Mumbai's famous writer, senior film journalist, actor and playwright Hanif Zaveri has made many interesting revelations related to the old era of the Hindi film industry. In a conversation with Hindi Rush, he told that big actors like Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar and Sunil Dutt did not want the daughters of their families to work in films. In the Kapoor family, there was a separate rule regarding daughters-in-law and daughters working in films, which was followed by many members of the family.
Hanif Zaveri told that Raj Kapoor had a lot of influence in the film industry. If he did not want, it would not have been easy for Karisma Kapoor to work in films. He said, “Even if Raj Kapoor had been there, Babita would have stayed away from him, even then he would not have allowed Karisma to work in films. Raj Kapoor had such a hold in the industry that if he did not want, no producer would have taken Karisma Kapoor in his film.”
Dharmendra and Sunil Dutt also did not want their daughters to work in films.
According to Hanif Zaveri, not only the Kapoor family, but even actors like Dharmendra and Sunil Dutt were not in favor of their daughters working in films. The photographs of the daughters of Dharmendra's first wife Prakash Kaur were also not revealed in public for a long time. He kept his family away from the film industry.
Dharmendra also did not want his daughters Isha and Ahana to work in films, but Hema Malini herself was a part of the film industry. In such a situation, he supported his daughters to enter the field of acting. At the same time, Sunil Dutt's daughters also did not come forward to make a career in films.
Karishma and Kareena came into films due to Babita's insistence.
Hanif Zaveri told that after the death of Raj Kapoor, the tension in the relationship between Randhir Kapoor and Babita had increased. Both of them had also started living separately. Randhir Kapoor did not want his daughters to work in films, but Babita was in favor of it. She used to go to producers with Karishma and find work for her in films.
After the death of Raj Kapoor, there were no restrictions in the family as before and Babita was successful in bringing her daughters into the film industry. After this, Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor made their mark in films. Today Kareena Kapoor is one of the well-known actresses of the industry.
At the same time, Rishi Kapoor did not bring his daughter Riddhima Kapoor into films. He married into the Sahni family. On the other hand, Randhir and Babita's daughters made their own identity in the world of acting.
There was a rule for the daughters-in-law of the Kapoor family to stay away from films.
Hanif Zaveri told that in the Kapoor family there was a rule not only for daughters but also for daughters-in-law not to work in films. Babita had stopped working in films after marriage. Similarly, after marrying Rishi Kapoor in 1980, Neetu Singh, following the family tradition, stayed away from films.
According to Hanif, this thinking was prevalent in the Kapoor family for a long time. Many members of the family followed this rule. However, after the death of Raj Kapoor, this thinking started changing in the next generation of the family and actresses like Karisma-Kareena made their place in the film industry.
Randhir Kapoor had talked to Raj Kapoor about leaving studies
Hanif Zaveri also shared an anecdote related to Randhir Kapoor's career. He told that Raj Kapoor had told writer and director Lekh Tandon on phone that his son Randhir is not very good in studies and he wants to become a director. After this Randhir Kapoor told Raj Kapoor that he did not want to study further and wanted to join the team of RK Films and work as an assistant director.
On this, Lekh Tandon asked Raj Kapoor to keep Randhir with him as an assistant director. He will live on his set like his son and will be able to learn the work. Later Randhir Kapoor directed the film 'Kal Aaj Aur Kal'. In this film, he himself was the hero and Babita was his heroine.
Why didn't Rishi Kapoor give nickname to Ranbir?
Hanif Zaveri told that Rishi Kapoor was irritated by his nickname. This was the reason why he did not give any nickname to Ranbir Kapoor. He also told that the Kapoor family had very strict views regarding daughters and daughters-in-law working in films. This mentality was prevalent since the time of Prithviraj Kapoor.
At that time, there was a different attitude in the society towards women working in films. In earlier times, courtesans used to come to work in films. For this reason, a belief was formed in the Kapoor family that the daughters-in-law of the house should be kept away from the film industry. Raj Kapoor also carried forward this thinking.