When Prithviraj Kapoor felt Shashi Kapoor was too young to marry Jennifer Kendal: 'I saw her when I was 18'

Shashi Kapoor married his wife Jennifer Kendal when he was just 20 years old. The actors married in 1958.

Shashi Kapoor was mostly private about his relationship with his wife Jennifer Kendal. However, there have been a few incidents when he opened up about their relationship and it gave glimpses of his love for her. The couple was married in 1958 and welcomed three children - sons Karan and Kunal, and daughter Sanjana.

Shashi Kapoor married Jennifer Kendal at the age of 20.

In one of his last interviews before his death in 2017, Shashi Kapoor had revealed he wanted to marry Jennifer Kendal the moment he saw her. He was all of 18. However, Shashi's father, the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor felt that he was too young.

Speaking with News Tak, Shashi had said, "When I saw Jennifer, when I was 18, I wanted to marry her immediately. My parents were (shocked expression) said, 'My god 18 is a bit young'. So I said, 'Okay, I'll wait'. I waited two years, then they asked me 'Do you still want to?' I said, 'Yes' and they said okay."

Jennifer died in 1984, leaving a void in Shashi's life. Despite his wife's death, Shashi Kapoor never remarried. When asked about remarriage, the actor had said, "Oh Christ, no! I didn’t. Why? I don’t think I can. I don’t think I can find anyone better. I know I can’t. They don’t make them like that anymore."

In 2012, speaking with a leading daily, Shashi's son Kunal Kapoor had said, "It’s been 28 years since she died but I don’t think dad ever completely recovered after her death. She died when she was 50 and he was 46. He could have remarried but for him that was not an option. They were soulmates. Every relationship has its share of problems but their connection was rare and unusually strong."

Shashi died on December 4, 2017, after a prolong illness.