For love’s sake

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Heartfelt is much more than a detailed account of filmmaker Shekhar Kapur’s ex-wife Medha Jalota’s successful fight against two potentially terminal illnesses. Writer Bharathi S. Pradhan captures the intense love story between Medha and her second husband, famous bhajan singer Anup Jalota, who refused to let illness deprive him of marital happiness that he found at long last with his third wife.

Former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral’s niece, Medha grew up in Lutyens’ Delhi. The third daughter of Dr Vimala and Vijaya Gujral, Medha, a healthy child seemed to be managing a heart murmur, which was discovered when she was a year old, pretty well. Health problems began to plague Medha as she grew older. In 2001, she needed a heart transplant and seven years later, due to the strong medications she was on, her kidneys collapsed and she needed a kidney transplant. She had to battle a bout of TB too during her miracle pregnancy (she was suffering from blocked tubes). And just like she never let her health issues ruin her life, the book shows how Medha never let unsuccessful relationships drain her either.
After her short-lived engagement to college sweetheart Kiran ended, she found temporary happiness with acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. During their relationship, she even befriended his ex-fiance actress Shabana Azmi and her mother! After their amicable split, she is described as becoming nearly suicidal after finding out that her boyfriend Vinod Pandit was two-timing her with actress Deepti Naval. But all the troubles in her love life ended the moment she properly met Anup, a singer who she thought didn’t have such a great voice.
Read the book to learn about their whirlwind romance, Anup’s financial struggle to fund his wife’s treatment, (how Shekhar Kapur pitched in too) and his own colourful love life that saw first wife Sonali run away with his then tabalchi, the now popular singer Roopkumar Rathod.