Happy birthday Shakti Kapoor: Did you know he eloped to marry Shivangi Kolhapure when she was 18?

Shakti Kapoor and Shivangi Kolhapure may have been happily married for more than 37 years now but life has not always been rosy for them. Did you know that her family was strongly opposed to their marriage, forcing them to elope?

As Shakti turns 68 on Thursday, here is revisiting his very filmy love story with Shivangi. Cupid struck during the shoot of Bhisham Kohli’s Kismet (1980) and they were secretly in a relationship for two years. She belonged to a strict family and her parents put their foot down when she expressed her desire to marry him.

In an interview with Rediff, Shakti had said, “Shivangi and I eloped and got married. She is Maharashtrian and I am Punjabi. I played the villain and my reputation was not good. Her family did not agree to the marriage, so we had to run away.”

“Her parents locked her in the house, but one day she ran away. She was 18 when we got married (in 1982),” he said.

When Shakti and Shivangi got married, her parents stopped talking to her completely. It was only after their son, Siddhanth Kapoor, was born that relations thawed. The couple also has a daughter, Shraddha Kapoor.

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Shakti said, “When she was 19, my son Siddhanth was born. That was the first time Shivangi’s mother spoke to her after our marriage, when she came to meet her at Breach Candy Hospital.”

In 2007, Shakti and Shivangi participated in the dance reality show Nach Baliye 3. However, they quit the show after a few episodes as she was suffering from back pain and could not perform.

Shakti is known for playing the villain as well as for his comic roles. Some of his popular films include Raja Babu, Judwaa, Andaz Apna Apna, Tohfa, ChaalBaaz and Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri. He will be seen next in Priyadarshan’s comedy Hungama 2, starring Shilpa Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Meezaan and Pranitha Subhash.

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