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Shatrughan Sinha was one of the most popular stars in the 1970s and like many popular stars of the day, his personal life was splashed across the papers quite frequently. Back in those days, it was well known that Shatrughan and actor Reena Roy were deeply in love, so it came as a shock to everyone when Shatrughan decided to marry Poonam Sinha in 1980. But, even after he got married, Shatrughan couldn’t break ties with Reena, who kept hoping that he would marry her too. It was around this time that Dharmendra had married his longtime girlfriend Hema Malini, without divorcing his first wife Prakash Kaur. In his biography, Anything But Khamosh, Shatrughan spoke about the time when he was yet to break up with Reena, but was already married to Poonam. He also shared that when Poonam was eight months pregnant, his older brother Ram ordered him to marry Reena, which left him “flabbergasted.”
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Shatrughan recalled this as a “difficult period” in his life as “withdrawing from an emotional entanglement elsewhere was taking its time.” He remembered that his wife “used to cry a lot” during this phase but, he acknowledged that things took some time because “it was a question of a commitment to the other party also.” Shatrughan said that when he went out with Reena, she would ask questions that put him in a difficult spot. “You’ve set up your home. So was I a toy to be used and cast away?” she would ask. He added, “I have to tell every man that an extra-marital situation puts you on a perpetual guilt trip. When you are at home, you feel guilty about neglecting the other woman. When you are with her, you feel guilty about your wife.”
The stories around Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy’s love story was splashed across papers. (Photo: Express Archives)
Through this phase, Shatrughan and Reena continued to work together. In 1983, however, Shatrughan was ordered by his older brother Ram to marry Reena. At this time, Poonam was pregnant with twins Luv and Kush. Shatrughan recalled this episode in the biography and said that his brother called him over to Reena’s house and upon reaching, he “asked me point-blank to marry her, right there, right then.” Ram “had given his word to Reena” and Shatrughan was “flabbergasted” when he saw what was happening. Ram was adamant and threatened Shatrughan that if he did not follow his orders, he would tell the world about his affair.
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Meanwhile, Ram had written a letter to all the members of the Sinha and family, and all of Shatrughan’s close associates which had all the details of his relationship with Reena and ended the letter by writing, “… and so, he must marry Reena.” When Shatrughan’s secretary Pawan Kumar got his hands on the letter, he took control of the situation and told Shatrughan about it at once, even though he was shooting away from Mumbai. As per the biography, it was Pawan who saved Shatrughan and Poonam’s marriage.
Amitabh Bachchan (right) at Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha’s wedding. (Photo: Express Archives)
Shatrughan did not bow down, and soon after Reena too got married to Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan, and welcomed her daughter Sanam Khan. Whilst all these events were taking place, Shatrughan realised that his older brother Ram was not happy about his success. In fact, it was at this point that he realised that his brother had not attended his wedding, not been around to lend his support, and matters got worse when he did not stay around when Shatrughan and Ram’s parents took their last breath.
Shatrughan continued to live with his wife Poonam, and welcomed twin sons Luv and Kush in 1983, and their daughter Sonakshi in 1987.
