KHUSH KHABAR!, KHUSH KHABAR!! “MR. INDIA” ANIL KAPOOR NANA BANNE WALE HAI!!!.... BY ALI PETER JOHN

I was sitting with Anil Kapoor in one of our usual morning meetings when a little girl in her school uniform and carrying a heavy school bag rang the door bell and walked into the house - Ali Peter John

I asked Anil who the girl was and he said with his eyes trinkled, “Meri Beti Hai Yaar”. I asked him in which school she was and in which class she was studying and he made his eyes smaller and gave me a sheepish smile and said, “Merko Maloom Nahi Baap. Woh Sunita Ka Department Hai”.

I knew Sunita was his wife and was his girlfriend when he was a struggler and they had got married when Anil started taking big steps towards stardom and how the reception was held at the Taj Mahal hotel which I also had the good fortune of attending.

Sunita told me that the girl was Sonam and was their daughter. She was studying at the Jamnabhai High School and was in the 9th standard. I asked both of them what Sonam intended to do after school and they were both blank and looked at each other as if they had committed a petty crime…

That was the last time I saw Sonam as a school girl because the next time I saw her was on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Black”, in which she and Ranbir Kapoor were assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

And the next time I saw her as the leading lady of Bhansali’s “Saawariya” with Ranbir as her leading man. The film was an artistic triumph for Bhansali, but was a disaster at the box-office and Sonam and Ranbir went their own ways…

Sonam did a number of films, but she was genuinely noticed in films like “Aisha” produced by her sister Rhea Kapoor, but this film didn’t fared too well, but Sonam rose like a phoenix with “Raanjhana” for which she was nominated for several major awards and followed it with three bio-graphical films like “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, “Sanju” and “Neerja” for which she won the best actress award from several organization. She was well on her way to big time success…

But it was at this time that she decided to get married and she surprised her parents and the entire industry when she announced that she was marrying a rich businessman called Anand Ahuja and she married him on May 4, 2018.

But she had no intention of quitting acting and in fact played some of her best roles after marriage and she also took part in various causes and helped in raising funds for cancer patients and the poor of Mijwan, the place in Uttar Pradesh, where the great poet Kaifi Azmi had adopted a village and looked after its development till his death.

Sonam continued to do daring roles and one of her best roles after marriage was in “Veere Di Wedding” in which she played a young woman with lesbian tendency and won a great deal of acclaim from critics, the audience and the industry.

She had tough competition from Kareena Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar, but she could still make her own impact… And with the grand success of “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo”, she had reached the peak of her acting career, but she also did a film “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga” with her father, Juhi Chawla and Rajkumar Rao and was a winner again…

And when it looked like Sonam was on the track of actresses like Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi, she sprang one more surprise by announcing that she was pregnant and now it is only her role as the mother –to-be that is of paramount importance to her.

She has naturally taken a break from acting, but it is to be seen what surprise she will spring in the months to come.

And if there is one man who is most happy for Sonam, it is her “Mr. India” father Anil Kapoor who didn’t know in which class she was when I had met him that morning almost 30-years-ago, but is very sure now that his daughter will be a class mother because she has seen her mother as the best example of a mother.

Asked if he would like to have a granddaughter or a grandson, Anil again trinkled his eyes and said, “Maalik Jo Bhi Deyga Who Hum Logon Ko Manjoor Hai. Humne Kabhi Socha Bhi Nahi Tha, Ke Hum Ek Din Naana- Naani Ban Jayenge. Sab Oopar Wale Ki Meherbani Hai.”