The Kapoor family has been called everything from the first family of Indian cinema to the Barrymores of Bollywood. The clan, which began with Prithviraj Kapoor entering films almost a century ago, has survived and thrived to date.
It has given countless stars and superstars during this time, and almost every member of the extended family to have entered films has earned some amount of fame. The ‘almost’ here is key because one actor from this illustrious family had to work as an extra to feed himself, not even getting offers from his famous nephew Raj Kapoor.
Kapoor family’s ‘most unsuccessful actor’
Ravindra Kapoor was an Indian actor who was the first cousin of Prithviraj Kapoor and the brother of famous character artist Kamal Kapoor. He followed his cousin, brother, and nephew into films, starting with small roles in films like Thokar (1953) and Paisa (1957). After not getting much mileage in Hindi films, he began working in Punjabi cinema in 1960, starting with the hit Chambe Di Kali. Even as Ravindra continued to work in Punjabi films, he did side roles in Bollywood hits like Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke and Yaadon Ki Baraat. His most memorable outing was as Jeetendra’s friend in the 1971 hit Caravan.
But by the 1980s, Ravindra Kapoor had been reduced to bit roles and uncredited appearances in big films such as Manzil Manzil, The Burning Train, and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Often, his roles were so minuscule that his characters did not even have names.
Ravindra Kapoor’s later years
Ravindra Kapoor is perhaps one of the only Kapoor family actors who has worked for this long and has never worked in a film by RK Films, Raj Kapoor’s production company. His brother Kamal Kapoor worked in a few RK productions, including Aag, but Ravindra had no such luck. However, neither he nor any other member of the family ever spoke about the reason behind this.
Later in his career, Ravindra Kapoor was often confused with another Punjabi actor named Ravinder Kapoor, aka Goga Kapoor. The latter was famous for his appearances in films and TV shows like Shakti, Shahenshah, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Buniyaad, and Mahabharat. Ravindra, however, never ventured into television. He quietly quit cinema in the late 1980s, a couple of years before his death. His last release was the 1991 film Benaam Badsha.
