We live in a society, where many working women are forced to quit careers after marriage. Sometime back, actress Namrata Shirodkar opened up about quitting films for Mahesh Babu, who didn’t want a working wife. And, now actress Suchitra Krishnamurthy has shared why she had to quit films because of her ex-husband Shekhar Kapoor.
When Suchitra Krishnamoorthi debuted in Sharukh Khan’s starrer Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, many fell in love with her. Years have passed but many fans still remember Suchitra as Anna. In a recent interview, Suchitra opened up about the reason why she gave up acting in those early years. She shared how her husband at the time, director Shekhar Kapur, was not supportive of her career.
Shekhar Kapur is a world-renowned director. He has not only directed famous Hindi movies like Masoom or Mr. India, but he has also directed successful Hollywood movies. He rose to popularity with the movie, Bandit Queen. He was also nominated for Academy Awards for Elizabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Shekhar and Suchitra got married in 1999 and separated in 2007. They have a daughter together, Kaveri.
While sharing about her journey in an interview, Suchitra shared how she had to fight with her parents for years to become an actor. And, then a few years later, her then-husband, Shekhar objected to her dreams as well. “First, I was fighting my parents, who didn’t want me to do something. Then, I was fighting my husband, who also did not want me to act…Which is why I completely gave up acting.”
Suchitra further shared how she complied at that time, but now wonders how could someone ask her to give up on her career and dreams. She also called out the “patriarchal” thinking behind the same. “Why should somebody object to you doing something? It’s a very patriarchal mindset but there’s been too much water under the bridge now. I quit after my debut movie which was a super-duper hit. That was the reason that I quit. I continued with my music because that wasn’t such an issue or so threatening but with acting it was very clear. In retrospect, I feel what the hell, but at that point I was like haan theek hai, hota hai (that’s okay, it happens.)”
It is heartbreaking how so many women are still forced to quit their dreams and career for the sake of marriage and kids. We hope they would seek the learning from Suchitra’s life and won’t let others control their dreams and career.
