QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD
Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.
The Kapoors are the first family of Bollywood. They have been part of the Hindi film industry for close to a century now. The patriarchal pillar, Prithviraj Kapoor, started it all and was closely followed by his three sons: Raj, Shammi and Shashi. The third generation comprised sons of Raj Kapoor – Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv followed by Shashi’s kids – Karan, Kunal and Sanjana. Shammi Kapoor’s son Aditya stayed away from films but later, did some blink and miss roles for his friends. The fourth generation of Kapoors continue with Karisma, Kareena and Ranbir.
While most Kapoors have tasted success in their acting career, a few were not so lucky. Our forgotten gem for today, didn’t achieve that level of name and fame despite being the youngest son of showman Raj Kapoor. Yes, you must have guessed his name right – it is Rajiv Kapoor
Rajiv was born on 25th August, 1962 to the legendary Raj Kapoor, who needs no introduction. Before turning actor, Rajiv assisted his father in RK Productions’ Biwi O Biwi (1981) and Prem Rog (1982).
Rajiv Kapoor made his acting debut with Ek Jaan Hain Hum (1983), a non RK film. Earlier, Raj Saahab had launched his elder sons Randhir and Rishi Kapoor in Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) and Bobby (1973), respectively but surprisingly, wasn’t involved in Ek Jaan Hain Hum, which was a F.C. Mehra production. Later, Raj Kapoor did clarify that he never intended to “launch” his sons as such. Kal Aaj Aur Kal had Randhir debuting as director- actor while Bobby was a teenage romance revolving around Dimple Kapadia and was never meant to be a star vehicle for Rishi.
Ek Jaan Hain Hum had the tag line on its posters “Yahoo days are back again” alluding to Rajiv’s rockstar uncle Shammi Kapoor. The film attempted to recreate the magic of Shammi Kapoor. Just like his uncle in the ’60s, Rajiv Kapoor made an entry like a rock star playing a saxophone. His dressing and dance moves were inspired from Shammi Kapoor’s yesteryear hit Teesri Manzil (1966).
Interestingly, Shammi Kapoor himself, played Rajiv’s father in Ek Jaan Hain Hum and as Raj Kapoor was not associated with the project, many viewers felt that he is Shammi’s own son.
Rajiv was cast opposite newcomer Divya Rana and the movie seemed a perfect launch for them. The music composed by newcomer Anu Malik, became quite popular with hits like ‘Dil dil hai koi sheesha toh nahi’, ‘Aayegi woh aayegi’ and ‘Dil lagana tum’. Ek Jaan Hain Hum was expected to become second Bobby, replicating its success.
Sadly, all high hopes around the film came crashing down after release as it had no proper script to hold the audience attention. Rajiv’s performance also received mixed reaction from the critics. His next release was Aasman (1984), which had him in a double role and once again, Rajiv was banking heavily on the movie as noted producer Tony Juneja was making his directorial debut with it. Aasman also tanked at the box office.
It was at this juncture that Raj Kapoor decided to step in and save Rajiv’s career. He planned a movie with him and Padmini Kolhapure in lead roles. Padmini was a RK protégé but she still declined her mentor Raj Saahab due to the nudity and breast-feeding scene in the script. After a long search, Raj Kapoor settled for a young girl called Yasmeen Joseph, who was trying her luck in films for some time. He promptly signed her opposite Rajiv Kapoor and renamed her Mandakini.
The movie needs no introduction; it is the blockbuster hit Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985). The film had Mandakini in the central role of Ganga doing many bold scenes like bathing under a waterfall in a transparent white saree as well as openly breast feeding her onscreen infant. The audience were totally floored by Mandakini while Rajiv Kapoor was hardly noticed in spite the movie becoming one of the biggest blockbusters of the ’80s decade.
Ram Teri Ganga Maili remains the only hit of Rajiv Kapoor. However, the film’s entire credit went to his heroine Mandakini, who became a big star after its super success. Rajiv was thoroughly disappointed with the outcome. Gossip magazines wrote about a feud between him and Raj Saahab over making a second film, which completely concentrated on him. Unfortunately, Raj Kapoor had no script for Rajiv then and was concentrating on writing his dream project Henna.
Post Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Rajiv Kapoor had a string of releases in 1985, which were Lava, Mera Saathi, Zabardast and Lover Boy. All these films involved well known film makers and a stellar cast. Lava had the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia playing Rajiv’s heroine. Mera Saathi had the ever-bankable Jeetendra with Rajiv cast opposite Mandakini. The third release was veteran Nasir Husain’s much awaited multistarrer Zabardast. Last but not the least was director Shomu Mukherjee’s Lover Boy, where Rajiv was freshly paired with Meenakshi Seshadri and Anita Raj. Sadly, all these films failed miserably at the box office.
Next, Rajiv banked heavily on his next release titled Preeti (1986). This film faced multiple controversies right before its release. First, director Saawan Kumar Tak accused Rajiv Kapoor of delaying Preeti over Ram Teri Ganga Maili, though Rajiv completely denied it. Saawan Kumar then used some old pictures of Padmini Kolhapure and Rajiv for the film’s publicity, which didn’t go well with Padmini. Eventually, Preeti turned out to be a weak film in all aspects and sank without a trace.
After a two years break, Rajiv Kapoor returned with three releases in 1988 – Shukriyaa, Zalzala and Hum To Chale Pardes. None worked at the box office and Rajiv’s acting career almost came to an end. His next release was Naag Nagin (1989), a shape shifting snake fantasy cashing in the success of Sridevi’s super hit Nagina (1986). Rajiv was paired opposite Mandakini but the film couldn’t work any wonder at the ticket windows.
Expectedly, Rajiv Kapoor was cast opposite Mandakini in three films apart from Ram Teri Ganga Maili- Mera Saathi, Hum To Chale Pardes and Naag Nagin but they could never repeat the success of their first collaboration.
Rajiv’s final release was the long delayed Zimmedaar (1990), which started in 1984 but took six years to make it to theatres. Rajiv Kapoor can actually be seen aging through the movie. Zimmedaar went unnoticed at the box office.
After an unsuccessful stint as an actor, Rajiv decided to start his second innings and turned co-producer with RK banner’s Henna, which was his late father’s unfulfilled dream. Henna was directed by his elder brother Randhir Kapoor with Rishi Kapoor playing the hero alongside Marathi star Ashwini Bhave and Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiar. The cross-border love story of an Indian guy and Pakistani girl was loved by the audience and Henna became a box office hit.
Riding on the success of Henna, Rajiv Kapoor announced Prem Granth with Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit in the lead. Since the beginning of his career, Rajiv wanted to make a film for himself with the title Prem Granth as he loved that word from the song ‘Tu mera janoo hai’ from Subhash Ghai’s Hero (1983), which had the lyrics ‘prem granth ke pannon par apni taqdeer toh zero hai’.
Prem Granth took off only in 1994 and Sanjay Dutt had to be replaced with Rishi Kapoor after he landed in jail in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts case. By this time, Rajiv Kapoor produced a television serial titled Vansh, which met with a lukewarm response.
Finally, Rajiv Kapoor’s labour of love Prem Granth released in the summer of 1996. It was a social drama tackling the sensitive topic of rape and was made in the mould of Raj Kapoor’s socially relevant films of the ’70s and ’80s. Unfortunately, Prem Granth didn’t work at the box office. The film’s unexpected failure broke Rajiv emotionally and he decided to bid goodbye to Bollywood.
At the 1998 Filmfare awards function, Rajiv Kapoor went on stage to receive the special award conferred on the RK banner for completing fifty glorious years in Bollywood. Shortly after that, the three Kapoor brothers announced their new film Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) to be directed by Rishi Kapoor. Rajiv was not creatively involved in this movie and it was entirely helmed by Rishi.
Over the next twenty years, Rajiv Kapoor stayed away from films but was regularly spotted at awards functions with his brother Rishi Kapoor, sister-in-law Neetu Singh and nephew Ranbir Kapoor. He would always the grace the famed Ganpati festival at RK Studios along with his family as well as attend the Christmas lunch at his uncle Shashi Kapoor’s home. Both these events would get extensive coverage by the media.
In 2018, there was news of Rajiv Kapoor making an acting comeback after twenty-eight years with a film titled Toolsidas Junior. The film took a few years to complete and faced delays due to the Covid pandemic. Finally, it was completed but still couldn’t release as Indian cinemas weren’t functional in the lockdown.
On the personal front, Rajiv was married to Aarti Sabharwal in 2001 but they separated in 2003. Earlier, there were link-up rumours with Divya Rana, Nagma and even Madhuri Dixit but Rajiv neither took the gossip mongers seriously nor bothered to issue any clarification.
After separation from Aarti, Rajiv was living with Randhir Kapoor in their ancestral house at Deonar, Mumbai. On 9th February, 2021 an otherwise hale and hearty Rajiv Kapoor felt uneasy and suddenly, his pulse started dropping. Randhir tried to take him to the nearby hospital but it was too late. Rajiv passed away shortly after suffering a massive heart attack.
The news of his death came as a shock to everyone but it was particularly heart breaking for the Kapoor family, who had still not fully recovered from the demise of Ritu Nanda in January 2020 and Rishi Kapoor in April 2020. They never expected that Rajiv would leave them so soon.
Exactly a year after his death, Rajiv Kapoor’s last film Toolsidas Junior released online on Netflix in March 2022 and received a favourable response. Rajiv Kapoor’s performance received praise from critics and audience, alike. Sadly, Rajiv alias Chimpu as he was fondly called by his family and friends, didn’t live to see it. Success eluded him here as well!!
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All images courtesy Internet
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