Alia Bhatt was at the peak of her career when she tied the knot with Ranbir Kapoor in April 2022 and announced her pregnancy in June 2022. She had just delivered two of the biggest hits of her career — SS Rajamouli’s RRR and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi. It was not unusual of female actors to quit their careers at the peak after getting married (sample Madhuri Dixit in 1999). But Alia soldiered on casually, even turning producer with Darlings just a couple of months later.
She continues to command the same range of roles, say in creative decisions, and (even better) pay, having delivered more hits in Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva (2022) and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), along with her Hollywood debut Heart of Stone (2023) on Netflix. She’s all set to star in two tentpoles — YRF Spy Universe’s Alpha and Bhansali’s Love & War opposite Ranbir. Thus, the proverbial Kapoor bahu has come a long way since the days when Ranbir’s mother Neetu Kapoor quit films after marrying his father Rishi Kapoor in 1980.
“My husband was very possessive. He wanted me all the time to just be around and be there. So that’s the way my life was and I was very happy,” Neetu said on Koffee with Karan a couple of years ago. She has maintained that it was her choice to quit acting. On Rendezvous with Simi Garewal in 2016, Rishi claimed that he and Neetu decided mutually that one of them would be a bread-earner and the other a homemaker. But it would be tough to imagine Rishi Kapoor managing the home and looking after the kids as Neetu goes to work, also given the perception historically associated with the Kapoor family.
Neetu Kapoor opened up on returning to work after Rishi Kapoor’s death.
It was an unsaid rule back in the day that if you get married into the Kapoor family, you just quit films and become a homemaker. That also held true for the Kapoor daughters. Raj Kapoor’s daughters Reema Jain and Ritu Nanda never even considered joining films like their brothers. They got married quite early, although Ritu continued to work as an LIC agent, even entering the Guinness Book of World Records for selling 17,000 pension policies within a single day.
There’s no doubt that the Kapoor daughters would inherit their forefathers’ (and mothers’) inherent enterprising skills in whatever they do. Riddhima Kapoor, daughter of Rishi and Neetu and Ranbir’s elder sister, became a designer. In Rishi’s 2017 memoir Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored, Neetu quips that her husband “would have killed himself” had Riddhima expressed any desire to become an actor. She clarified that while he respected women, he was “zealously overprotective” of his daughter to let her venture into the “ugly side of stardom.” “Riddhima understood her father well. For the sake of his peace of mind, she never attempted to pursue acting as a career,” Neetu added.
But ironically enough, a week after Rishi’s fifth death anniversary (he died of leukemia in 2020), Riddhima is all set to become the oldest Kapoor woman to make her acting debut. Happily married with a 15-year-old daughter, Riddhima faced the camera on a film set for the first time last year at 45. “It truly feels surreal and deeply emotional. There’s a sense of everything coming full circle,” she tells SCREEN exclusively. “I know my father is always with me blessing me in anything and everything that I choose to do. That thought gives me a lot of strength and comfort,” she says.
Riddhima admits that shooting for Ashish R Mohan’s wedding comedy Daadi Ki Shaadi (out in cinemas on May 8) was the first time since Rishi’s cancer treatment in New York in 2019 that she left her daughter alone in their New Delhi abode. “Honestly, the biggest challenge was stepping into an entirely new world at this stage of life. There’s a certain vulnerability in starting fresh, but also a lot of excitement at the same time,” adds Riddhima.
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Riddhima Kapoor will make her big screen debut with mom Neetu Kapoor. (Pic: Riddhima/Instagram)
It’s not the first time she’s faced the camera though. Riddhima was roped in by producer Karan Johar (making her another true-blue nepo baby like her sister-in-law Alia) for his popular reality show Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives in 2024. “Being in front of the camera for a show made me comfortable. It gave me a sense of ease and familiarity which definitely made this transition smoother,” says Riddhima. Interestingly, while her mother Neetu Kapoor is also a part of her debut film, it was their co-star Kapil Sharma who recommended her name.
“I haven’t really asked him why directly,” confesses Riddhima, adding, “But I think he saw a certain honesty or relatability in me. I’m just grateful he recommended my name.” The familiar territory for Riddhima was certainly her mother, who also plays her onscreen mother along with the titular role. “Working with mom was incredibly special. I discovered how effortless and instinctive she is as an actor,” says Riddhima. Neetu’s advice echoed the one that Ranbir Kapoor gave to her before facing the camera — “Stay natural and don’t overthink. Just feel the moment. That really helped me ease into my performance,” adds Riddhima.
It’s a busy next few months for the Kapoor family, as not only is Riddhima debuting alongside her mother, Ranbir and Alia are also all set to star together in Love & War next year. This year, they also have individual tentpoles in Ramayana and Alpha, respectively. “It’s such an exciting time for all of us. I’m incredibly proud of both Ranbir and Alia — they are doing such amazing work. As a family, we’ve always cheering each other on, and I can’t wait to see all these films on screen,” says Riddhima.
Neetu Kapoor is returning to the big screen four years after her last outing, Raj Mehta’s Jugjugg Jeeyo (2022), in which she was paired with Anil Kapoor. That was, in fact, the first film she did since her wedding, which didn’t star her husband. She displayed no loss of sharpness in Do Dooni Chaar (2010), Besharam (2013), and the cameos in Love Aaj Kal (2009) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), but all these films limited her to acting mostly alongside family (Besharam also starred Ranbir).
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Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, and Ranbir Kapoor in Besharam.
But the Kapoor women weren’t always this prone to taking the backseat. Geeta Bali, the wife of Shammi Kapoor, was a bigger star than her husband when they got married. In fact, she refused to tie the knot for months, given the unspoken rule associated with the Kapoor household. She was one of the primary earning members of her family, and didn’t want that to change. Until she whimsically decided to say yes to another of Shammi’s relentless proposals, but with the caveat that they’d get married that very night at a nearby temple. She even offered him the lipstick to apply on her forehead as sindhoor to seal their union.
Geeta Bali also became the first Kapoor bahu to continue working after her marriage and giving birth to two kids. It wasn’t any patriarchal notion that could stop her from hanging up her acting boots. In fact, she went on to work even till her last breath, contracting small pox in Chandigarh while shooting for her unreleased film, Rano, in 1964. Similarly, it was also a terminal illness that halted the rising career of her sister-in-law and Shashi Kapoor’s wife Jennifer Kendal.
Jennifer began working in films much after she married Shashi. After sharing screen space with him in a few films from parallel cinema, Jennifer went on to bag a BAFTA nomination for her performance in Aparna Sen’s 1981 directorial debut 36 Chowringhee Lane. It was only a year before she was diagnosed with colon cancer, which claimed her life a couple of years later in 1984. Her daughter Sanjana Kapoor also worked in films like Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! (1988) and quit after marriage only to focus on her work in theatre.
“It feels like an honour,” says Riddhima on joining the legacy of these Kapoor women. “The women in our family have such grace and strength, and to be able to follow even a small part of that legacy is something I deeply cherish,” she adds. Riddhima admits that her cousins Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor paved the way for her just like the former set a benchmark for the latter. “Karisma and Kareena are both incredibly talented, hardworking, and so inspiring,” says Riddhima.
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Karisma and Kareena also have their mother, Babita Kapoor, to thank as even after she quit films soon after marrying Randhir Kapoor, she’d go on to ensure her daughters enter the film industry at a young age, make a name for themselves, and become independent. “I do feel we’ve come a long way. Times have changed, mindsets have evolved. And today, women are choosing their own paths regardless of age or expectations. My debut is just a small reflection of that larger change,” says Riddhima.
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Daadi Ki Shaadi also marks a special onscreen moment for Riddhima Kapoor, as she appears with her mother Neetu and her daughter Samara in the song “Senti.” While Samara is very pap-friendly and has been dubbed “heroine material” by the likes of Farah Khan, Riddhima isn’t sure if either hers or her daughter’s debut role would lead to a full-fledged career in acting. “It’s a small but a very sweet appearance in the song. As a mother, it’s such a proud and emotional moment to see your child on screen,” she adds.
