Anupam Kher’s first marriage to actress Madhumalti Kapoor lasted only a few days, according to his brother and actor Raju Kher. Raju has now recalled how the couple, who had been together for around two to three years, decided to get married at a temple in Lucknow, only for Anupam to leave shortly afterwards.Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Raju revealed that Anupam walked away from the marriage almost immediately after the wedding. He said the actor spent a day or two in Lucknow before leaving, eventually returning to Shimla and later heading to Delhi.“It ended in one day. They got married at a temple in Lucknow. The next day, he left from there, saying, ‘I cannot stay here.’ Anupam had first come to Shimla for a few days and then went to Delhi,” Raju said.According to Raju, Madhumalti was the one who brought up the idea of marriage after the couple had been in a relationship for several years. Anupam agreed, and the two decided to get married almost immediately.“They had been in a relationship for two or three years. She reached there and said, ‘Let’s get married.’ He said, ‘Okay, let’s do it tomorrow,’ and they got married. They must have stayed there for a day or two, and then he left,” he recalled.The marriage took place before Anupam had begun his career in Hindi cinema. At the time, he was in Lucknow, while Raju was in Shimla. Anupam subsequently moved to Mumbai to pursue acting and made his screen debut in Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Saaransh’ in 1984.Raju said the family was not even aware that Anupam had got married at the time, as none of them had been present at the ceremony. He was asked how they reacted when Anupam left the marriage so soon.“Nobody from the family was there, so we did not even realise that he had got married,” Raju said.He also made it clear that he chose not to question his brother about the reasons behind the separation, leaving it to Anupam and Madhumalti to deal with what had happened between them.“Anupam was quite seedha for that time, while Madhu ji was a somewhat strong woman. Only they know what happened between them. I did not want to probe into it either. I thought, this is his life and he has to live it. If he ever needs me, as his brother, I will always be there,” he said.Madhumalti later married writer-director Ranjit Kapoor following her separation from Anupam. Raju also mentioned during the conversation that Madhumalti and Ranjit were together and had children.Madhumalti went on to remain active as an actor, working across Hindi films and television over the years.Anupam later found love again with actor Kirron Kher, whom he married in 1985. The two had known each other from their time at the Department of Indian Theatre in Chandigarh and were friends for several years before their relationship developed into a romance.Anupam has previously spoken about their relationship and recalled that marriage to Kirron was something he had never imagined, especially since she was one year senior to him at the theatre department.
