Nargis and Raj Kapoor’s Doomed Love, Sunil Dutt Rescue, and Secret Letters That Led to Their 1958 Marriage
मुख्य बातें
- •Nargis, 16, fell in love with Raj Kapoor, 22, while he was married; she later described the relationship as a “horrible nightmare” filled with exploitation and emotional pain.
- •On the *Mother India* set, Sunil Dutt rescued Nargis from a fire, suffered severe burns, and she nursed him back to health; both fell in love within weeks.
- •To avoid industry and family backlash, the couple exchanged secret letters using codenames like “Pia” and “Hey There,” later documented in Kishwar Desai’s *Darlingji*.
- •Raj Kapoor’s persistent pursuit and unannounced visits, along with industry figures pushing Nargis to reconcile with him, added strain to her relationship with Sunil.
- •Nargis married Sunil Dutt in 1958, after overcoming emotional trauma, financial struggles, and external pressures, establishing one of Bollywood’s most iconic love stories.
Nargis, the legendary Bollywood star, was just 16 when she first met Raj Kapoor, then a 22-year-old filmmaker building RK Studios. Their romance blossomed despite Raj being already married to Krishna Raj Kapoor, creating a passionate yet ultimately unsustainable relationship. By the mid-1950s, Nargis found her career opportunities dwindling, and she realized that Raj was never going to leave his wife. This realization shattered her emotionally, and she described the relationship as a “horrible nightmare,” feeling trapped in a love that had turned poisonous. “My love was a beautiful plant which wanted to bloom but could not because there was poison in the soil,” she confided to Sunil Dutt later, revealing how Raj had made her feel “disgusting even to myself.”
