Marriage is even today thought of as a road-block that might hinder a woman’s growth. So much so that even a successful actor like Juhi Chawla was afraid of losing her career on just the thought of getting into wedlock back in the day.
A brilliant actor, an activist and a person known for her bubbly and vibrant personality, Juhi’s career was blooming in the Indian film industry when she married her husband Jay Mehta in a hush-hush affair in the presence of only family and friends in 1996.
She ventured into films in 1986 and by then she was a celebrated star who gave us many blockbusters like ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’, ‘Bol Radha Bol’, ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ among others.
In her recent interview, Juhi opened up about her love affair with Jay and her fear of losing it all post marriage. Speaking about her love story with hubby, Juhi said that she met him briefly way before she entered the film industry. News18 quoted her saying, “That was briefly and with friends.” She further added that they reconnected a few years later, at a dinner party hosted by a friend, and that’s when they got talking.
“From then on, everywhere I went, he turned up. Everywhere I looked, he was there with flowers and notes and gifts.”
“Every day! On my birthday, I remember he sent me a truckload of red roses. I was like, ‘What do you do with a truckload of flowers?’ He really did all he could. After a year, he proposed,” she said.
In 1998, when her mother Mona Chawla passed away in an accident, Jay stood by her in and helped her overcome the loss. Talking of which, the ‘Gulaab Gang’ actor said, “That was a very difficult time for me because I felt I was going to lose everything I loved.” Her charismatic, girl next door image was taking over the audiences, hence, the idea of losing her career was obviously taking over.
Speaking about why she kept her wedding a secret initially, she said, “At that time, you did not have the internet and you did not have cameras on every phone, so you could do it that way.”
“I was just about established and doing well. That’s the time Jay was serenading me and I was afraid of losing my career just when I had kind of got there.”
“I wanted to carry on and this seemed the midway,” she said reported HT.
And since then, it’s been almost two and a half decades that the couple has stood by each other. They also have two children, Janhavi and Arjun.
You can watch the full interview here:
Juhi was last seen in the 2019 film ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ alongside Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. We just can’t wait to see her magic again on the silver screen.