When Shatru cried for Reena...

Even after Shatrughan Sinha married Poonam, he continued his relationship with actor Reena Roy. This extract from Sinha’s recently released biography brings an interesting and never ever told incident to light.

Producer Pahlaj Nihalani, one of Shatrughan’s closest friends during his stint in films and in his career as a politician, endorsed Poonam’s graciousness about the situation with Reena Roy. Pahlaj’s professional association with SS began with Hathkadi (1982) which also starred Sanjeev Kumar and Reena Roy in important roles. And he was caught in the crossfire between the two lovers.“AfterHathkadi, I was keen to repeat the same setup of Shatru, Reena,Sanjeev Kumar for my next film,Aandhi Toofan,” divulged the producer.

“But Reena said a firm, ‘No’ to my offer. She said to me, ‘Tell your friend to make up his mind. If he gives me an answer, I’ll do the next film with him. Otherwise, it’s a “No”. I’ve made up my mind that if he doesn’t marry me, I’m going to get married in eight days.’”

In 1982, Shatrughan was already married to Poonam but was still emotionally bound to Reena Roy and wouldn’t cut off ties with her. “Sonu (Shatru) was shooting at night for a film called Telephone (1985) in a hotel in Juhu when I went across and repeated Reena’s message to him,” Pahlaj gave the details. “He called her up and cried like a baby. For the first time, I saw him cry; he was very emotionally involved with her. That was the one time I spoke up and told him, ‘Let go, let her get married.’“

Anything But Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography

Author: Bharathi S Pradhan

Publishers: Om Books International