TV Actress Usha in Mee Inti Vanta

Raksha Bandhan is a festival meant to celebrate the sacred bond between brothers and sisters, but in a real-life twist straight out of a Bollywood script, legendary actress Sridevi once tied a rakhi to the man who would later become her husband — producer Boney Kapoor, and the father of her two daughters.

The unusual incident was reportedly orchestrated by Boney Kapoor’s mother. Knowing about her son’s feelings for Sridevi, she handed the actress a rakhi on a puja thali during Raksha Bandhan. Coming from a South Indian background, Sridevi was familiar with the custom and entered the room prepared to perform the ritual. However, Boney gently suggested she set the thali aside and not go ahead.

At the time, Boney Kapoor was married to Mona Shourie and was the father of Arjun and Anshula Kapoor. His growing closeness to Sridevi quickly became a hot topic in the media. Later, rumours spread that Sridevi was pregnant before marriage. Boney clarified that they had secretly tied the knot in Shirdi on June 2, 1996, but only went public with their marriage in January 1997. Their first daughter, Janhvi Kapoor, was born in March the same year.

According to Boney, the pregnancy happened shortly after their wedding, during their honeymoon. Because he was still legally married to Mona at the time, the couple kept their relationship private for months. He also revealed that Sridevi, being deeply religious, refused to marry while pregnant, which is why there was no public ceremony after their private vows.

Despite the early controversies and secrecy, the couple eventually built a life together with their daughters, though their love story remains one of the most unconventional in Bollywood history.