‘Forget consoling me. He sent Rs 25,000…’: Seema Kapoor opens up about Om Puri having an affair while she was pregnant; how betrayal affects women | Feelings News

When Seema Kapoor recently opened up about her marriage to the late actor Om Puri, what emerged was a deeply personal account of betrayal, loss, and emotional survival. 
In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, she recalled that she met Om met Nandita while filming City of Joy. “Everything was going fine after our marriage, but that movie turned my life upside down… My good friend Renu Saluja, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s first wife, knew about the affair. But she and Sudhir Mishra and everyone else chalked it down to a phase. They felt that he’d get back to normal after the film. I found out about the affair much later, when I was in Delhi. He called me up and told me that he was seeing someone else, and my friends said that he was just seeking attention,” she said. 
She then remembered the moment her world shifted, after she could clearly understand that he was serious about getting a divorce. “I returned to Mumbai, and everything felt normal. He left the city for a shoot soon afterwards, and while sifting through his stuff, I discovered love letters. I was shattered. I never wanted to divorce him, despite the affair. I wanted to mend things, because I was pregnant. He knew I was pregnant, but this was a source of insecurity for Nandita. She’d call him up in front of me,” she said.
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Seema continued, “But things became overwhelming; Puri sahab would drink too much, and Nandita would make a scene. One night, I decided to leave. I was three months pregnant.”
Seema’s story brings up difficult questions about how women process abandonment, emotional neglect, and grief, especially during vulnerable stages like pregnancy. “Forget consoling me. He sent Rs 25,000 via his secretary. I turned it down, and his secretary told me, ‘This ego is what is destroying you’. But what he thought was ego was just self-respect,” she said. 
Om Puri met his second wife Nandita while filming City of Joy (Source: Express archive photo)
So, how does betrayal during pregnancy impact a woman emotionally and psychologically?
Jai Arora, counselling psycholog and co-founder of Kirana Counselling, tells , “Pregnancy is often romanticised as a joyful time, but psychologically, it is one of the most vulnerable stages in a woman’s life. Hormonal fluctuations, shifting identity, and the anticipation of an entirely new role create a heightened emotional landscape. When betrayal occurs during this period, it can be extremely destabilising.”
During pregnancy, he adds that a woman often leans “heavily on her primary attachment figure” — typically her partner — for emotional security. When that bond is suddenly threatened or severed, it can lead to a deep sense of abandonment and emotional dysregulation. And this can also trigger them to fear the future of the child as well. This sense of fear and panic can be so debilitating that it may affect the development of the child in the womb. Story continues below this ad
Difference between healthy self-respect and ego in such emotionally charged situations
When Seema Kapoor says she refused financial help “out of self-respect,” it reveals something deeper than pride — it’s about reclaiming agency. After experiencing betrayal, being financially or emotionally dependent on the same person can feel like re-exposing oneself to harm. 
“There is a key psychological difference between self-respect and ego. Self-respect is rooted in self-worth; it allows for boundaries that protect emotional integrity. Ego, on the other hand, often seeks validation or revenge. In Seema’s case, her decision seems more aligned with the former — a conscious move to preserve her dignity, not to punish him. Choosing self-respect can be that freedom, exercised quietly, even defiantly, in the face of pain,” Arora states.