Bollywood’s first family, the Kapoors, have given us generations of film icons from screen-legend Raj Kapoor to his sons Randhir and Rishi, to modern-day ‘Rockstar’ Ranbir Kapoor.
Well as things would have it, the Indian film industry is all geared-up for the next young talent from this illustrious household to make his Bollywood debut. Armaan Jain, the son of Raj Kapoor’s youngest daughter Rima, made his debut in Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Lekar Hum Deewana Dil’ which opened to mixed reviews early last week.
This budding new talent acknowledges his family roots in Pakistan and was quoted telling the News on Sunday that, “Pakistan has a special place in my heart”.
His love for the ‘Land of the Pure’ stems from the fact that his great-grandfather and pioneer of Hindi cinema Prithviraj Kapoor was born in Punjab and brought up in Peshawar. Prithviraj spent his early years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (known then as North West Frontier Province). Even his son Raj was born there.
In later years, Raj Kapoor famously cast Pakistani film star Zeba Bakhtiyar in the 90s classic ‘Henna’. In fact, before he became a Qawwali music legend, maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performed at Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh’s wedding in the early 1980s.
Jain, like his forefathers, is an admirer of Pakistan’s diverse music industry. Speaking to the News on Sunday he elaborated saying, “You have no idea how much my parents and I love Pakistani music. I for one haven’t missed a single episode of Coke Studio – the Pakistani version – and love listening to the songs performed in it. I am also a big, big fan of Arif Lohar sahib who is just awesome with a capital A. I haven’t had the chance of working alongside anyone from Pakistan but I am all for breaking the borders through films and music, as I feel that it is a tremendous effort on part of both the countries”.
Jain says his Pakistani friends invited him to visit Pakistan while he was still studying in London. Though he has yet to visit his ancestral home and grandfather’s birthplace, he has made a vow to one-day return to his family roots.
“I couldn’t get the time due to my debut film, but in the coming days, I promise that I will visit the country. Inshallah.”