Kunal Kapoor (born 26 June 1959)

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

is an Indian actor, film producer, director and advertisement maker. He is a son of actors

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

and

Jennifer Kendal Jennifer Kendal (28 February 1934 – 7 September 1984) was an English actress and the founder of the Prithvi Theatre. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film '' 36 Chowringhee Lane'' (1981). Her oth ...

, who made his debut with the 1972 English-language film '' Siddhartha'', later acted in

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

's '' Junoon'' and in his first mainstream

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film, '' Ahista Ahista'', opposite

Padmini Kolhapure Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who works primarily in Hindi films. She began her acting career in 1972 at the age of seven, and her early works include ''Zindagi'' (1976) and ''Dream Girl'' (1977). She had her breakthrough ...

as well as '' Vijeta''. He also acted in the art films ''

Utsav ''Utsav'' (Hindi: उत्सव; English: Festival) is a 1984 Hindi erotic drama film, produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Girish Karnad. The film is based on play '' Mrichakatika'' (''The Little Clay Cart'') by Śūdraka. The film star ...

'' (1984) and ''

Trikal Trikal (Past, Present and Future) is a 1985 Indian movie written and directed by Shyam Benegal, set in Goa during the twilight of Portuguese rule, It marked the return of Leela Naidu in her first film appearance since 1969. The film was selec ...

'' (1985). In 1987, he stopped acting after ''Trikal'' to set up his own company, Adfilm-Valas, to produce and direct television commercials. Adfilm Valas has also line-produced for many international feature films and ad films shot in India. Notably, the credit sequence of the film ''

City of Joy ''City of Joy'' (french: La Cité de la joie) is a 1985 novel by Dominique Lapierre. It was adapted as a film by Roland Joffé in 1992. Calcutta is nicknamed "the City of Joy" after this novel, although the slum was based on an area in its twin ...

'', and the French films '' Le Cactus'' (2005) and ''Fire in Paradise''. In 2015, he returned to films after 30 years, appearing in '' Singh is Bling'' as

Amy Jackson Amy Louise Jackson (born 31 January 1992) is a British actress and model known for her work in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu languages. A former Miss Teen World, Jackson has appeared in over fifteen films. She made her ...

's father.

Personal life

Kunal Kapoor was born into the famous first family of

, the

Kapoor family The Kapoor family
The New York Times. 30 April 2020. is a prominent Indian show business fa ...

, the eldest child of

and his British theater-actress wife

Jennifer Kapoor Jennifer Kendal (28 February 1934 – 7 September 1984) was an English actress and the founder of the Prithvi Theatre. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film '' 36 Chowringhee Lane'' (1981). Her oth ...

. His paternal grandfather,

Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...

, was a doyen of the theatre, a pioneer of the Indian film industry and the progenitor of the famous

Kapoor family The Kapoor family
The New York Times. 30 April 2020. is a prominent Indian show business fa ...

. His maternal grandfather,

Geoffrey Kendal Geoffrey Kendal (7 September 1909 – 14 May 1998) was an English actor and theatre director who delivered Shakespeare performances throughout India in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life and family Born Richard Geoffrey Bragg in Kendal, Westmorla ...

, was a British theatre personality. Kapoor's mother, Jennifer, died of cancer in 1984, while his father, Shashi Kapoor, died in December 2017. Kapoor's siblings are

Karan Kapoor Karan Kapoor (born 18 January 1962) is an Indian photographer, actor and model. He is the son of actors Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal. His paternal grandfather was Prithviraj Kapoor and his paternal uncles are Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. ...

(b. 18 January 1962) and Sanjana Thapar (b. 27 November 1967). Karan, a popular model who also worked in a few films in the 1980s, now runs a photography business in the UK. Sanjana Thapar runs the ancestral

Prithvi Theatre Prithvi Theatre is one of Mumbai's best known theatres. It was built by Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer Kapoor in memory of Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi's father, who had dreamt of having a "home" for his repertory theatre company, Prithvi Th ...

and is married to

Valmik Thapar Valmik Thapar (born 1952) is an Indian naturalist, conservationist and writer. He is the author of 14 books and several articles, and has produced a range of programmes for television. Today he is one of India's most respected wildlife experts ...

, a noted conservationist. Kunal was married to filmmaker

Ramesh Sippy Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for directing ''Sholay'' (1975), which is regarded as one of the most influential Indian film ever made. The Government of ...

's daughter Sheena, who is a well-known photographer. They had two children together, a son named Zahan Prithviraj Kapoor, and a daughter named Shaira Kapoor. Kunal and Sheena are now divorced.Meet the Kapoors

Network 18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

Filmography

Actor

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, Kunal Indian male film actors Indian people of English descent Living people Male actors in Hindi cinema

Kunal Kunala ( IAST: ) (263 BC – ?) was a son of Emperor Ashoka and Queen Padmavati and the presumptive heir to Ashoka, thus the heir to the Mauryan Empire which once ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent. After the departure of Mahendra, ...

1959 births Anglo-Indian people