“Kissi ka ghar ban raha tha, aur kissi ka ghar toot raha tha.” : The Secret Heartbreak Behind ‘Mujhe Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye’
The song Mujhe Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye from Judaai (1997) already carries a melancholy, almost haunting tone. But according to singer Jaspinder Narula, the real pain behind that track wasn’t just on screen it was playing out in real life, right outside the recording studio.
Jaspinder Narula, who sang the song picturised on Sridevi, recently recalled a heartbreaking story from the time she recorded Mujhe Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye for the film Judaai, starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, and Urmila Matondkar. What most listeners didn’t know is that while the song was being recorded, Boney Kapoor’s first wife, Mona Shourie Kapoor, was sitting outside the studio, devastated by news of her husband’s affair with Sridevi.
A Studio Full of Emotion
Jaspinder told a YouTube channel, Bollywood Thikana, that she had been told the song would be shot on Sridevi and that she was also briefed on the emotional tenor of the scene. She even mentioned that she was told, in her words, “Sridevi made a deal to sell off her husband for money,” a reference to the film’s storyline where Sridevi’s character agrees to marry another man for financial reasons.
At the same time, Jaspinder was dealing with a physical struggle: she had an ear infection, her ears were clogged with mucus, and one ear was almost completely blocked. Yet she had to sing one of the most emotionally heavy tracks of the film under pressure.
Mona’s Tears Outside the Studio
Inside the studio, Jaspinder was pouring her voice into the track. Outside, Mona Shourie Kapoor was learning about the reality of her crumbling marriage.
Jaspinder shared that she later became close to Mona and that Mona had confided in her about that exact moment. She recalled Mona saying, “You were singing inside and I was crying outside the studio, sitting on the stairs, because that’s when I found out about the affair.”
Mona poignantly summed it up by saying, “Kissi ka ghar ban raha tha, aur kissi ka ghar toot raha tha.” (Someone’s home was being built, and someone else’s was falling apart.) For Jaspinder, this added an entirely new layer of meaning to the song one that mixed love, betrayal, and heartbreak in both fiction and real life.timesofindia.
Boney, Mona, and the Sridevi Chapter
Boney Kapoor was first married to Mona Shourie Kapoor, a producer and the mother of Arjun Kapoor and Anshula Kapoor. The couple had been together for many years when Boney fell in love with Sridevi during the filming of Mr. India (1987), though their relationship became public much later.
Their affair and eventual marriage created a major media storm in Bollywood. Sridevi, one of the biggest actresses of her time, was seen by many as the “home‑wrecker” while Mona was portrayed as the wronged wife. Mona later spoke in interviews about how hurt she felt, especially because she had once considered Sridevi a friend.timesofindia.
Boney and Sridevi tied the knot in 1996 and had two daughters, Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor. Despite the initial controversy, they stayed together until Sridevi’s death in 2018.
Mona’s Illness and Sridevi’s Death
Mona Shourie Kapoor lost her battle with cancer in March 2012. Even after her divorce, she had struggled with both the emotional fallout of Boney’s affair and the physical toll of her illness. Friends and acquaintances have recalled her crying and breaking down when she first learned about Boney and Sridevi, a pain that never really faded.
On February 24, 2018, Sridevi passed away at the age of 54 in Dubai, where she had gone to attend the wedding of actor‑nephew Mohit Marwah. Authorities later confirmed that her death was an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub after she lost consciousness; the autopsy report ruled out foul play and cited “accidental drowning” as the cause.
The Song That Listens Differently Now
Jaspinder Narula, who made her debut with this very song, has lived with the memory of that day for decades. What began as a demanding recording session a struggling young singer with an ear infection delivering a soulful track later took on the weight of a real family shattering.
Today, when listeners hear Mujhe Ek Pal Chain Na Aaye, they may not know the story of Mona sitting on the stairs outside the studio, heartbroken as her husband’s new life with Sridevi was quietly being written.
More than just a playback track, the song has quietly become a soundtrack to one of Bollywood’s most painful, public, and yet rarely spoken‑about personal dramas of a woman who cried outside a studio while another woman’s voice broke thousands of hearts inside.
