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Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh’s Marriage – How it Happened…?
 Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh’s marriage was undoubtedly the much-awaited extravaganza of the tinsel town. Finally when both decided to tie the nuptial knot after having a long affair, it was truly a sigh of relief to gossips being churned out in the entire film industry and outside the movie front. Rishi Kapoor (Chintu – pet name given by his family as Kapoors are widely known for giving pet names to their family members) had given his bride to be (Neetu) one month’s notice to complete all her film assignments prior to wedding, saying, ‘once you are a Kapoor, you will not step into the studios’. It was evident that no woman of Kapoors family worked in the movies after getting married to them. This strict rule continued to be obeyed smoothly until Karishma Kapoor took the bold step and rebelled against the family by stepping into the filmdom.
The month prior to the marriage, it was witnessed that every studio in Bombay (later renamed Mumbai) held a set for Neetu Singh to get her tasks completed. She wanted to honour all her commitments. Shooting round the clock, Neetu was doing triple-shifts and then dolling up with the dubbing jobs after that. It was the toughest month for the gorgeous actress. But since she was going to marry her lover and becoming the member of Kapoor family, it gave her the huge courage to cope with the hectic schedules.
 Rajee Singh (Neetu’s mother) had single-handedly pushed her daughter’s career in films. And with her efforts, the success came in Neetu’s life and then luxuries multiplied. Her philosophy was, ‘to get something in life, you ought to be prepared to give up something’. ‘If my daughter wants marriage, she should be ready to give up her career’, she told to the reporters when they asked about Neetu’s marriage and quitting her successful career. Rajee did not want to be the barrier in between her daughter’s love. Her restraint was unmistakable when Rishi came into her daughter’s life. Initially the two used not to see eye to eye. Rishi would come to their home everyday to meet Neetu but would not greet her mother and disappear straight into her room. The rejection hurt her (Neetu’s mother) a lot, but Rajee swallowed it for the sake of her daughter’s love. On Neetu’s part, she too suffered trying hard to balance the two relationships mattered most to her. Time was running but Rishi did not officially propose to her. Like all men, he was unable to make up his mind and was in a complicated situation to take a decision till the very end. Not because he didn’t love the gal, but because he was frightened of the commitments of marriage.
 Their engagement is an interesting story by itself. This is what happened that the entire family of Kapoors was there in Delhi to attend a wedding ceremony in the in-laws of Ritu Nanda, the elder sister of Rishi Kapoor. Neetu was also invited at the function. The whole family decided that there would not be a more appropriate moment for Chintu (Rishi) to announce his engagement because he was in a dilly-dally situation of mind and making silly excuses to his family for the marriage. That’s when the elder brother, Randhir Kapoor (Karishma and Kareena Kapoor’s father) pulled him aside and made him see the reason. Randhir asked Rishi quick questions for which he wanted to have direct answers.
Randhir: ‘Do you want to get married and have the children?’
Rishi: ‘Yes’
Randhir: ‘Do you love Neetu?’
Rishi: ‘Yes’
Randhir: ‘Would you rather marry someone else?’
Rishi: ‘No’
Randhir: ‘So what the hell is your problem?’
Rishi: ‘Nothing’
Randhir took his brother’s hand in his and went out of the room and made the announcement. Rajee Singh was summoned to Delhi by the evening flight.
 A week’s later, talking to the media, a restraint Neetu Singh said, ‘I don’t know who ordered my saree and decided upon my jewellery. Somebody was putting on my make-up and somebody was putting on my nail polish. Everybody did what they felt like. I was being overdressed but I was too overwhelmed to protest, so I let people do what they wanted to. I felt it wouldn’t look nice for young fiancée to give so many instructions. I wore a peach chiffon outfit, a colour that doesn’t suit me and was as nervous as hell! Chintu caught me trembling, pulled me into the next room and forced a glass of champagne on me. “Calm down”, he ordered, I don’t want you to make a fool of yourself”. After this I was flying high. Nothing mattered any more.’
Three engagements were announced around the same time. The star daughters – Raj Kapoor’s second girl, Rima Kapoor was engaged to actor Kumar Gourav (actor Rajendra Kumar’s son), Rajendra Kumar’s daughter, Dimple Tuli got engaged to Ritu Nanda’s brother-in-law, and one actress Neetu Singh to Rishi Kapoor. Call it destiny, the first two engagements could not last long and broke off in the following months, only Rishi-Neetu took the pheras round the fire.
The wedding invitation let the entire film industry buzz with gossips since it only carried Neetu’s mother’s name on it. It was the marriage of the decade in every sense of the word – the giant star-studded sparkling extravaganza with the whopping amount of guests from all walks of life – politicians to sportsmen and all that. The wedding ceremonies began days in advance – Sangeet, Dandiya Raas, Akhand Path, Mehndi, etc. Stars of the entertainment industry got their wardrobes specially designed for the swanky event. The entire Hindi cinema fraternity was present to grace the marriage.
 At his Deonar bungalow, the showman Raj Kapoor threw a lavish party a few days before the marriage took place. Krishna Kapoor, Raj Kapoor’s better half, as usual showed her much-talked about mehman nawazi (hospitality). Clad in white costume, the graceful lady with her gorgeous smile looked after every guest personally. The woman’s hospitality’s test emerged when around midnight, the beautiful Nargis entered into the RK lawns along with her husband Sunil Dutt and son Sanjay Dutt. Raj Kapoor, who was wearing a black suit and a red muffler, noticed them but took a while to get his act together. The wife (Krishna) had taken the charge in the meanwhile. A perfect blend of warmth and restraint, she escorted her guests to her husband and after a few lingering moments left them alone. Stiffness was the evidence of the atmosphere since everyone present there was conscious of the fifties sensational pair amongst them. It was without any doubt a historic moment. Nargis was entering inside the RK’s bungalow for the first time, meeting her hero after two decades. Even the telephone operator, who had connected Ajanta Arts, Sunil Dutt’s bungalow to invite them on behalf of Raj Kapoor, was pretty much emotional about RK’s old heroine. ‘After 20 years….’, he said mushily. Much later when a close friend asked Nargis, how it felt coming face to face after decades hiatus with the man she had loved on screen? Nargis replied, ‘It was like the climax of a film. We are both old, tired and with our children grown up. How could I feel otherwise when I have two handsome men on either side, my husband and my son?’
 A year after Rishi-Neetu’s marriage, Neetu got pregnant and everyone was saying that she would be having a son. Both Rishi and Neetu were not particular about the son. They just wanted baby – whether a daughter or a son.
The strong-headed Neetu vegetated into a humble girlfriend when Rishi came into his life. As the relationship grew, both complimented each other. If during the days of their romance Rishi’s influence on Neetu was strapping, after the engagement she had a stronger hold on him. After marriage, he mellowed considerably. And once he became father, he was utterly besotted with his better half. Contrary to everyone’s expectations that she would be missing the arclights, she didn’t. ‘This is the first time in my life that I am enjoying a super holiday. Why shouldn’t I live it up thoroughly? In fact, some mornings when I see Chintu leave for work, I feel sorry for him. I feel fortunate that I can laze in the house without bothering about shooting. People ask me how I spend my time? I don’t know what I do, but I’m busy the whole day, may be busy doing nothing, but I’m occupied’, Neetu expressed to the media after the marriage.
 Although Karishma and Kareena Kapoor broke the Kapoor family’s custom about women’s not entering into the filmdom, Neetu never did after becoming a Kapoor, which is why her marriage is still running smoothly and her bond with in-laws is stronger. But now after a very long hiatus of years and years, she is making a comeback to Bollywood with Saif Ali Khan’s home production, ‘Love Aaj Aur Kal’.
- Written By: Goher Iqbal Punn
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- The writer is a popular and experienced Bollywood and Indian TV Analyst and laced with a good rapport with both of these fraternities and the people associated with these entertainment worlds. He also shares a good rapport with the celebs of these swanky industries. You may contact him at the e-mails: goheriqbal@yahoo.co.uk, goher.punn@yahoo.com and goher.punn@gmail.com
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you do realise that neetu’s first child is actually a girl – riddhima..