Om Puri’s first wife reveals why she did not marry VVC

Seema Kapoor, the former wife of legendary actor Om Puri, recently revisited her brief marriage with

Puri

and her emotional bond with filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. In a candid conversation, she reflected on how the fallout of her marriage led to a connection with Chopra—one she still values as a lasting friendship.
Seema firmly denied speculations that Chopra was a rebound for her. She clarified that during her difficult separation from Puri, Vinod became a source of emotional strength. Interestingly, he too was recovering from heartbreak. Their shared vulnerabilities brought them together, but their story didn’t culminate in marriage.

In an interview with

Siddharth Kannan

on his YouTube channel, Seema said both she and Chopra were dealing with pain and found comfort in each other. She met Chopra after leaving Puri, at a time when he was working on the film

Khamosh

. “We were friends first—both of us needed a shoulder to cry on—and it just evolved into something else from there,” she added. Seema also thanked God for the friendship they share, noting that while relationships may end, friendship remains eternal.

Seema recalled that after her breakup with Om Puri—triggered by his infidelity—she turned inward and became more reserved. Vinod, who was already reeling from his own romantic disappointment, reportedly became more protective during that period. “This doesn’t mean that he’s still possessive. But he was, for a while,” she noted.

Despite their closeness, Seema admitted she couldn’t reciprocate his feelings in the same way she had loved Om Puri. “But I always knew that I wouldn’t be able to love him like I loved Puri sahab. Puri sahab even complimented us as a pair. Vinod was a beautiful man; I’m nothing in front of him. But I felt that I wouldn’t be able to do justice to this relationship. Our families wanted us to get married, Vinod wanted to get married, but I said no,” she shared.
The turning point came during a tender moment by the beach. The two had been playfully exchanging handwritten notes in the sand. When Chopra asked, “Do you love me?”, Seema responded with, “Yes.” But when he wrote, “Will you marry me?”, her answer was a quiet yet firm “No.”
Seema shared that she had kept certain aspects of her past with Om Puri hidden from

Vidhu

and felt she couldn’t enter a marriage built on incomplete truth. It was only years later, through her autobiography, that Chopra discovered the real reason she had turned down his proposal.