Kapoor family

The Kapoor family is a prominent Indian show business family with at least 4 generations of the family over 96 years being active in the Hindi film industry. Numerous members of the family, both (biological) and those who have married into the family, have had prolific careers as actors, film directors and producers. "The Pioneer" founder of the dynasty was "The Patriarch", Prithviraj Kapoor, who was the first member of family to begin acting in movies with his 1929 debut film Be Dhari Talwar. He was a pioneer of Indian theatre and the founding member of Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). His son Raj Kapoor was the most influential actor and director in Hindi cinema. The genesis generation or the earliest linear generation of the Kapoor family tree to ever act in the films was Prithviraj Kapoor's father, Basheshwarnath Kapoor, who debuted as actor in 1951 film Awaara, which was produced, directed and starred in lead role by his grandson Raj Kapoor.
Due to their decades old participation in the Hindi film industry, the family is often called "The First Family of Bollywood". Prominent personalities related to the Kapoor family through marriage include Kumari Naaz, Jennifer Kendal, Geeta Bali, Neetu Singh, Babita, Valmik Thapar, Saif Ali Khan, Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Alia Bhatt.
The Kapoor family is of Punjabi Hindu origin, belonging to the Kapoor clan of the Khatri caste.
Prithviraj Kapoor was the first from the family to pursue a career in films. His ancestral origins were in Samundri, Lyallpur District, Faisalabad, Punjab Province of British India. His father, Basheshwarnath Kapoor, served as a police officer in the Imperial Police in the city of Peshawar; while his grandfather, Keshavmal Kapoor, was a Tehsildar in Samundri. His younger brother, Trilok Kapoor also became an actor; with his first role in the film Char Darvesh in 1933, Trilok emerged as one of the most commercially successful actors of his era.
The family eventually migrated to Mumbai. Three of Prithviraj Kapoor's sons, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor made careers in the Hindi film industry. Raj Kapoor, also known as "the greatest showman of Indian cinema", became a noted Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema.
Raj Kapoor married Krishna Malhotra in 1946. She was the sister of actors Prem Nath, Rajendra Nath, and Narendra Nath, as well as Uma Chopra, the wife of Prem Chopra. They have 3 sons Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, and Rajiv Kapoor and 2 daughters Ritu Nanda and Rima Jain.
Shammi Kapoor married actress Geeta Bali in 1955 and had 2 children with her, Aditya Raj Kapoor and Kanchan Kapoor. Geeta Bali died of smallpox in 1965. Shammi then married Neela Devi Gohil of the Gohil dynasty of the erstwhile Bhavnagar State in Gujarat in 1969.
Shashi Kapoor married Jennifer Kendal in 1958. They have two sons, Kunal Kapoor, Karan Kapoor and a daughter Sanjana Kapoor, all of them former actors in Hindi cinema. Jennifer died in 1984 from cancer.
Raj Kapoor's sons, Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor, went on to become well-known actors; his youngest son, Rajiv Kapoor, was not as successful as his brothers. Shashi Kapoor's children were unsuccessful in acting because of their European looks. His daughter, Sanjana Kapoor, ran the Prithvi Theatre from 1993 to February 2012, his elder son, Kunal Kapoor, runs an ad company, and Shashi's youngest child, Karan Kapoor, currently runs a photography company in London. Shammi Kapoor's son, Aditya Raj Kapoor, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and retired businessman and his daughter Kanchan Kapoor is married to Ketan Desai, the son of Manmohan Desai.
Randhir Kapoor is married to Babita. They have two daughters Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, both of whom have found success in the film industry. Rishi Kapoor was married to actress Neetu Singh; their son, Ranbir Kapoor, has established himself as a leading Bollywood actor, and their daughter, Riddhima Kapoor Sahani, is a designer. Ranbir married British-Indian actress Alia Bhatt Kapoor in 2022. They have a daughter named Raha Kapoor who exactly resembles her grandfather Rishi and great-grandfather Raj Kapoor.
Nikhil Nanda, son of Ritu Kapoor, Raj Kapoor's daughter and Rajan Nanda, is married to Shweta Bachchan Nanda, daughter of the actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.
Prithviraj Kapoor's cousin was Surinder Kapoor who left Peshawar and came to Mumbai with help from Prithviraj Kapoor. who was married to Nirmal Kapoor. His oldest son is Boney Kapoor who was married to Mona Shourie and then to Sridevi and is the father of Arjun, Anshula, Janhvi, and Khushi. His middle son is Anil Kapoor who is married to Sunita Kapoor and is the father of Sonam (married to Anand Ahuja), Rhea (married to Karan Boolani) and Harshvardhan Kapoor. His youngest son is Sanjay Kapoor who is married to Maheep Sandhu and is the father of Shanaya and Jahaan Kapoor. His daughter is Reena Kapoor Marwah who is married to Sandeep Marwah of Marwah Films and Video Studios and is the mother of Mohit (married to Antara Motiwala) and Akshay Marwah (married to Aashita Relan).
Noted actor Kamal Kapoor, who was famous for playing the role 'Narrang' in the 1978 blockbuster movie Don was the maternal first cousin of Prithviraj Kapoor (their mothers were sisters) and so were his brothers Nandkishore Kapoor and Ravindra Kapoor. Kamal Kapoor had five children including Kapil Kapoor and Madhu Behl who married Ramesh Behl. Madhu and Ramesh Behl's son is Goldie Behl, who is married to actress Sonali Bendre, thus the Behl family is related to the Kapoor family by marriage.
Veteran character actor Subbiraj was the son of Kailash Kakkar, the sister of Prithviraj Kapoor and thus a first cousin of Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. His wife was Kumari Naaz.
Raj's, Shashi's, and Shammi's maternal cousin, Juggal Kishore Mehra, was a singer, whose step-granddaughter was Salma Agha who became an actress and singer in Pakistan.
The second generation of the Kapoor family was led by three main Kapoor actors, Raj, and his younger brother's Shammi and Shashi. Among Kapoors of all generations, Raj Kapoor has been the most distinguished and prolific contributor as an actor, producer, director and in terms of his impact in enhancing Bollywood's international reach, India's soft power and diplomacy across the USSR, the Middle East, Africa and Palestine.
Notable people of this generation include:
Rishi Kapoor, son of Raj Kapoor, led this generation and his two actor brothers, Randhir and Rajeev, remained in the shadow of his success. Rishi was best known as a romantic hero; his charm and charisma quickly made him one of Bollywood's leading men of the 1970s and 1980s. He later took on more supporting roles and character parts.
Notable people of this generation include:
This generation was dominated initially by Karisma Kapoor, followed by Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor.
Members of this generation include:
Members of this generation include:
The Samadhi (memorial) of Raj Kapoor, also housing memorial of his mother and father Prithviraj Kapoor, is at their family farm "Rajbaugh", which means the "king of gardens". Located inside the MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU), Rajbaugh lies off the NH65 on the banks of Mula-Mutha River in Loni Kalbhor village 30 km east of Pune in Maharshtra. Kapoor family sold a part of the 125 acres Rajbaugh to MIT-WPU which built a memorial for the Kapoor family on its campus. The memorial was unveiled in 2014 in the presence of Lata Mangeshkar and members of the Kapoor clan. The Kapoor family memorial has 7 pagodas showing elements of Raj Kapoor's movies and a museum or viewing gallery which shows family photographs and moments from his movie making from 1945 to 1990. Raj Kapoor shot many of his films at this farm, including Mera Naam Joker, Bobby, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, and Prem Rog. Kapoor's family bungalow inside the farm has been preserved. The popular song "Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho" was shot inside this bungalow.