Youngest of Kapoor brothers, Rajiv, 58, dies of heart attack

Actor Rajiv Kapoor, best remembered as the hero of the blockbuster Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), directed by his father, the great Raj Kapoor, passed away following a heart attack in Mumbai on Tuesday. He was 58. The 1980s saw a profusion of star sons launched into filmdom: Kumar Gaurav, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Suneil Anand, to name a few. Rajiv belonged to the same bunch.


Unlike his older brothers, Randhir and Rishi, he wasn’t introduced in a home production. Randhir Kapoor had started out with Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) and Rishi Kapoor, who passed away last year, with Bobby (1973). Rajiv made his debut with Ek Jaan Hain Hum (1983) under FC Mehra’s reputed banner, Eagle Films.

He oozed a natural flamboyance. Old-timers also spotted shades of uncle Shammi Kapoor’s brio in the exultant dance track, ‘Dil chahe aasman pe,’ and an amiable effervescence in ‘Bolo kuchh to bolo’, which Rajiv lip-synced with gusto on a bicycle. Journalist Madhu Jain wrote in a biography of Hindi cinema’s first family, The Kapoors, that director Lekh Tandon once said that Raj Kapoor had told him: “This boy will make it big. From Prithviraj on he will be the best Kapoor.”

But Rajiv’s career floundered. Post Ek Jaan Hain Hum, he acted in a clutch of duds: Ravindra Peepat’s Lava, Nasir Hussain’s Zabardast and Shomu Mukherjee’s Lover Boy. Even a double role in director Toni’s Aasman (1984), where he played the bad guy with relish, tanked at the box-office. He seemed unable to carve out a distinct personality that creates a steady fan base.

It was left to Papa Kapoor to provide his youngest son’s most memorable moment on celluloid. After the success of Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Rajiv said in an interview, “Ram Teri Ganga Maili (RTGM) has removed a big blot from my name. It has shown that given a good director and the right kind of note, I too, can deliver the goods and be accepted by the public in a very big way.” Critics too found his performance “poised and consistently credible.”

But Rajiv didn’t benefit much from RTGM’s triumph as the credit was given to Raj Kapoor. Even Mandakini, who played the title role, gained more. The film, however, kept Rajiv in circulation. He worked in a few more films—Shukriya, Zalzala, to name two. Both flopped.

The actor took to direction with the ambitious Prem Granth (1996), a desi adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles, hoping for a change in fortune. Following his death, Madhuri Dixit, who played the lead in Prem Granth tweeted, “…It was a difficult subject which he handled with great maturity though it was his first film. Remembering the wonderful moments we shared.”

But again, the film was a commercial failure. Rajiv Kapoor remained a promise unfulfilled.