Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha were crying on a train when they first met; her mother rejected his proposal saying, ‘Kaliya! He looks like a street rowdy'

Time of India

14-07-2025

Actor Shatrughan Sinha recently opened up about how he met his wife, Poonam Sinha, with whom he has been married for the past 45 years, and how her family was initially sceptical about approving their marriage.
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Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam's met during a train journey
In a conversation with Curly Tales, Shatrughan revealed that their love story had a dramatic beginning, as they met during a train journey from Patna to Pune. He was on his way to join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) when he saw her in the same compartment. Struck by her beauty, he intervened when his friends attempted to tease her, warning them that he would be left to face any consequences alone.
He managed to protect her from their mischief, and that moment marked the beginning of their bond.
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Both of them were crying
Sinha reflected on how their emotional connection deepened during that journey. 'I was crying because it was my first time away from home. I had never lived in a hostel before,' he stated. He had never travelled beyond Bihar and had no idea how he would manage hostel life. As the youngest child in his family, he recalled that his mother had fainted on her way back after dropping him off.
Poonam, too, was crying—apparently because her mother had scolded her for some reason.
She was just a young girl then.
Sinha says that emotional wavelength still binds them together. He admitted that although they have been married for many years and have three children—Luv, Kush, and Sonakshi Sinha—there has been no change in their personalities. 'Even now, she is crying, and so am I,' he quipped.
P
oonam's mother was not ready to accept Shatrughan as her daughter's groom
Sinha shared that Poonam's family was initially opposed to the match and only relented after several years of persuasion.
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Their marriage, he said, happened despite many difficulties.
His elder brother, Ram Sinha, who was working in the United States as a scientist, first took his proposal to her family. 'Poonam's mother rejected it outright, saying, 'Have you seen your brother's face? Kaliya! He looks like a fool as well as a street rowdy at the same time. Look at my daughter… she looks like she bathes in milk. Poonam Chandiramani is Miss India. If you were to click a colour photograph of the two of them together, it would still look like black and white.
Their pair does not make sense.' Fortunately, however, they eventually agreed to our union,' he revealed.