Randhir Kapoor

Randhir Kapoor is one of the most influential men in Bollywood apart being the head of RK Studios in Chembur, Bombay – a studio that was started by his father – the showman Raj Kapoor. Randhir played the lead hero in 34 films from 1971-1987 and had 23 of them as box-office hits. Randhir Kapoor was 3rd highest paid actor from 1971-1975 with Dharmendra and 4th from 1976-1983. Randhir has 24 solo hero films from 1971-1987 and of them 15 were box-office hits. Of the 24 solo hero films of Randhir, Raj Kapoor played supporting role in 2 films -Dharam Karam and Kal Aaj Aur Kal and Shammi Kapoor played supporting role in 2 films Harjaee and Mama Bhanja and Sanjeev Kumar played in supporting role in Biwi O Biwi. Randhir did 10 multi-star films of which 8 were box-office hits.He was born in Bombay on February 15, 1947, in this Punjabi-speaking family, to be the first son to Raj and mom, Krishna. His nickname is Daboo.As a kid he made 30-second appearance in a song in Shree 420. Later made an appearance on the silver screen as a child artiste and was credited as ‘Master Daboo’ in ‘Do Ustad (1959)’ which starred his father and Madhubala in the lead roles.As a 20 year old in 1968 he assisted director Lekh Tandon in making Jhuk Gaya Asmaan.Subsequently, he made his rather dramatic entry into Bollywood in ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’ – a movie that was released in 1971 and starred three generations of the Kapoor family, namely his grand-dad, Prithviraj, a legend unto himself, his dad, Raj, as well as his college sweetheart and to-be wife, Babita, an actress in her own right, who is the daughter of actor, Hari Shivdasani and also the cousin of popular actress Sadhana Shivdasani. Kal Aaj Aur Kal, which had Randhir as the lead hero and was directed by himself , went on to be hit, followed closely by 3 more consecutive hits ‘Jeet’ ,’Raampur Ka Lakshman’ and ‘Jawani Diwani’. After which remake of MGR’s hit 1971 film Rickshawkaran was made in Hindi in 1973 with Randhir as the lead hero opposite new heroine Neetu Singh but the film flopped though its music was popular. In 1974 he had 2 big hits – Hamrahi and the 2 hero film Haath Ki Safai as hits but Dil Deewana failed to be a hit at the box-office, in-spite of its music being better than its prequel Jawani Deewani. In 1975, his 2 solo lead hero films were hits -Lafange and Ponga Pandit but his other 2 movies were not successful – Dafa 302 and Dharam Karam. Though Dharam Karam developed a cult following later and is considered a classic but film was called by critics-reviewers at the time of its release as falling short of the expectations from RK banner. From 1976 till 1981, Randhir had solo hero hit films like – Khalifa, Aaj Ka Mahaatma, Bhanwar, Ram Bharose, Dhongee and his multi-star films like Chacha Bhatija, Mama Bhatija, Heeralal Pannalal, Dhyanu Bhagat also known as Bhakti Mein Shakti, Kasme Vaade, Chor Ke Ghar Chor, Biwi O Biwi were hits too. All of a sudden after Harjaee in 1981 became a disaster, in-spite of having many hits under his belt, film offers for him as the solo hero or in multi-star cast films got reduced. According to Randhir, had Harjaee been made better with proper ending and good editing, the film would have been big hit for its had a great cast and nice music. Another film which was started in 1976 titled Nikkamma got a delayed release in 1983 with title as Janejaan, which was a dud. Even the 2 hero films- Sawaal and Pukar – where Randhir performances were appreciated by critics – became box-office flops whereas Humse Na Jeeta Koi was average success in 1983.As he achieved great success as an actor from 1970-1981 but after offers as an actor dried up from 1982, he turned a producer – producing Ram Teri Ganga Maili in 1985 which was a blockbuster and directed ‘Henna’ in 1991 which starred his younger brother, Rishi, and Pakistani actress, Zeba Bakhtiar and was was again a blockbuster. The film Heena resulted in a trip to Pakistan, where he was treated royally by the then Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif, who turned out to be a fan of his dad Raj, his uncles Shammi and Shashi and also of Randhir himself. He produced PremGranth in 1996 and Aa Ab Laut Chalen in 1999 with Rajesh Khanna in the lead. Later as an actor, Randhir made comeback with ‘Mother’ in 1999; in 2003 with ‘Armaan’; and ‘Housefull’ in 2010.From 2010, Randhir has been getting many offers as supporting actor.Randhir married Sindhi-speaking girlfriend Babita during the year 1971 and their first daughter, Karisma, was born on 25th June 1974. Their second and last child, Kareena, was born on 21st September 1980. Babita and Randhir were happily married couple from 1971-1987, but things changed after Randhir’s career as an actor slumped after 1983 and Babita wanted her daughter Karishma to follow in her footsteps, that lead to considerable strife in their relationship, and ultimately leading to a separation in 1988, with both his daughters moving out with their mother. Randhir and Babita started living separately from 1988 but they never divorced each-other as both continued to love each-other. During 2004, the couple patched-up their differences especially in the light of the fact that both their daughters had achieved considerable fame and success.Randhir had arranged Karisma’s marriage with Amitabh Bachchan’s son, Abhishek, followed by an engagement, which was unfortunately broken. Karisma went on to get married to Delhi-based Sanjay Kapur in 2003.It was also during the year 2007 that he appeared on a popular TV show ‘Koffee With Karan’ along with his sister, Rima; his brothers, as well as sister-in-law, Neetu Singh.He became a grandfather on 11 March 2005 and 12 March 2010 when Karishma gave birth to Samaira and Kiaan respectively.His 2nd daughter also became an actress by making her debut in 2000 and married Saif Ali Khan in 2012.Randhir is still the head of RK Studios, a part of which has been converted into a museum with mementos of his family’s movies.