Karisma Kapoor and Sanjay Kapur: the end of a marriage

Reports of trouble in Karisma Kapoor's marriage began surfacing in 2012 \u2014 the first public signs that the union of one of Hindi cinema's most famous families was in difficulty.

Kapoor, the elder daughter of Randhir Kapoor and Babita, had been one of Bollywood's leading actresses through the 1990s, winning a National Film Award (Best Supporting Actress, for Dil To Pagal Hai) and headlining commercial hits across genres. She married Delhi businessman Sanjay Kapur in 2003 and largely stepped back from cinema \u2014 a decision that drew its own discussion about the expectations placed on actresses who marry.

The couple had two children, Samaira (born 2005) and Kiaan (born 2010). After years of on-and-off reports about the marriage, the divorce was finalized in June 2016 by mutual consent, with custody of the children going to Kapoor. The settlement ended a protracted and occasionally bitterly reported legal process.

What observers noted was how Kapoor handled the public arc of it: she kept working, maintained a visible presence, and refused to retreat into silence. A generation earlier, a high-profile divorce would have effectively ended an actress's career. By the 2010s, that expectation \u2014 that personal difficulty should produce professional disappearance \u2014 had substantially, if not entirely, eroded.

This item was updated during our 2026 editorial audit to correct an anachronistic draft that reported the 2016 resolution as 2012 news.

Karisma Kapoor's decision to file for divorce from businessman Sanjay Kapur after nearly nine years of marriage was confirmed in 2014, ending a union that had been reported as troubled for several years and marking a significant moment for one of Hindi cinema's most recognized families.

Kapoor, the elder daughter of Randhir Kapoor and Babita, had stepped back from a successful film career after her marriage in 2003—a decision that generated considerable discussion at the time about the expectations placed on women in the industry. She had been one of Bollywood's leading actresses through the 1990s, winning National Awards and maintaining a commercially successful career across multiple genres.

The divorce filing cited mutual incompatibility and allegations that had circulated in Indian media for months before the formal legal action. Indian divorce law, which requires grounds for divorce rather than simply irretrievable breakdown in most personal law systems, makes the legal process more contentious than in jurisdictions where no-fault divorce is the norm.

The couple had two children. Custody arrangements and the welfare of the children became central to both the legal proceedings and the public discussion.

Karisma Kapoor's public handling of the situation—continuing to work, maintaining a visible presence, and refusing to retreat into silence—was noted by observers as emblematic of the changed expectations for women in Indian public life. A generation earlier, a high-profile divorce would have effectively ended an actress's career. The expectation that personal difficulty should produce professional disappearance had, not entirely but substantially, eroded.

The divorce was finalized several years later after protracted legal proceedings.