Juhi Chawla Marriage : Finding Love Overseas

Juhi Chawla remains a household name across the country. This former Miss India pageant winner is not only a Bollywood sensation, but has also contributed greatly to Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada cinema. One of the leading and most vivacious silver screen ladies of the 1990s, Chawla started off her career as a model, before going on to become a movie star and receiving numerous praise for her roles in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) in which she starred opposite Aamir Khan and announced her arrival by taking Bollywood by storm. Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), Deewana Mastana (1997), and Ishq (1997), among many other projects followed, sealing her superstar status.

Jay Mehta is a big name in the big business, given that he is an industrialist who owns The Mehta Group, a multinational company that is based in Mumbai, India, but has subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, Kenya and Uganda and deals in a wide rage of goods and services, including sugar, cement and engineering.

[Read More: Sridevi Boney Kapoor’s Marriage]

The Back Story

Jay Mehta’s wedding to Juhi Chawla is actually the industrialist’s second wedding. He was previously married to Sujata Birla, the sister of fellow industrialist Yash Birla, but that association came to a sudden and abrupt end with the Flight 605 plane crash that occurred in Bangalore in 1990. This tragic occurrence was followed by a period of grieving and it was a full five years later that he was to marry Juhi Chawla.

Via:Source

The story of their meeting is an interesting tale that has to do with the film Karobar for which Juhi was required to fly out to South Africa by director Rakesh Roshan. Roshan would then during the course of the shooting, go on to introduce his leading lady to his dear friend and businessman, Jay Mehta. The film was stuck in production for a good 7 years, and we go on to be a commercial disaster, but Juhi’s meeting with the then married Jay Mehta would be the most important thing to take away from the entire escapade.

[Read More: Madhuri Dixit’s Wedding]

Marriage Is On The Cards

The two went on to become good friends and shared a lot of things in common, but Jay remained loyal to his wife and Juhi committed to her work. It was only after the tragic plane crash that took the life of his then wife, Sujata, did Juhi and Jay begin to grow closer together, that too in a supporter – beneficiary role.

Juhi helped Jay through a lot of the intense grief that he was going through, and was a shoulder that he could always rely on through the entire grieving and healing process – the most difficult time of his life as he puts it.

Via:Source

The most interesting part in the tale is the fact that Juhi was at first reluctant to go out with the businessman when he first approached her, but his constant attention and the fact that he swamped her with lavish gifts and flowers made her finally relent and go out with him.

This brought the two of them closer and closer together, and it was clear that the next step was for the two of them to marry and start the next chapters in their lives. Jay had been granted a fresh start, and Juhi had someone who fully understood and appreciated her.

Another Tragedy

Just as the wedding plans were in full swing, and the two seemed to be entering a happy and positive phase, a second tragedy struck, but once again, it only served to strengthen their bond as they faced misfortune together. The tragedy in question was the, again abrupt and sudden, passing of Juhi’s mom, Mona Kapoor, in a car crash. This was the second time that someone close to the couple had passed away in an accident, and as is to be expected, the actress was completely shaken up by the ordeal, especially considering that she was particularly close to her mother.

As if this wasn’t enough, the actress faced further personal loss as her brother Bobby passed away after a prolonged illness (albeit much after her mother), but Jay was there by her side throughout the entire time and he afforded as much time and effort as he could in comforting the bereaved actress. This only served to bring them closer and was the shining light in all of the darkness.
The tragedy of Mona Kapoor’s death also served to put a halt in the couple’s wedding plans for a good while, but as things turned out, it was only a dent, a delay, and not an outright deal-breaker.

Finally! A Secret Wedding Ensues

All this time, the bond between the couple only grew stronger, and served to lay the foundations for a successful marriage. While their “courtship,” if one were to use such a word, wasn’t the most conventional out there, neither were their circumstances, and the couple found each other to ride out what was undeniably a rough deal that had been handed to them.

The couple wed in a secret ceremony in 1995, five years after the passing of Jay’s first wife. Juhi has always kept the media in the dark when it comes to her private affairs, and her wedding was no exception. The world only got wind of the alliance when the couple were expecting their first child, and the ceremony itself was attended by only very close friends and family of the couple.

[Read More: Rani Mukerji’s Marriage]

Juhi had taken an extended sabbatical from her work, which had led to speculation that the actress had tied the knot, but no one knew of any details. When the actress finally revealed the fact that she had tied the knot, it is rumored that many of her Bollywood acquaintances and even friends did not wish to speak with her any more and broke all ties with her.

The couple have two children, daughter Jhanvi who was born in 2001, and their son Arjun, born 2003.

Post Wedding

Juhi made a return to cinema after her extended break, and as per usual, she made quite a splash delivering excellent performances one after another in the Indie-films and art house productions she chose to reappear in Bollywood with. She claimed plaudits for her work in 2003s Jhankaar Beats and Gulaab Gang, as well as 2005s My Brother Nikhil among others.

2014 saw her star alongside arch nemesis Madhuri Dixit in Gulaab Gang, a role which saw Juhi portray a negative character for the first time in her career. Although she admitted being nervous about being pitted against Madhuri, her choice of role proved to be an excellent choice as she won the hearts of fans and critics both with her stellar performance.

Juhi also enjoys being a businesswoman, and has multiple humanitarian projects under her belt, with her most recent one being a campaign that spreads awareness about the harmful side-effects of mobile phone usage.

The Future

What the future hold for this two decade long love story is anyone’s guess, and our two cents say that just like a fine wine, and Juhi herself, their love will only grow stronger and deeper, as the both of them take time to themselves to raise their children, and Juhi picks and chooses her next roles, delivering stellar on-screen performances as usual.