Remembering Father

In 1927, at bombay’s Imperial Studios, B P Mishra was shooting for Cinema Girl, starring the gorgeous Indian-Jewish actor Ermeline. One day, his male lead played truant and the angered director asked Ermeline to pick her hero from a line-up of hopefuls. She chose Prithviraj Kapoor, and thus began a dynasty in Bollywood.

The patriarch of the first family of Indian cinema was born on November 3, 1906, in Peshawar, from where he came to Mumbai with Rs 75 in his wallet and a fledgling dream. On his birth centenary, Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre is dedicating this November’s Prithvi Festival to Prithviraj’s life and achievements, titled Kala Desh Ki Seva Mein.

Despite his success in films after Cinema Girl—his popularity grew with films like Vijay Kumar, Toofan and Alam Ara and he also delivered stunning performances as Alexander the Great in Sikander (1941) and as the booming Emperor Akbar in Mughal-E-Azam (1960)—Prithviraj’s first love was theatre and, in 1944, his travelling company Prithvi Theatres was finally realised with a repertory of 150 performers, technicians and backstage help. Being such a large group, Prithvi could rarely afford decent accommodation while on tour. Sometimes they even slept in tents and cow sheds. By the time Shashi was born, his father and mother Rama had already had brothers Raj and Shammi. Raj Kapoor was the stage manager and looked after costumes, lights and make-up. Shammi Kapoor, played multiple roles in the plays. ‘‘I was involved in lighting, which involved transporting heavy studio lights,’’ he says.

Shashi remembers his father as an actor-manager who refused to acknowledge hierarchies and was fondly addressed as ‘Papa ji’. ‘‘The theatres made about Rs 3,000 per performance with 10-rupee tickets but it was not enough to pay everyone’s salaries,’’ recalls Shashi. Papa ji often spent his earnings from the big screen on theatre.

In 1978, Shashi and wife Jennifer opened Prithvi Theatre, which has evolved into a cultural laboratory, exactly the way Prithviraj envisioned it.

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