughter's wedding celebrations and spared no expense to make it a grand and joyous occasion.
It's funny how events in your children's lives can bring you closer though. Earlier, when a rebellious Kareena was involved in a relationship that did nobody any good, her parents got together to pack her off to boarding school. And then again, when Karisma's marriage to Sanjay almost broke, it was both Randhir and Babita who encouraged her to get back to Sanjay, along with her baby daughter.
And through the years, perhaps egos and resentment stopped Babita and Randhir from getting together again. But apart from rumours of both of them looking at people outside of their marriage, they did not move on with other partners. Perhaps love somewhere remained too, along with the memories of happier times.
Today, this seems to be proving true as it is rumoured that Babita and Randhir have finally sorted out all their differences. Apparently, Babita is on the brink of moving back in with her husband Randhir, at the Kapoor home in Deonar, where he lives his with mother Krishna Kapoor.
Though Randhir is reluctant to confirm this for the moment, he does admit, "It hasn't happened as yet but yes, it might." This certainly calls for a huge celebration in the Kapoor household, with a very happy Karisma and Kareena.
Saif, Kareena set for marriage?
KNOWN TO few, Saif apparently recently flew Kareena to Delhi to meet his parents Sharmila and Pataudi. He is reportedly set on marrying her and wants to go about things in the right manner. Of course the Kapoor family is not new to Sharmila, she having worked with Kareena's grand uncles Shammi and Shashi earlier. But Saif apparently made this move official for both Kareena and his parents' sake.
One now awaits further news of whether it will next be the Kapoor and Mansur Ali Khan families that get together. Though there is no talk of a wedding date yet, Kareena and Saif are now openly seen all over Mumbai dating, and have yoga, upbringing and other things in common.
Though it looked like Saif was getting serious about Bipasha Basu for a while, she is now back to boyfriend John. So it is obvious that the two were only crying on each shoulders for a while.
Meanwhile, Kareena has tried her best to end things with ex-boyfriend Shahid Kapur in a decent manner, but that doesn't seem to have worked. The two are supposed to have been meeting at designer Shabina Khan's place to try and sort things out but they only ended up in screaming matches. It's being touted that Kareena, though in love with and quite loyal to Shahid, could not eventually tolerate his heavy involvement with the Radha Soami movement. Not that she personally had anything against the movement but she could not take Shahid's strict observance of their teachings. She did even attempt to turn vegetarian for a while since Shahid has done so, but apparently more of his time went to this than to her.
In a last attempt to say that final bye decently, Kareena met up with Shahid at the Press meet for their forthcoming release Jab We Met. Though the two were observed as not speaking to each other in front of the crowd, Kareena did go to Shahid's van later on. But far from an amicable parting, this too apparently ended in a free for all brawl.
If on screen you next see them in the romantic Jab We Met, remember that this relationship did not end too well in Jab We Parted!http://213.132.45.225/CityHome.asp?xfile=data/citytimes/2007 /October/citytimes_October156.xml§ion=citytimes& col=
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