In the 1990s, while her career was at its peak, Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla married businessman Jay Mehta in private and kept their union away from the public. According to Juhi’s earlier interview, their covert wedding was made possible by the absence of mobile phone cameras at the time. In 1995, because of fear for her job, Juhi chose to wed Jay in secret. The two of them have two children together, Jhanvi and Arjun.
During a conversation with Rajeev Masand on his YouTube channel a few years ago, the actress stated, “I was just about established and just starting to do well. That’s the time Jay was serenading me, and I was afraid of losing my career just when I kind of got there. So, I wanted to carry on and this seemed to be the midway, that let’s keep it quiet and it’s okay, you carry on working.”
Further she revealed about the challenging circumstances she faced with the loss of her mother, she said, “That year my mother passed away as well so I had another tragedy and that was a very difficult time for me as well because I felt I was going to lose everything I had, everything I loved, my work an my mum.”
At a recent event organized by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Juhi Chawla shared a touching story about her wedding to Jay Mehta. She recalled how her mother-in-law stepped in to cancel nearly 2,000 invitations that had been sent out overseas. Instead, they had a small, intimate ceremony with only immediate family and a few close friends. Juhi fondly described how this scaled-down wedding made the moment feel even more special and personal.
Juhi added, “She convinced the family to not have the big wedding and I got married at home with just the family and closest friends in attendance. So with just 80-90 people present. Imagine your mother-in-law cancelling the invites that had already been sent out.”
In 1998, while Juhi was filming ‘Duplicate’, she received the shattering news of her mother, Mona Chawla’s, untimely passing in an accident. Jay Mehta, who had also faced the tragic loss of his first wife, Sujata Birla, in a 1990 plane crash, supported Juhi through this challenging period. In an interview with CNN-News 18, the actress shared, “That was a very difficult time for me, because I felt I was going to lose everything I loved.”
‘Gulaab Gang’ actress also recalled and added, “From then on, everywhere I went, he turned up. Everywhere I looked, he was there with flowers and notes and gifts. Every day! On my birthday, I remember he sent me a truckload of red roses. I was like, ‘What do you do with a truckload of flowers?’ He really did all he could. After a year, he proposed.”
Juhi Chawla’s Wedding Story: How Her Mother-In-Law Stood In Times Of Distress
