The Kapoors: The First Family of Indian Cinema

by Madhu Jain

There is no film family quite like the Kapoors. A family of professional actors and directors, they span almost eighty years of film-making in India, from the twenties to the present. Each decade in the history of Hindi films has had at least one Kapoor—if not more—playing a large part in defining it. Prithviraj came to Bombay in the twilight era of silent movies and went on to straddle both theatre and the silver screen like a colossus, starring in the first full-length talkie, Alam Ara (1931), setting up Prithvi Theatres, and giving life to memorable characters like Akbar and Sikandar on-screen. His three sons—Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor—have earned secure and distinct places in the celluloid pantheon, dominating Hindi cinema throughout the fifties and sixties. Over the next decade and a half, Raj Kapoor’s sons Randhir and Rishi Kapoor survived the Amitabh Bachchan-spawned age of the action hero. Later, just when it looked like the family’s fortune in tinsel town was finally in decline, Karisma Kapoor, the first daughter of the clan to become a star, and her sister Kareena put it right back in the lead. As this book goes to press, Rishi Kapoor’s son Ranbir Raj is waiting in the wings.

Never before have four generations of this family—or five, if you include Bashesharnath Kapoor, Prithviraj Kapoor’s father, who played the judge in Awara—been brought together in one book. The Kapoors details the professional careers and personal lives of each generation—box-office successes and failures, the ideologies that informed their work, the larger-than-life Kapoor weddings and Holi celebrations, their extraordinary romantic liaisons and family relationships, their love for food and their dark passages with alcohol. Madhu Jain goes behind the façade of each of them to reveal what makes them tick: what prompted Prithviraj Kapoor to leave Peshawar for Bombay to become an actor, abandoning his semi-bourgeois background; what explains Raj Kapoor’s all-consuming, at times self-destructive, passion for cinema; what it was about the Kapoors that made them so irresistible to the women they worked with; and what it has been like for each successive generation of the Kapoors to grow up in the shadow of overwhelming ancestors.

Based on extensive personal interviews conducted over seven years with family members and friends, The Kapoors resembles the films that the great showman Raj Kapoor made: grand and sweeping, with moments of high drama and touching emotion.

Unprecedented in its scope and wealth of detail, it is a must-read for all lovers of cinema. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, India

371 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2006

Reviews

[kavi ( ON HIATUS) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“After all, when it comes to the Kapoors, the show must
go on.”

Growing up, watching Bollywood movies there was probably at least a Kapoor coming out with a movie once month. Getting older I been enthralled with the Bollywood industry and the nepotism that I had to read the beginning of this particular dynasty.
To be frank, the Kapoor men are horrible behind the camera and this includes Shashi from outside articles.
If you genuinely want to read it for this Bollywood dynasty- go ahead but besides that it was lot of repetition of the same gist that these men were alcoholics and cheaters with mommy issues.
Also this book was pretty good to read before sleeping because I don’t know maybe there’s some secret melatonin in this that I knocked out after every couple of pages *shrugs*.

[Mansee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and detailed book on 4 generation of Kapoor's, their entry into cinema , their success and failures, their love for food and alcohol which led to their decline , their relationships and beyond ! Highly recommended if you want to know about the famous RK family in Bollywood!

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently researched and lovingly written; difficult in places due to nonlinear storytelling but altogether well done. The first 2 generations really deserved their stardom, and the next two just sort of epitomise the decline of theater/rise of cinema. Great read.

[AR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meh. It's alright.

[Maganraj Bafna · Rating 3 out of 5]

'𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓’—𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝑲𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓

A family of professional actors and directors, they span almost hundred years of film-making in India, from the 1920's to the present. Each decade in the history of Hindi films has had at least one Kapoor—if not more—playing a large part in defining it.

Based on extensive personal interviews conducted over seven years with family members and friends, 'The Kapoors' details the professional careers and personal lives of each generation -- box office successes and failures, the ideologies that informed their work, the larger-than-life kapoor weddings and holi celebrations, their extraordinary romantic liaisons and family relationships, their love for food and their dark passages with alcohol.

The chapters on Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor are extensive, interesting and more enjoyable and covers almost half the book. Next quarter of the book focuses on Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. The remaining of the book briefly goes through the third and fourth generation of the Kapoor's family with Rishi Kapoor featured prominently. The book closes timeline with Ranbir Kapoor's entry into films.

The cover photo of the book does not do justice to the title 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓'𝒔 the first family of Indian cinema.

[Dalip Shandil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite Frankly, There Is Something About The Legendary Larger Than Life Kapoor Khandaan That Makes You Either Love Them Unconditionally Or Hate Them Vociferously But Either Way You Just Cannot Ignore Them.
Infact, Like Their Larger Than Life Halo, The Kapoor Clan Once Stood Tall And Also Apart
On The Horizon Of Indian Cinema Even As The Present Fourth Generation Brigade Of The Kapoors Spearheaded By Ranbir Kapoor And His Stunning Cousins Karisma & Kareena Kapoor Khan Struggle Hammer.& Tongs To Keep The RK Banner Fluttering Even If It Seems Like A Herculean Task Today*
A Lot Can Be Said Without Saying Anything If You Observe That The First Edition Of The Kapoors Rightfully Had Prithviraj Kapoor On It’s Cover And Now Several Decades Later In A Recent Edition Of The Same Book It Takes A Kareena Kapoor Khan On The Cover To
Sell This Edition On Her Sex Appeal. Speaks Volumes Considering Once Upon A Time It Was An Unheard Taboo For The Kapoor Ladies To Step Out Alone Unescorted And Today It Takes A Kapoor Granddaughter On The Cover For Readers To Judge This Book By It’s Cover. That, in Itself Speaks A Lot About How Much Has Changed Kal Aaj Aur Kal For The KAPOOR’s Over Several Decades.
*As Of Now The Last Traces Of RK Have Bitten The Dust With Both The Iconic RK Studio As Well As The Landmark Raj Kapoor Bungalow Have Been Razed To The Ground And The Remaining Kapoor Heirs Have Taken Their Promised Cut And Moved On In Separate Directions Each Doing Their Own Thing And The RK Banner Elbowed Into Folklore.*

[Dr.J.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has not only interviews with various persons and extensive writing about everyone concerned but also interesting details of history, of the family clan and incidentally that of the times they lived in, tracing various parts of history of our recent past of country and society. Worth a read, yes, certainly.