Sanjana kapoor biography meaning

Indian film family

This article is about the Hindi-language show business family. For the surname, see Kapoor.

The Kapoor family is a prominent Indian show business family with at least 4 generations of the family over 96 years being active in the Hindi film industry. Numerous members of the family, both (biological) and those who have married into the family, have had prolific careers as actors, film directors and producers. "The Pioneer" founder of the dynasty was "The Patriarch", Prithviraj Kapoor, who was the first member of family to begin acting in movies with his debut film Be Dhari Talwar. He was a pioneer of Indian theatre and the founding member of Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). His son Raj Kapoor was the most influential actor and director in Hindi cinema. The genesis generation or the earliest linear generation of the Kapoor family tree to ever act in the films was Prithviraj Kapoor's father, Basheshwarnath Kapoor, who debuted as actor in film Awaara, which was produced, directed and starred in lead role by his grandson Raj Kapoor.

Due to their decades old participation in the Hindi film industry, the family is often called "The First Family of Bollywood". Prominent personalities related to the Kapoor family through marriage include Kumari Naaz, Jennifer Kendal, Geeta Bali, Neetu Singh,

Indian actress

Sanjana Kapoor (born 27 November ) is an Indian theatre personality and former film actress. She is the daughter of actors Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kapoor. She ran the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai from to February

Biography

Sanjna Kapoor was born in the Kapoor family. Her paternal grandfather was Prithviraj Kapoor and her paternal uncles were Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. Her brothers Kunal Kapoor and Karan 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 and Shaw. The Merchant Ivory film, Shakespeare Wallah, was loosely based on the family, which starred her father and her aunt, actress Felicity Kendal. Sanjana attended the Bombay International School in Mumbai.

She made her acting debut in the film 36 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 in Utsav (), also produced by her father, and played her first leading role in a Bollywood film titled Hero Hiralal (), which was successful at the box office.

She then appeared in Mira Nair's critically acclaimed film Salaam Bombay in but has since quit acting in films, shifting her focus to theatre in the s. In , she played the role of the Japanese wife in the theatre Production of Akira Kurosawa's immortalised film Rashomon based on the Broadway play by Fay and Michael Kanin. She has also acted in A.K. Bir's Aranyaka ().

She hosted the Amul India Show on television for three and a half years.

She managed the Prithvi Theatre in Juhu, Mumbai and ran theatre workshops for children till

In , she announced her decision to leave Prithvi Theatre, and launched Junoon Theatre in , an arts based organization which w

 Sanjna Kapoor was about 10 when she shot the horrific church massacre scene with her grandfather Geoffrey Kendal in Shyam Benegal&#;s Junoon (). The film was produced by her father&#;s production company  Film Valas. She also appeared as her mother&#;s childhood reverie in another family production, 36 Chowringhee Lane (). But the biggest ever family production she was a part of was the iconic Prithvi theatre. It is natural then that when she became one of the forces behind a new theatre initiative,  she would infuse a bit of her legacy in it. And call it Junoon: A Stage for Theatre. But this she insists is her way of learning, &#;how to create institutions that live beyond the founder or personality or family. I hope to see this happening with Junoon though it is still a work in progress.&#;

She is also going to be a part of SMART: A Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre, a capacity building programme for theatre makers in three phases, the first one of which will unfold from January 17 to January 26, , as a residential course at Fireflies, Bangalore.

Though conceptualised and implemented by the India Theatre Forum (ITF), the programme will be managed by Junoon and India Foundation for the Arts(IFA).

Magical beginnings of Prithvi

Sanjna thinks Prithvi was a great learning ground and knows today in retrospect that theatre needs strategy and not just passion to survive. Says she, &#;At Prithvi, the challenge was of course always having to look for money! And that was soul sapping. But also human resource management was a huge challenge — finding people who were happy to do the grunge, behind the scenes work. I have a very different view of fund-raising opportunities today.&#;

A comprehensive theatre management course may just be the answer to all the questions that companies and individuals face, she thinks.

Her ambitions, she concedes, grew beyond Prithvi but her memories of its inception are still green and glor