Bridging the North-South gap

It was a cultural romance between a South Indian girl, actress Jayasudha, and a North Indian Punjabi boy, Nitin Kapoor.

He is the first cousin of Bollywood actor Jitendra and she was one of the leading actresses in Tollywood back in the days. So, how did they met? “Those days Balaji Movies were making  remakes of Dasari Narayana Rao’s movies in Hindi. And Jitendra was doing more movies down South. I was here to assist Dasari and she did most of her films with him. We worked on a film called Raag Deepam with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Jayasudha and Lakshmiji and that’s how we met,” says Nitin.

“We were initially very surprised to see the brother of a leading Bollywood actor working down South. I would read a lot of books and was also a fan of Western music. Surprisingly, we shared the same interest. And that was what brought us closer,” she recalls.

So, was it love at first sight? She says, “From day one I was impressed by his good looks and the way he used to converse. If I say I wasn’t attracted towards him, I would be lying. But, it was not love at first sight. But, yes, I liked him and his company.” Nitin adds, “We were good friends with no sparks flying. Our exciting story actually began when I started travelling between Mumbai and Chennai. That was when we felt a void in our lives and started missing each other.”

This went on for nearly two years, after which she proposed to him. “He was 25 and I was 26.”

Two States

Jayasudha says that falling in love was the easy part, convincing their parents, however, proved to be tough. There were a lot of objections from both sides. There were challenges because of the cultural differences and language barriers, but they decided to convince their parents. “Jitendra was dead against our marriage. He asked, ‘How can a South Indian marry a North Indian?’ Then they started talking about different cultures and even cooking methods! They felt the marriage would not be a success. But I was very clear, this is the girl I loved and wanted to marry. There were no second thoughts,” he adds. “Those days people had this notion that if the boy is from North India and that too Bombay, he can’t be trusted. ‘What if he runs away?’ And North Indians used to think South Indians are from villages. But things are different now,” she elaborates. “Since Dasariji and K. Raghavendra  Rao worked with Jitendra, and I worked in many films with them, they played a major role in getting us together and convincing Jitendra. We finally got married on March 17, 1985,” she adds.

Saat Pheras

They had a simple Punjabi wedding with close relatives and friends. She says, “It’s still fresh. We were staying at a hotel in Juhu. Nitin’s family had arranged for a white Mercedes for me to reach Hotel Oberoi, where we got married. I was wearing a red Kancheevaram sari, with heavy jewellery. My friend Jaya Prada and my brother, actor Naresh were by my side. I was very  tensed, after all, it was the day we had waited for nearly two years.

“When I got married, I was at the peak of my career. My in-laws used to visit us once in a year. Having been born and brought up in Chennai, my Hindi was very weak; I found it difficult to converse with my mother-in-law, though my father-in-law used to speak to me in English. We managed...”

The couple has been married for 30 years and has two sons, Nihar and, Shreayan Kapoor.

“We may not hold hands in public, but we are still in love,” the couple says.