Reena Roy Opens Up on Heart-breaking Love Affair with Shatrughan Sinha: ‘Sachche Patni-Vrata Hain’

Reena Roy, considered one of Bollywood’s biggest star in the 1970s, is not only remembered for her hit movies and songs but her personal life evoked equal interest, especially her love affair with co-star Shatrughan Sinha.

Even as Shatrughan-Reena ‘love saga’ keeps doing rounds, Roy — who was born as Saira Ali — touched upon their story in Sunday’s episode of ‘Indian Idol’ where she had come along with another yesteryear actor, Jaya Prada.

Introducing Roy, show’s host Aditya Narayan said, “Chahe mitr ho ya shatru, koi inse attract hue bina nahi reh paaya (Be it a friend or a foe, there’s none who wasn’t attracted to her).” While the word “shatru” in Hindi means an enemy, Narayan used it as a pun for Sinha, who is lovingly called ‘Shatru’ or ‘Shotgun’.

Later, Roy was shown an old clip of Shatrughan Sinha on ‘Indian Idol’, where he appreciated the yesteryear screen queen for her dance. He even told his wife Poonam Sinha — who was sitting beside him — to not stare at him. In reply, Poonam threatens to see the actor at home, evoking laughter from the audience.

“First of all, Sinha is a really bad dancer. So those female actors who could dance, be it Jaya ji (Prada), Rekha ji or me, were all fairies from heaven for him,” Roy said reacting to the clip.

She then added, “Aur yeh sacche patni-vrata hain toh inhe disturb na kiya jaaye (And he’s truly dedicated to his wife. So we needn’t disturb him)”.

Another clip was played on the show where director Subhash Ghai claimed that Shatrughan Sinha didn’t like Reena Roy “at all” in ‘Kalicharan’ but after the film became a hit, she was the only one that “Sinha liked a lot”. Reacting to the claim, Roy said, “He’s lying. He fancied me”.

‘Marry Me or I’ll Marry Someone Else in 8 Days’: Reena Roy’s ‘Ultimatum’ to Shatrughan Sinha Long Ago

In Sinha’s memoir, film producer Pahlaj Nihalini had revealed that Roy and Sinha were emotionally involved with each other. According to reports, Roy had given Sinha an ultimatum to make up his mind and marry her or else she would get married to someone else in eight days.

A report in ETimes stated at that time, Sinha was already married to Poonam Chandiramani. After ‘Hathkadi’, Nihalini wanted to cast Roy, Sinha and Sanjeev Kumar in his next film. But Roy refused his offer and said that she would do the film only if Sinha made up his mind. If he didn’t marry her, she would get married to someone else in eight days.

As expected, Sinha could not marry her. When Nihalini conveyed the message to Sinha, he was in tears. He called her up and cried like a baby because he was emotionally involved with her, Nihalini was quoted.

The film producer also revealed in the memoir that this was the first time he saw Sinha cry. It was then that the producer told Sinha to let her go and get married.

Reena Roy Married Pakistani Cricketer

Roy then got married to Pakistan cricketer Mohsin Khan and moved to the neighbouring country. Thus, taking a break from films. later, the couple got divorced and Roy moved back to India. The couple has a daughter, Sanam Khan, who is 26-years-old.

Why Does Sonakshi Sinha Resemble Reena Roy? The Actress Answers

In an interview with Firstpost, Roy had said that this is the co-incidence of life. “Sometimes this happens. For instance, Jeetu ji‘s (Jeetendra) mother and her mother looked like twin sisters,” she was quoted as saying.

When Sinha’s daughter, Sonakshi, made her debut in 2010 with Salman Khan starrer ‘Dabangg’, her striking resemblance to Reena Roy made netizens raise questions.

Refusing to acknowledge any similarity in the way they look, Sonakshi had later said, “Everybody has a past. I don’t think too much about it. Nor do I pay attention to it. Like I said, it just makes really good headlines and juicy gossip to some people. But for me, this is my family.”

The ‘Dabangg’ actress had also said, “I think it (Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy’s affair) happened when I was not even born. I found out when I was growing up and started understanding things. But I’m not going to crucify my father for something he did years back. It is his past.” Sonakshi further said that she feels she looks like her mother, Poonam.

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