Sonil Dedhia & Mohar Basu (BOMBAY TIMES; January 16, 2016)
When Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor tied the knot on September 29, 2003 with topnotch Delhi industrialist Sunjay Kapur, the world at large was slightly sceptical about this match. To many, it looked like the actress had married on the rebound. She had just broken off her engagement with Abhishek Bachchan and she was hurting.Today when her father Randhir Kapoor says, “From day one, I was against Karisma marrying Sunjay,“ his statement doesn't come as a surprise.
The couple filed for legal separation in the Bandra Family Court on May 23, 2014. Their impending divorce is just getting messier by the day and has opened up a new can of worms. In the latest turn of events, Sunjay's fresh petition claims that the actress married him for money. Needless to say, her family believes it is a very serious accusation to make. When we reached out to Karisma's father, Randhir Kapoor, he told us, “The whole world knows what kind of people they are. The fact that my daughter is getting a divorce is because we are not happy with that family. This third-class behaviour is expected only from a third-class person like Sunjay Kapur.“
In his fresh petition, Sunjay has reportedly accused Karisma of 'not being a good mother'. Reacting to the same, Randhir says, “Everyone knows Karisma has always been a good mother. Her husband has been living with another woman. I was against this marriage since day one. The matter is sub judice and hence, I can't comment further. Eventually, the entire truth will come out.“
Reports also state that Sunjay and his family were denied access to meet the kids. To this, Karisma's counsel Kranti Sathe retorted, “That is such an obnoxious thing to say. Before making such allegations, Sunjay and his legal team forget that his daughter is now 11 years old. To see such accusations against her mother in the newspapers will be such a blow to her. Things like these damage the psyche of young ones from broken families.“With such details about the case constantly trickling out, Sathe questions how such news is getting leaked to the media. “The ground rule is that somebody's personal life is not for public consumption. People on the other side want to do everything possible to hit the headlines,“ says Sathe.
Echoing Randhir's sentiments on the fresh petition, Sathe summed up her client's stand, by saying, “We want to present our side of the story only in court now and not resort to such character assassination. All the allegations need to be validated with substantial evidence. Let the court take over the case and give a fair judgement.“