Would you believe it? Four generation of superstars – yes, you heard it right. And, well, the fifth generation is some years away from entering the entertainment industry. Without a doubt, there’s no Khandaan like the Kapoor Khandaan. Prithviraj Raj Kapoor built the institution and Raj Kapoor was the one who propelled the family’s accomplishments through the period of 50s, 60s and 70s. His siblings stretched the form of the family further. Sons of Raj Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor reigned supreme till the 80s. Come 90s daughters of Randhir Kapoor, Karisma and Kareena, stormed the world of cinema. With the release of Jagga Jasoos, Ranbir Kapoor has stomped his authority over the sphere of new generation of superstars. Reema Jain’s sons Armaan and Aadar Jain, grandsons to Raj Kapoor have already tried to penetrate their way into the market setting the stage with the new breed from the Kapoor family. Reema Jain is the daughter of Raj Kapoor.
For almost nine decades, the Kapoor family has occupied a prominent place in Indian movies. Indian Film industry is considered more of a family, less of an “industry”, because of the aura of Kapoors. Not only is it a family, but also a big happy one at that. Their family attachments expand to other well-known film families. Prominent names like Amitabh Bachchan, Premnath, Ramesh Sippy and Saif Ali Khan are associated to the Kapoor family due to their nuptial coalitions. Prithviraj Kapoor migrated to the city of Mumbai from Peshawar (Pakistan) in the 20s. The theatre company ‘Prithvi’ was founded by him in the early 40s, whilst his charismatic son Raj Kapoor established the RK Studio brand name.
The Kapoor Khandaan is truly the first family of Indian film history. Let’s take a closer look at the extraordinary legacy:
Factoid:
Did you know that Prithviraj Kapoor had three children when he shifted to the city of Mumbai from Peshawar? Ranbirraj, Devinder (Devi) and Ravinder (Nandi) were the three siblings. Sometime in 1930, Devi passed away due to pneumonia and a week later Nandi succumbed when he inadvertently consumed rat pills.Prithviraj Kapoor tied knot with Ramsarni (also known as Rama, referred to as Chaiji) in the year 1923. Ranbirraj Kapoor (Raj Kapoor) was their eldest son born in the year 1924. Shammi Kapoor (originally Shamsherraj) was born in the year 1931. Two years later, Urmila was born followed by Shashi Kapoor (originally Balbirraj) in the year 1938.
Raj Kapoor:
The legendary Raj Kapoor and the showman of Bollywood was the eldest son of Prithviraj Kapoor. Originally named Ranbirraj, he dropped out of school and spent 5 years of his life learning the business of films and theater. In 1944, he joined Prithvi theatre. Raj Kapoor, even though made his first appearance with Neel Kamal in 1947, stamped his mark under the banner of RK with ‘Aag’. With ‘Barsaat’, he established himself as a producer/director/actor par excellence.
Raj Kapoor married Krishna, sister of actor Premnath and Rajendranath in the year 1946. Mother to five children, three sons and two daughters, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Rajeev Kapoor, Reema Jain and Ritu Nanda. Krishnaji was Prithviraj’s cousin. Apart from being his wife, Krishnaji was also Raj’s aunt. After Prithviraj, Raj became the fundamental figure of the Kapoor heritage. Under the tutelage of Prithviraj RK Studio was established and the mantle was passed onto brothers and children of Raj Kapoor to cultivate the rich tradition of filmmaking.
Randhir Kapoor:
Raj Kapoor’s elder son, Randhir was born in the year 1947. Beginning his career as a child artise in RK’s films, he had a short stint doing assistant direction in the late 60s after which he made his maiden screen debut in 1971 with ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’ , which was also his directorial venture. The film showcased three generations of the Kapoor family and he enjoyed tremendous success as an accomplished romantic star in the 70s.
Randhir wedded actress Babita, who is actor Hari Shivdasani’s daughter. She’s also the cousin of late actress Sadhana. They had a matrimonial alliance in 1971 and have two daughters Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor.
The biggest turning point in the Kapoor family’s chronicles was the entry of Karisma Kapoor in films. Karisma became a sensation in the 90s with plethora of successful films in her kitty. Belonging to a conservative family, Karisma flouted the age-old diktat, and became the first woman from the family to make a career in acting. Karisma’s younger sister Kareena Kapoor followed in her footsteps and became as successful as her sister.
Karisma was a top star for 12 years. She made headlines for her roles and friendships, and tied the knot with industrialist Sanjay Kapur on September 29, 2003. They filed for divorce in 2014. As of now, they’re in court fighting for the custody of their children, Samaira and Kiaan.
Samaira and Kiaan :
Samaira was born in 2005. She was recently in the news for making a short film titled Be Happy, which won raves at a film festival in Hyderabad. She acted in the film and was credited as a cinematographer too. Kiaan is currently in school.
Kareena Kapoor:
Kareena Kapoor and Saif confirmed their relationship in 2007. They married on October 16 2012 in a five-day wedding extravaganza that was described as India’s biggest wedding and social event. Both have a son Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi.
Rishi Kapoor:
Debatably, Raj Kapoor’s most successful son was Rishi Kapoor. Rishi was younger to Randhir and Ritu. He was born in 1952. He made his debut as a leading man at the age of 20 with Bobby. Since then, he’s worked in close to 150 films. Between the 70s and 90s, he held the mantle of Bollywood’s most romantic hero. Today he’s engraved a niche for himself as a supporting actor doing character oriented films. He’s the most popular Kapoor on micro blogging site Twitter. His last successful film was Kapoor & Sons.
Rishi married actress Neetu Singh in 1979. Both made a hit pair on and off screen. The couple featured in a dozen films together, most notably in Khel Khel Mein (1975), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). Rishi had apparently proposed to Neetu via a telegram from Paris. They got engaged in a hush hush ceremony held in Delhi.
Riddhima Kapoor Sahni:
Riddhima was born in 1980 to actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh and grand daughter of Raj Kapoor. She has her own designer jewellery label. She has done a formal training in Fashion and Interior Designing. Considered to be one of the most fashionable personality for her contemporary style and has walked the ramp for many renowned designers. She is married to entrepreneur Bharat Sahni in 2006 . She met Bharat in London and their courtship lasted for three years. They have a daughter Samara.
Samara :
Samara is hardly five but she is already making headlines for her Dubsmash videos with Uncle Ranbir Kapoor.
Ranbir Kapoor :
Ranbir Kapoor son of the handsome actor Rishi Kapoor and the gorgeous Neetu Singh and grandson of Raj Kapoor pursued his interest in the method of film making from School of visual Arts and at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and the Film Institute and subsequently went on to assist Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the film Black in 2005 and then did his debut as the leading actor for his film Saawariya in 2007 . Since then there is no looking back for this young handsome Kapoor. One of the most successful actors who earned name and
Shashi Kapoor:
Prithviraj’s youngest child, Shashi Kapoor was born in the city of Kolkatta (then Calcutta, West Bengal). After spending his early days in the backstage of Prithvi Theatre, a travelling theatre group that carried out tours for 8 months every year, he began his career as a child artiste in RK films like Aag and Awara. His maiden debut as an actor was in 1961 with Dharmputra.
Shashi Kapoor married Jennifer Kendall in 1958. Jennifer was five years older to Shashi. They had met during the touring of Prithvi theatre in Calcutta. Their courtship lasted for two years. Jennifer’s father Geoffrey Kendall opposed their relationship initially but with the help of Shammi and his then wife Geeta Bali, the two managed to get hitched.
Karan Kapoor:
Despite his international looks, Karan Kapoor failed to breakthrough in Bollywood. He made appearances in action films like Sultanat and Loha in the 80s. Second son of Shashi Kapoor, Karan is now living in London with wife Lorna and children Aliya and Zach. He is into photography.
Kunal Kapoor:
Kunal Kapoor, eldest son of Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer, made his debut in 1972. He married Ramesh Sippy’s daughter Sheena. Zahaan and Shaira are their two children.
Sanjana Kapoor:
Shashi and Jennifer’s youngest child, Sanjana made appearances in movies like Hero Hiralal and Salaam Bombay; however she cut short her career to assist Prithvi Theatre and its management. She separated from Prithvi Theatre in the year 2011. Married to tiger conservationist Valmik Thapar, they have a son named Hamir.
Shammi Kapoor:
Born in 1931 and took the dive into films in 1952, Shammi Kapoor used to refer himself as the first Kapoor born on the soil of India. He was reasonably successful till Junglee happened turning him into an overnight sensation.
The second son of Prithviraj, he married Geeta Bali in 1955. She was already an established star, while he was still finding his feet as an actor. They had two children Aditya and Kanchan. Adtiya was born in 1956 while Kanchan was born in 1961. Geeta passed away due to a bout of small pox in 1965. He then married Neila Devi in 1969. Neila Devi, with her grace and maturity, held the family together.
Aditya Raj Kapoor and Kanchan Aditya married Priti, niece of Neila Devi; they have a son Vishwapratap Kapoor and daughter Tulsi. Kanchan married Ketan Desai, son of Manmohan Desai, they have two daughters Pooja and Rajeshwari.
Urmila Kapoor:
The only daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor, Urmila was older to her brother Shashi Kapoor by 3 years. The brothers often used to pull Urmila’s leg for not having a fair skin complexion like them.
Urmila and Charanjit Sial:
Urmila married businessman Charanjit Sial from Nagpur. They have three daughters, Anuradha, Priti and Namita and a son Jatin.
Jatin Sial:
He’s the only member of the Sial family who’s made a career in showbiz. Jatin is a popular face having worked in TV shows like Kasam Se and movies like Vivah and Aa Ab Laut Chalein.
Reema Kapoor Jain:
Due to the conservative edict where women could not work in movies, Raj Kapoor’s younger daughter, Reema and her younger sister Ritu could not enter the field of acting. Reema got married to investment banker Manoj Jain, who’s Rajiv Kapoor’s best friend. One of Raj Kapoor’s last wishes was to have Reema tie the knot with Manoj Jain. They have two sons Armaan and Aadar
Armaan Jain:
Armaan, the older sibling, made his acting debut with Lekar Hum Deewana Dil in 2014. He assisted for three years at Dharma Productions having worked on I Hate Luv Storys, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Student Of The Year. Ranbir was instrumental in bringing his cousin Armaan on board for Saif Ali Khan’s home production Lekar Hum Deewana Dil. Ranbir played a promotional football match to promote the film in 2014.
Aadar Jain:
Aadar is currently learning the trade as an assistant director and will soon be seen in the upcoming film Qaidi Band produced by Yash Raj films and directed by Habib Faisal of Ishaqzaade fame.
Ritu Kapoor Nanda:
Born in 1948, Raj Kapoor’s elder daughter Ritu was born in the year 1948. She penned down biography of Raj Kapoor in the 90s. The book was originally written in Russian language and sold more than a crore copies all around the world. Ritu married Rajan Nanda an established industrialist but she chose to slice out her own career. Her insurance firm, Ritu Nanda Insurance Services is one of India’s largest insurance providers and advisors. Ritu has a daughter Natasha and son Nikhil.
Nikhil Nanda:
Nikhil is a graduate of the Wharton School of Management, USA and is a businessman. He is the son of Raj Kapoor’s daugher Ritu Nanda and the Industrialist Rajan Nanda. Nikhil is married to veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachhan’s daughter Shweta Bachchan on February 1997 . Nikhil reportedly fell in love with Shweta at a wedding in Mumbai. They have two children, Navya Naveli and Agastya.
Natasha Nanda:
She started her career with ANZ Grindlays Bank to later join Escorts Finance. She then founded Rimari Corporate Art Service.
Navya Naveli Nanda:
Navya Naveli Nanda was born to Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Nikhil Nanda the grandson of the showman Raj Kapoor. Her maternal Grandfather is the legend Amitabh Bachchan. Her pictures on Instagram and Twitter make headlines every day. She has been a smash hit with major fan following on social media platforms. Navya turned 18 recently.
Agastya:
Recently turning 15, Agastya Nanda grandson of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and is the son of Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Nikhil Nanda the grandson of Raj Kapoor. His maternal grandfather Big B posted a picture of Agastya with his son Abhishek Bachchan. The young boy is currently undergoing his schooling in London.
Rajiv Kapoor:
The youngest of Raj Kapoor’s children, Rajiv, was born in 1962. He made a splash with Ram Teri Ganga Maili in 1985. He later turned producer with films like Henna and Premgranth.
