Suchitra Krishnamoorthi Recalls Facing Misogyny At Passport Office, 'Divorcees Ko Tatkal Nahi Milta'

Bollywood actress and model, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, is the proud mother of Kaveri Kapur, whom she had during her marriage with renowned filmmaker, Shekhar Kapur. The actress gained significant fame after starring opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the fan-favourite 1994 film, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. The actress recently opened up about a troubling incident post-divorce, where she had to face misogyny in a passport office for being a divorcee.

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi recalls facing misogyny at a passport office

Suchitra recently joined Filmymantra Media for a heartfelt conversation in Candid with Nandidi Roy. During a part of the discussion, the actress recalled a shocking experience at a passport office when, after her divorce from Shekar Kapur, she decided to drop ‘Kapur’ from her surname. She shared:

“I’ll tell you an incident of mine that happened a few years back. When Kaveri was little, I had added Kapur to my passport. We used to travel a lot — I travelled so much that sometimes, in different countries, it became a hassle. They’d ask, ‘Your child has a different surname, you have a different surname?’ And even though she is... her full name is Krishnamurthy Kapur, I thought, ‘Who wants this headache?’ So, I added Kapur. Then, many years later, we got divorced.”

Suchitra, who was married to Shekhar Kapur from 1999 to 2007, shared that she had added "Kapur" to her passport years ago to avoid unnecessary questions during international travel with her daughter, Kaveri Krishamoorthi Kapur. But after the divorce, when she decided to drop "Kapur" from her name, she faced an unexpected hurdle at the passport office. She shared how she was denied proper service for being a divorcee. She told Filmymantra:

“I went to remove the 'Kapur' from my passport. This must have been six or seven years ago. The passport officer looked at me — obviously, he must have recognised me or something — and then he mumbled something, saying, ‘Divorcees ko tatkaal nahi milta. Aap 15 din baad aayiye.’... I don’t know what happened, but he said, ‘Come on, madam, your tatkaal thing is denied.’ But can you imagine the guts it takes?”

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi talks about the social stigma surrounding divorced women

Further into the interview, Suchitra opened up about the everyday challenges faced by divorced women in Indian society, pointing out how deep-rooted misogyny leads to the constant stigmatisation of women for making independent life choices. However, she was not a woman to back down. Surprised and enraged, the actress took to Twitter to raise her voice against sexism. In the old tweet that she made around seven years ago, she questioned the ministry that controlled passport and immigration related rules. The actress shared:

“I started tweeting. I was like, ‘Which ministry is this under?’ First, he made me sit for three or four hours. People who came after me were leaving before me. So I started researching — ‘Which passport office is this? What are the tags?’ I began tweeting. I’m sure if people go on my Twitter from five or six years ago, they’ll find those tweets. Oh gosh, it’s that old — maybe five, six, or seven years ago.”

What are your views on Suchitra’s experience of being discriminated against at the passport office for being divorced?

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