Bina Ramani Reveals Shammi Kapoor's Secret Love—And Why She Couldn't Say It Back

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Ramani reflected on her association with the legendary actor, describing it as a "special kind of love" that could never fully materialise because of strict family traditions and societal expectations.

Recalling her initial hesitation, Ramani said family pressure was the most significant deterrent.

"I wasn't attracted to him like forbidden fruit because I immediately was drawn to him, I was not. The phobia of upsetting my family was the number one. You couldn't do anything to upset the family from childhood. It was never questioned. The very first time when I arrived in India, Raji (the legendary star Raj Kapoor) had never spoken to me about him, and he didn't even want to bring the subject up to me. It was an unacceptable thing," she said.

Describing her first meeting with Shammi Kapoor, Ramani recalled arriving in Bombay just before Christmas Eve and visiting the Kapoor family home in Chembur.

"I had just landed in Bombay the day before Christmas Eve and went straight to the Chembur house. So I arrived with bhabiji (Raj Kapoor's wife). We went a little late, and they were all seated....And she had warned Shammi that you will see her on this day. I'll bring her for a while, I think Raj Kapoor had told her not to bring me... I had a cousin who had stayed with me in London. And she had invited me to dinner at her home. So I had to go there. So in any case, I came for a short while," she said.

Ramani added, "I'm walking around there, he's at the end of one head of the table, Raj on the other side of the table. So I first reach Raj and I'm introduced; I don't know any of them. And then he greets me, and he looks, I'm seeing, he's looking straight into my eyes as if he's trying to give a message, I don't know. So I just looked away, right away."

She further said, "I just glanced and saw that he's trying to talk with his eyes, he's once, he's trying to say something. Whatever, I don't know what he was reading too deeply into me. He had heard a lot, maybe she had pushed it too much, I don't know."

Ramani spoke about their next meeting, which took place at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu, where Shammi Kapoor arrived with friends, while she was accompanied by her sister, who acted as her guardian.

"The next meeting was arranged in Juhu, at Prithvi Theatre. Shammi was there with one or two friends, and my sister, who was my kind of guardian... I used to call her my spy, but she was my guardian, and she knew," she said.

She added, "He tried to say in many different languages how he loved me and I couldn't say it back to him. ..There's a special kind of love," Ramani added.

Ramani has candidly written about her relationship with legendary actor Shammi Kapoor in her autobiography 'Bird in a Banyan Tree: My Story.'

She was first married to Andy Ramani, who was settled in San Francisco, for 13 years before their divorce, and the couple had two daughters, including designer Malini Ramani. She later married Canadian George Mailhot.

Recalling the circumstances that led to her marriage, Bina Ramani said events took an unexpected turn. "The shocking thing is, it was exactly a year later, on Christmas Eve. Shammi had left for the jungles, and I was introduced to a man called Andy Ramani by my taaya (father's elder brother)."

Ramani explained that family pressure had intensified by then. "My sister had got married, and my parents wanted to return to London, which meant taking me along. I hadn't approved anyone for marriage. I kept saying no," she said. "It was like a predestined thing," Ramani added.

She said the decision was mainly driven by relentless family pressure. "My parents, aunts and uncles put so much pressure," Ramani said, acknowledging that she had little control over her choices. When asked if she had the agency to refuse, she replied firmly, "No, never. We could never question it."

Shammi Kapoor, who made his film debut with Jeewan Jyoti (1953) and starred in hits like Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), and An Evening in Paris, was known for his flamboyant style and exceptional dancing.

Speaking about Shammi Kapoor's public image, Ramani said the actor was deeply uncomfortable with his flamboyant on-screen persona. "He hated the 'Yahoo' image. In real life, he was gentle, restrained and deeply respectful," she said.

Ramani described Kapoor as a man very different from his public image. "When we would meet at night on my cousin's staircase, he was even afraid to hold my hand. I was fine with holding hands, but he treated me like something precious, like I couldn't be touched," she recalled.

She said their meetings were filled more with "poetic" words and dreams than physical closeness. "There were lots of poetic words and conversations about building a life ahead," Ramani said, offering a glimpse into Kapoor's sensitive side.

According to her, the actor was acutely aware of the gap between who he was and what the industry demanded of him. "He said, 'I am doing this because my producers are making me money. They're making money. And I'm the only one, this role seems to be fitting, so I have to do it for the audience. And I'm signed one after the other, and they're all roles like this'," she said.

Bina Ramani is also known for pioneering boutique culture in India, developing Delhi's Hauz Khas Village art and fashion district in the 1980s, and later the Qutub Colonnade area.

- ANI