Here’s everything you need to know about Pakistan-born Indian actor – India TV

The infamous Kapoor family has been making its presence felt for a long time by making its mark generation after generation in the Indian cinema world. The Kapoor family has been a part of the cinema world since talking films were not in vogue in cinema. From the era of silent cinema to black and white and colour cinema, the Kapoors were among the few artists who made their mark. Prithviraj Kapoor was the very first actor from the Kapoor clan who made it big in the entertainment industry. Born in 1906, today is the 52nd death anniversary of Prithviraj Kapoor. On this occasion, know interesting facts related to the late actor

Family

The Kapoor family has spent more than 9 decades in Bollywood and this journey is still going on. Since 1928, there has not been a period when someone from the Kapoor family has not been in the film industry. Year after year, this family has given the best films to the cinema world. The first-generation actor of this family was Prithviraj Kapoor, who had come to Mumbai from Punjab, Pakistan to try his luck in films.

Prithviraj Kapoor was born on November 3, 1906 in Peshawar.  His father, Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor, was a police officer in the Indian Imperial Police, posted in the city of Peshawar. His mother died when he was three. Kapoor was aged 17 when he was married to the 15-year-old Ramsarni Mehra. The couple’s eldest child was Raj Kapoor, followed by Shamsher Raj (Shammi) and Balbir Raj (Shashi) and and daughter, Urmila Sial. They also had two other children, Devinder and Ravinder who died a week after they were born. 

Career

Prithviraj Kapoor started acting at the age of 8. When talking films had not started, first actor Prithviraj Kapoor turned to silent films and while working in them, the actor improved himself a lot. After that, when the first talking films started, the first talking film ‘Alam Ara’ was made. The actor emerged as the first villain of talking films. In the year 1931, when the actor was just 24 years old, he presented a great example of his acting by playing an excellent role in India’s first talking film ‘Alam Ara’.

Actor Prithviraj Kapoor spent his entire life in the world of acting, from childhood to youth and old age. His character of Akbar in the film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ is still in the minds of people, which people still like very much. He worked in more than 16 films and several theatrical plays in his lifetime. Moreover, it was Prithviraj Kapoor who gave the Kapoor family a distinct identity in the film industry. He established the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai in the year 1944 as a travelling theatre company based in Bombay.

Awards and later years

In 1969, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan. He remained a Nominated Rajya Sabha Member for eight years. Prithviraj Kapoor died of cancer on May 29, 1972. His wife Ramsarni died on June 14, 1972, 16 days after her husband due to cancer as well. After the actor said goodbye to the world, the next generation of the Kapoor family took forward his legacy in the film world, and their fourth generation is still contributing to the film world.

Also Read: Maqbool to Mausam: 6 finest performances by Pankaj Kapur | Birthday Special