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Sanjana Kapoor | |
|---|---|
 Kapoor in 2017 | |
| Born | (1967-11-27)27 November 1967 (age 57) |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse(s) | Aditya Bhattacharya (divorced) Valmik Thapar (died 2025) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Shashi Kapoor Jennifer Kendal |
| Relatives | SeeKapoor family |
Sanjana Kapoor (born 27 November 1967[1]) is anIndian theatre personality and former film actress. She is the daughter of actorsShashi Kapoor andJennifer Kapoor. She ran thePrithvi Theatre inMumbai from 1993[2] to February 2012.[3]
Sanjna Kapoor was born in theKapoor family. Her paternal grandfather wasPrithviraj Kapoor and her paternal uncles wereRaj Kapoor andShammi Kapoor. Her brothersKunal Kapoor andKaran Kapoor have also acted in some films. Her maternal grandparents,Geoffrey Kendal and Laura Kendal, were actors who toured India and Asia with their theatre group, Shakespeareana, performing Shakespeare andShaw. TheMerchant Ivory film,Shakespeare Wallah, was loosely based on the family, which starred her father and her aunt, actressFelicity Kendal. Sanjana attended the Bombay International School in Mumbai.
She made her acting debut in the 1981 film36 Chowringhee Lane which was produced by her father and starred her mother Jennifer Kendal in the lead. She played the younger version of the character her mother played. She later appeared inUtsav (1984), also produced by her father, and played her first leading role in aBollywood film titledHero Hiralal (1989), which was successful at the box office.
She then appeared inMira Nair's critically acclaimed filmSalaam Bombay in 1988 but has since quit acting in films, shifting her focus to theatre in the 1990s. In 1991, she played the role of the Japanese wife in the theatre Production ofAkira Kurosawa's immortalised filmRashomon based on the Broadway play by Fay and Michael Kanin. She has also acted in A.K. Bir'sAranyaka (1994).
She hosted theAmul India Show on television for three and a half years.
She managed thePrithvi Theatre inJuhu,Mumbai and ran theatre workshops for children till 2011.[4]
In 2011, she announced her decision to leave Prithvi Theatre, and launchedJunoon Theatre in 2012, an arts based organization which would work with traveling groups; staging plays at smaller venues across India.[3]
Sanjna Kapoor was awarded the French honour of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) for her outstanding contribution to theatre in 2020.[5]
Sanjana Kapoor has been married twice. Her first husband was actor and directorAditya Bhattacharya,[6] son of filmmakerBasu Bhattacharya andRinki Bhattacharya (daughter of filmmakerBimal Roy).
Kapoor then married the tiger conservationist,Valmik Thapar, son of the journalistRomesh Thapar. Valmik was the nephew of JNU historianRomila Thapar (sister of Romesh Thapar). Sanjana and Valmik have a son together, Hamir Thapar born in 2002.[7]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 36 Chowringhee Lane | Young Violet |
| 1984 | Utsav | A courtesan slave in Vasantsena's house |
| 1988 | Salaam Bombay! | Foreign Reporter |
| 1989 | Hero Hiralal | Rupa |
| 1994 | Aranyaka | Elina |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
