There have been a lot of controversies surrounding Om Puri and the life he lived. Over the years people have speculated a lot about his marriage and more. The actor never really liked to divulge much but whenever he did, he was extremely articulate and kept to facts only. He has also always given straightforward answers whenever asked about his personal life, especially about his relationships. Recently, his first wife, Seema Kapoor, opened up about their marriage and the troubles that she had to face. She spoke about why their marriage fell apart and how she found out about Om Puri having an affair.
Seema Kapoor, in an interview with Siddharth Kannan for his YouTube channel, spoke about how when Om Puri was shooting for the film 'City of Joy,' it was very stressful for their relationship. Even though Kapoor wanted to mend things, she could not, as things had gone out of her control and there was nothing she could have done.
During the interview, Seema, in Hindi, said, "Everything was going fine after our marriage, but that movie turned my life upside down... My good friend Renu Saluja, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's first wife, knew about the affair. But she and Sudhir Mishra and everyone else chalked it down to a phase. And everyone else did not tell me much about what was happening, thinking that it was not that serious after all. They felt that he would get back to his regular life after the shoot. I found out about the affair much later, when I went all the way to Delhi. He called me up and told me that he was seeing someone else, and my friends said that he was just seeking attention. However, there was something about the tone in which he said it; I could understand that he was serious this time."
Seema mentioned that after she went back to Mumbai and was going through his things, she found love letters, which absolutely shattered her. She specified that despite knowing about the affair, she did not want to separate from him or give him a divorce.
She said, "When I met him afterwards, he did not say anything, and I thought it was still all okay. He left the city for a shoot soon, and at that time he used to receive a lot of letters, and there, I discovered love letters. I was shattered. I never wanted to divorce him, despite the affair. I wanted to mend things because I was pregnant. He knew I was pregnant, but this was a source of insecurity for Nandita... things became overwhelming; Puri sahab would drink too much, and Nandita would make a scene. One night, I decided that it was best to leave. I still thought everything would be okay-—that he would miss me. It was not easy."
Actor Annu Kapoor, who is Seema's brother, wanted to drag Om Puri to court, but Seema rejected the thought of it. Seema had received Rs 6 lakh as alimony, but she absolutely refused the Rs 25,000 Puri had sent her after she lost their child.
She said, "Forget consoling me. He sent Rs 25,000 via his secretary. I turned it down, and his secretary told me, 'This ego is what is destroying you.' But what he thought was ego was just self-respect."
Om Puri and Seema Kapoor tied the knot in 1990, and their marriage lasted for around 8 months, and the two got divorced after that. The actor then got married to journalist Nandita Puri. However, it is known that during his last days, Puri did call up Kapoor to apologize to her.
