Entertainment - Kapoors of bollywood awaiting a 52 year old's debut

Mumbai, August 12: In the Kapoor household, there is a lot of excitement about a debut. The latest actor from Bollywood’s first family has just shed 25 kg for his first movie. He is called Mickey in the family—just like Rishi is Chintu, Randhir is Dabbu, Karishma is Lolo and Kareena is Bebo.

Mickey, aka Aditya Raj Kapoor, is the son of actors Shammi Kapoor and Geeta Bali. He is 52 and his debut movie, Mumbai-118, will be out next month.

“He is a fool,” says cousin Randhir Kapoor. “I would have launched him 30 years ago after he finished his stint as an assistant director to me on Dharam Karam.”

Bearing a striking resemblance to his dad from good old yahoo days, Aditya wishes to bring in his mother’s style of acting but his favourite from the family is “Prithviraj Kapoor in Sikander”.

Like just any other Kapoor, Aditya started off as an assistant director along with J P Dutta and Kuku Kohli for Dharam Karam. However, he quit movies and moved to marketing. “I wasn’t ready for films then,” he says. “I got into a marketing job and travelled the world. I helped sell amusement parks across the globe including our very own Fantasy Land, for that at least, my kids were happy with me.”

“I used to sneak out and smoke cigarettes here,” says Aditya Kapoor pointing out to a room right beside Randhir’s at RK Studios. “Dutta, Kohli and I were the three musketeers, notorious for the mischief we caused on the sets,” he adds. “We worked hard though, amidst all the mischief.”

So what makes a successful marketing head pack up and face the unknown? “While I was settled in Sharjah, I started writing scripts in my head,” he says. So he moved back home in 2007 and while he was circulating his scripts around, writer Sachindra Sharma spotted him and producer Umesh Gandhi picked him for the lead role.

“Acting happened by mistake, though for the moment it seems to be suiting me fine,” he says. “I guess it’s something I have to do before I finally get on to direction.”

At home, Shammi Kapoor is the happiest: “My son finally comes around. After years of nagging, he has listened to us at last. Better late than never.”