Arjun Kapoor on ‘processing grief’ years after mom’s death, ser Anshula’s wedding: ‘I escaped into work’

5 min readNew DelhiJul 31, 2026 02:06 PM Arjun Kapoor recently celebrated his ser Anshula Kapoor’s wedding and in a recent interview, the actor opened up about processing the emotions that he went through during this process. He also spoke about relying on his ser for emotional and logical support after the passing of their mother, Mona, and said that while he didn’t deal with the grief of her death back then, his ser spent years trying to process those feelings.
‘Mom would’ve been proud of the woman Anshula has become’
In a chat with Esquire, Arjun said that the wedding “went far too quickly” and that his first instinct was to just “stay busy.” “Maybe it’s also my way of avoiding dealing with the emotions of the fact that my little ser was getting married,” he said. Arjun shared that now that he thinks about it, he realises how happy he actually felt during the celebrations, and more so because he felt like their mother was watching over them. “I felt she would’ve been proud of the woman Anshula has become and excited to see her begin this new journey. I genuinely felt her blessings were with all of us that day,” he said and added, “There was such beautiful energy in the room, and I know Mom would’ve loved seeing all of us like that.”
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Talking about his ser, Arjun said he was “incredibly proud” of what she has achieved in the last few years, and especially her journey on social media. “She put herself out there, especially on social media, in the most honest and authentic way possible. People connected with that because they saw someone who wasn’t pretending to be perfect. I genuinely think that decision changed her life. For someone who had stayed inside her shell for a long time because of everything she’d been through, that was a huge shift.”
‘Didn’t process my grief after mom’s death’
Arjun and Anshula’s mother Mona died days before the release of Arjun’s debut film in 2012, and in the years after that, Arjun immersed himself in his work. “I escaped into work. I kept running because it meant I didn’t have to process my grief,” he said. Arjun recalled that after their mother passed, he didn’t know how to run a household and was starting to get busy with his career. During this time, Anshula took over and managed almost everything for him.
But, he realised that Anshula, who was seven years younger than him, “had to deal with it much earlier than I did.” Now, he feels like perhaps his ser “didn’t want to burden” him with her feelings and “she carried a lot of that weight herself.” He added, “Ironically, I think that’s one of the reasons she’s thriving today. She dealt with things I postponed dealing with. When I look at her today, I see someone who shares the same values I try to live . It reminds me that our parents raised us well.”
Mona Shourie passed away on March 25, 2012. (Photo: Arjun Kapoor/Instagram)
When Anshula blamed herself for parents’ divorce
Arjun and Anshula’s father, Boney Kapoor, married Sridevi after divorcing their mother Mona, in 1996, after 13 years of marriage. Boney has said that he fell in love with Sridevi while making movies with her, and eventually left his wife and children. Anshula was only 6-years-old when this happened. In an earlier chat with Pinkvilla, Anshula said that for a few years, she blamed herself for her parents’ marriage falling apart.Story continues below this ad
“As a 6-year-old, I thought before me, their life was all hunky dory, and I came into their life, and suddenly they don’t belong together. I thought, maybe, I was not a good enough daughter. I think that became more apparent after–and I know it sounds horrible–Jaanu (Janhvi Kapoor) was born because I was like maybe, something was wrong with me,” she said.
For many years, Arjun and Anshula did not interact much with Sridevi and her daughters, Janhvi and Khushi, but that changed after Sridevi died in 2018. Since then, the four siblings became each other’s support system. At Anshula’s wedding, Janhvi and Khushi were as much a part of the celebrations as Arjun.