Kapoor Haveli is a residential building in the city of

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. It is notable for being the former home of one generation of the

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

, a prominent show business family of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The building was constructed before the partition of India, between 1918 and 1922, by Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, father of

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 ...

, the first member of the family to enter film industry in 1928 as an extra in his first film, ''Be Dhari Talwar''.Rishi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi remember a compassionate human on 113th birth anniversary of Prithviraj Kapoor: ‘The man who started it all’
Hindustan Times, Nov 03, 2019.Remembering Prithviraj Kapoor: 10 facts you must know about the Father of Bollywood
India Today, November 3, 2016. Among the notable members of the family,

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Trilok was born as the sec ...

, Prithiviraj's younger brother and his son,

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

were born in the building. The Kapoors are

Punjabi Hindus Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. While Punjabi Hindus are mostly found in the Indian state of Punjab today, many have ancestry from the greater Punjab regi ...

. After the Partition in 1947, members of the family, like other

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s, left the city and the building. It was purchased in an auction in 1968 by a local individual from Charsadda town in the

North West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...

under the settlement clause and then sold to a resident of Peshawar. It is now being converted into a museum by IMGC Global Entertainment in

with the support of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

government. In 2021, the Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar values the house at Rs 15 million. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's archaeology department plans to turn the houses into a museum. The deputy commissioner has sent the notices to the current owners. The current owner, Gul Rehman Mohmmad is asking for Rs 2 billion.

History

According to a wooden slab inside the entrance, the construction of the building was started in 1918 and completed in 1922 in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The Kapoors are

was born in this haveli in 1924. Two of his younger siblings, who died early in 1931, were also born here.

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor for ...

and Shashi Kapoor were born in India, but they visited and lived at the mansion at times. After the Partition of India in 1947, members of the family, like other

s, left the city and the building. It was purchased in an auction in 1968 by a jeweller Haji Khushal Rasool from Charsadda town in the

under the settlement clause and then sold to a resident of Peshawar. Haji Israr Shah, the current owner of the building, said his father had purchased the building in the mid-1980s. Area residents say they used the building for events like marriage celebrations. Local resident and former mayor Abdul Hakim Safi said "The house has been empty for about 12 years as its present owners visit rarely". The owners of the historic building demolished its top three storeys two decades ago due to cracks created by an earthquake in its upper portion due to its location on steep mound. The building today is surrounded by commercial buildings, posing serious threat to its body. Raj Kapoor's younger brother Shashi Kapoor, and sons,

Randhir Kapoor Randhir Raj Kapoor (born 15 February 1947) is an 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. However, his career declined in the ea ...

and

Rishi Kapoor Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award. Born into t ...

, visited Peshawar and their old family home in 1990. They also took some soil from the compound to remember their heritage.

Architecture

The multi-storey house has about 40 rooms and its front is adorned with exquisite floral motifs and 'jharokas' or overhanging balconies. Many sections of the facade have begun crumbling.

Memories

The elders of Dhaki Munawar Shah when visited by a journalist in 2003 still recalled the days they spent with the Kapoor family. Abdul Wahid, a bedridden 75-year-old shoemaker, stated "I used to play with Raj Kapoor". He remembers when he enjoyed cold drinks with Raj Kapoor from Binori Lal's shop situated near the mansion. Mohammad Yaqoob, a 90-year-old resident of Dhakki, remembers Raj Kapoor. "He was my buddy back in the 1920s. He was a year younger than me. We used to play a game of sticks called gulli-danda. We went to the same school". Kailashwati, next door neighbour in Samundari (birthplace of Prithviraj Kapoor), whom Kapoor family used to call "laal chunni" recalls how passionate Prithviraj Kapoor was about theatre. The Kapoors moved to Mumbai in the 1930s, and their occasional visits to Peshawar ended completely after the partition of India in 1947, he says. Some of the family friends of the Kapoor family have visited the Kapoors.SHASHI KAPOOR & M Y KHAN
KHAN1561, May 20, 2012

References

External links

Kapoor Haveli Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor Haveli Tourist attractions in Peshawar Buildings and structures in Peshawar Houses completed in 1922 Houses in Pakistan

History

Architecture

Memories

See also

References

External links