From being mother Shyama Devi’s chhutka bauwa (little darling) and a “villain with a romantic touch” to being a politician without any godfather and a loving father to three children, Anything But Khamosh retraces the hurrahs and heartaches of Shatrughan Sinha. In a conversation, Sinha talks about love at first sight, his not-so-sweet bonding with Amitabh Bachchan and more.
Unabashed love for Raj Kapoor, Pran
Sinha confesses, “I will always remain Raj Kapoor’s greatest admirer. He was extremely handsome. I was so much in love with him that I started picking up his habits. Influenced by him, I started smoking too.” After watching Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Sinha was totally smitten by Pran.
Love at first sight
Interestingly, Sinha met his wife Poonam Chandiramani (now Poonam Sinha) in a filmi way on a train journey, and it was love at first sight. He recalls, “It was the first time I was leaving home and the moment I boarded the train at Patna, I was awestruck by a beautiful face. Once the journey began, I noticed that Poonam was crying for a personal reason. The diehard romantic inside me came out and I scribbled a message on a magazine — Itne sundar chehre ki aankhon mein aansoo achche nahin lagte, rona nahi and handed it over to her. I thought she’d be impressed, but she threw the magazine away from the window!” Today, despite all odds, Poonam has been an integral part of his life.
On Reena Roy
Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy’s affair was a much-gossiped-about fling of the ’70s. With a nonchalant shrug, he puts forth, “Even today, after so many years, I still have tremendous love, affection and respect for Reena. She had been a guiding factor in my life and was very understanding when I was undergoing the whole dilemma about my marriage. Our priorities in life changed and we chose different partners, but that’s okay. It has happened with so many people in their lives. Whenever we meet, there is grace and dignity.”
On Amitabh Bachchan
Back in the ’80s, Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha shared the screen in movies like Kaala Patthar, Dostana and Shaan. Talking about his contemporary, he says, “Amitabh’s personality is what I like, and I feel proud that despite our differences during our peak days, we are still great friends. We struggled together; we became stars and at one point, I became a greater star than him and much later he emerged as a grander star than me, and the cycle continued. We have sailed together in good and bad times. I believe any understanding after misunderstanding is longer lasting, so that’s the case with my bonding with Amitabh.”
He goes on, “The problem was the applause I was getting for my performances. Amitabh could see the response I was getting. That’s why he didn’t want me in some of his films.”
Political innings
“I wanted to use my stardom for social and political causes. I then gave it a serious thought. Stalwarts like Nanaji Deshmukh and Jayaprakash Narayan inspired me deeply to take up politics.”
An old photo of Shatrughan Sinha with wife Poonam, daughter Sonakshi and sons Luv and Kush
