BOMBAY FILMDOM TO WITNESS ROUNDS OF PARTIES AND CELEBRATIONS ON THE OCCASION OF RAJIV KAPOOR’S MARRIAGE

My old friend from school, Rajiv Kapoor, is gettng married at a quiet ceremony in Delhi on the 11th and then, i guess, a reception for all in Bombay, later. Chembur will rejoice, for, chimpoo is their son as much as he is Raj Kapoor’s, and Raj Saab was very much the son of Chembur.

Chimpoo and me did 'pickwick' in Campion under the vigilant eye of Pearl Padamsee. Then we both made our debuts with Eagle Films- he as an actor in 'ek jaan hain hum' and I as a film producer in the Eagle- financed 'Gawaahi'.And then he edited 'Aa Ab Laut Chalen' for his brother Rishi Kapoor in which i acted, and we spent 40 bacchanalian nights in New York together.

He has a huge family; and they all rejoice - brothers Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor, bhabhis Babita and Neetu Singh, uncles Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, aunt Neela Devi; and two aunts showering blessings from above, Geeta Bali and Jennifer Kendal,nieces Karisma and Kareena Kapoor,Ridhima and Ranbir, and Nikhil and Natasha,and Nikhil’s wife Shweta (nee Bachchan) who has just become a mother herself for the second time and her parents, the redoubtable Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and her brother Abhishek Bachchan. and cousins Karan(who will then remain the last of Prithviraj’s unwed grand children) and Kunal Kapoor and his wife Sheena(daughter of Ramesh Sippy and grand daughter of G P Sippy),Sanjana, Aditya, Kanchan(wife of Ketan Manmohan Desai),and his mother Krishnna bhabhi’s side of the family-sister Uma (wife of actor Prem Chopra, and mother in law of Vikas Bhalla), brothers late Premnath, Narendranath and Rajindernath;Premnath’s son Prem Kishen and his daughter Akanksha, who has made her debut in films, and Kamal Kapoor and his daughter Madhu and her daughter Shrishti and her husband Sameer Arya(cousin of Shabana Azmi and Baba Azmi, son of cinematographer Ishaan Arya and actress Sulabha Arya , also cousin to Farha and Tabu),Goldie Bahl (who is making his debut as a director), Hari Shivdasani, Trilok Kapoor, Jatin sial and hundreds more.

It’s a large khandaan; but it’s a large film industry too; and the Kapoors were once known as the Barrymores of India. But the Barrymores petered out and the Kapoors are steaming on, larger than life and twice as natural: big eaters, big drinkers, big players, big actors. In New York, Randhir Kapoor collected a huge group of actors(Akshaye Khanna, Aishwarya Rai, Suman Rangnathan, Rajesh Khanna, Kadar Khan, Paresh Rawal, Satish Kaushik, Himani Shivpuri, Navin Nischol, Jaspal Bhatti,yours truly and many more). It was Rishi Kapoor’s debut as a director and no expense was spared. Krishna bhabhi was there too, as were Babita, Karisma and kareena. All stayed in the heart of Manhattan, at the Lexington hotel (which will never be the same).Forty days in September and then another forty days in May. Smirnoff and black label and bud lites in all the rooms, courtesy Randhir Kapoor;dinners at Chin Chin's and Serendipitys, courtesy randhir kapoor; crab salad for lunch, courtesy randhir kapoor. he was not our producer, he was our host. and as he has just finished planning his next magnum opus, with Abhishekh Bachchan comes the news that his brother is to be married, and he will play host again; not just to a select few, but to the whole industry.The studio is getting a face- lift, Rishi Kapoor has begun a new innings as an actor and the sun shines once again on the Kapoor khandaan.