Randhir Raj Kapoor (born 15 February 1947) is a retired Indian actor, film producer and director who worked in Hindi cinema. He was an established actor of the 1970s and received two Filmfare Award nominations and was one of the popular actors of the 1970s. However, his career declined in the early 1980s, following which he rarely appeared in films.
Randhir has been living apart from his wife since the 1980s. Part of the Kapoor family, he is the son of actor–filmmaker Raj, grandson of actor Prithviraj and the brother of late actors Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor. After working as a child artist in Shree 420 (1955), Kapoor made his acting and direction debut with a leading role in the family drama Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971), a moderate success at the box office. Subsequently, Kapoor's starring roles in the dramas Jeet (1972), Hamrahi (1974) and the romantic comedies Jawani Diwani (1972), Lafange (1975), Ponga Pandit (1975) and the multi-starrers such as Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972) and Haath Ki Safai (1974). His career failed to propel forward after 1985, after which he quit acting for over a decade. However, the Kapoor-directed blockbuster romantic drama Henna (1991), proved to be the most commercially successful film of the decade – earning him a Filmfare Award for Best Director nomination and was chosen as the Indian submission to the Oscar. In recent years, Kapoor has occasionally returned to films with his biggest commercial success, the ensemble comedy Housefull (2010), which earned over ₹1 billion (US$15 million) worldwide.
Randhir is married to actress Babita since 1971, with whom he has two daughters, actresses Karisma and Kareena Kapoor. The couple separated in 1988, but reconciled in 2007, after living separately for several years.
Kapoor first appeared as a child artist in Shree 420 (1955) and Do Ustad (1959). He became an assistant director with the film Jhuk Gaya Aasman (1968), starring Rajendra Kumar in 1968. Randhir Kapoor made his acting and directorial debut with Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971), which also starred his wife, father, and grandfather. The film, produced under the R.K banner, was an average success.[4]
After his debut, he acted in three consecutive hit films, all released in 1972: Jeet, Raampur Ka Lakshman and Jawani Diwani.[5]Jawani Diwani was one of the biggest hits of that year. Raampur Ka Lakshman[5] costarred Shatrughan Sinha and Rekha, and was directed by Manmohan Desai, with music by R.D. Burman. Randhir and Babita were paired together in Jeet, after their marriage. Jeet was remake of the Tamil film En Annan starring M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa in the lead roles. After the success of Jeet, Randhir decided to do a remake of another film of MGR. Then MGR's hit 1971 film Rickshawkaran was remade in Hindi in 1973 as Rickshawala with Randhir as the hero opposite the new heroine Neetu Singh, by director K. Shankar, but the film flopped though its music was popular. In 1974 he had 2 big hits – Hamrahi and the two-hero film Haath Ki Safai.
In 1975, he directed and starred alongside his father again in the critically acclaimed Dharam Karam, which was a box office disappointment. Over the years this film has developed a cult status and is considered a classic. Two of his other films, Lafange and Ponga Pandit, were hits that year. From 1976 to 1981, his multi-star films such as Chacha Bhatija (1977), Kasme Vaade (1978), (the latter of which earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination), Mama Bhanja, Heeralal Pannalal, Dhyanu Bhagat also known as Bhakti Mein Shakti and Biwi-O-Biwi: The Fun-Film, were hits too. After the failure of the 1981 Harjaee, he got few offers to star or co-star in films. His film Nikkamma, begun in 1976, and finally released in 1983 as Janejaan, was also a dud. The song composed by R.D. Burman, and sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle – "Tere Bina Mein Kuch Bhi Nahin Hoon" from the delayed film Janejaan was popular in 1983. He starred in Sawaal and Pukar in 1983, and received critical praise for his performances, but they flopped nonetheless. In the same year, Humse Na Jeeta Koi received average collections. His last film as a leading actor was Khazana in 1987, after which he did not appear in a film for a decade.
In 1991, he directed and produced the blockbuster Henna (1991), that starred his younger brother, Rishi Kapoor, and Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiar. The film had started production in 1988 with his father Raj Kapoor directing, but after his death, Randhir took over as director of the film after his death. Henna resulted in a trip to Pakistan, where he was treated royally by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a fan of his father Raj and his uncles Shammi and Shashi. He was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. The film was chosen as the Indian submissions for the Academy Award. In 1996, he produced PremGranth, the directorial debut of his younger brother Rajiv, and in 1999 he produced Aa Ab Laut Chalen, the directorial debut of his brother Rishi, which had Rajesh Khanna, Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna in the lead roles.
He was set to return to acting after a gap of 10 years with the 1997 film Ladies Only. This film was produced by Kamal Hasan and was a remake of Magalir Mattum. The film also starred Shilpa Shirodkar, Seema Biswas, Heera Rajagopal and Kamal Haasan. Although completed, the film was never released.[6] In 1999, he made his comeback in the film Mother, alongside Rekha, Jeetendra and Rakesh Roshan. After another break, he appeared in the film Armaan (2003), in a supporting role as Preity Zinta's father. On 13 May 2007, he made an appearance on the television chat show Koffee with Karan alongside his brothers, sister Rima and his sister-in-law Neetu Singh. On the show, it was mentioned how Randhir had been Neetu's first leading man in the film Rickshawala (1973), which was not a success.
In 2010, he returned to films with supporting roles in Housefull and Action Replayy. In 2012, he appeared in the multi-starrer Housefull 2, the first film in which he acted along with his brother Rishi. He went onto appear in Ramaiya Vastavaiya in 2013 and Super Nani in 2014.
Personal life
Kapoor married actress Babita, the daughter of actor Hari Shivdasani, on 6 November 1971 when he was 24 after co-starring with her in Kal Aaj Aur Kal, as the couple fell in love during the shooting of this film.[7][8] Their two daughters, Karisma Kapoor, born in June 1974, and Kareena Kapoor, born in September 1980, are Indian film actresses. The couple separated in 1988 as differences arose between the couple as Randhir's acting career slumped after 1983 and Babita wanted their daughter Karisma to be an actress. Babita left Randhir with her daughters. Although against his daughters becoming involved in acting, he eventually came around the idea and has been supportive of their careers. The two reconciled in October 2007, having never divorced but lived separately for 19 years.[9]
^"Bollywood's First Family". Excerpted from The Kapoors: The First Family of Indian Cinema by Madhu Jain, published by Penguin Books India. Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
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