Annu Kapoor Biography – an Indian Actor and a Former Radio Disc Jockey

Annu Kapoor (born Anil Kapoor; 20 February 1956) is an Indian actor, singer, director, radio disc jockey, and television presenter who has appeared in over a hundred films, as well as television series. His career has spanned over 40 years as an actor, producer, director, and singer. Besides acting, he also does a Radio show, named Suhaana Safar With Annu Kapoor which airs on 92.7 big FM. He has won numerous awards in his career, including two National Film Awards, one Filmfare Award, and two Indian Television Academy Awards in varied categories.

Early life (Annu Kapoor Biography)

Annu Kapoor was born in Itwara, Bhopal, Bhopal State, on 20 February 1956, to Madanlal, a Punjabi father with roots in Peshawar, and Kamal, a Bengali Brahmin mother. His father owned a traveling Parsi theatre company that performed in cities and towns, and his mother was an Urdu teacher and a trained classical singer. His grandfather Kripa Ram Kapoor was a doctor in the British Army and his great-grandfather Lala Ganga Ram Kapoor was a revolutionary who was executed during the Indian freedom struggle.

Due to poor financial circumstances, he had to quit school following secondary education. With a salary of ₹ 40, his mother worked as a teacher. On his father’s insistence, he joined his theatre company. Following a stint there, he joined the National School of Drama in 1976, after his brother Ranjit Kapoor, who was already a student there insisted. After graduating from the National School of Drama and a brief stint with its repertory company, in 1981, he played a 70-year-old man in the play Ek Ruka Hua Faisla in Bombay (now Mumbai). Film director Shyam Benegal who saw Kapoor perform sent him a letter of appreciation and signed him for his 1983 film, Mandi.

Personal life (Annu Kapoor Biography)

Kapoor has promoted India’s positive aspects in his programs. Kapoor’s sister Seema Kapoor was married to actor Om Puri. His elder brother, Ranjit, is a director and screenwriter, and his sister, Seema, is a producer and actor. Kapoor’s younger brother, Nikhil, is a writer and lyricist.

Kapoor has four children (three sons— Kavan, Maahir, and Evaan—and a daughter, Aradhita) from two marriages. His wife, Anupama, is American by birth. Annu remarried his first wife, Anupama (Pami), in 2008.

He changed his name from Anil Kapoor to Annu Kapoor to avoid confusion with the hero of the film Anil Kapoor, while acting in Tezaab.

Career (Annu Kapoor Biography)

Acting

He made his screen debut with an uncredited role in Amitabh Bachchan starrer Kaala Patthar (1979). After then, he appeared in many films such as Aadharshila (1982), Betaab (1983), Mandi (1983), and Khandar (1984). He got his first breakthrough with Utsav (1984), in which he portrayed the role of Masseur. For which he got his first nomination in the Filmfare Awards in the category of Best Performance in a Comic Role. Subsequently, he starred in many critically and commercially acclaimed films like Mr. India (1987), Tezaab (1988), Ram Lakhan (1990),  Ghayal (1990), Hum (1991), Darr (1993), Sardar (1993), Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Aitraaz (2004) and 7 Khoon Maaf (2011).

Kapoor began his career as a stage actor in 1979 and was noticed in 1984’s Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, directed by Basu Chatterjee and written by his elder brother Ranjeet. Annu made his film debut in Mandi, (directed by Shyam Benegal) in 1983. His career has spanned over 30 years, including Bollywood cinema, television serials, and game shows. Kapoor is best remembered for hosting the singing show Close-Up Antakshari, produced by Zee TV. His performance as an obsessive-compulsive sperm-bank physician in 2012’s Vicky Donor met with critical and popular acclaim. He worked in the horror TV serial Kile ka Rahasya (1989) as a cop who was fond of singing.

Kapoor has also appeared in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2. His second big breakthrough came with Vicky Donor (2012), who portrayed the role of Dr. Baldev Chadha. His performance was lauded by critics and audiences, for which he won a Filmfare Award, an IIFA Award, a National Film Award, and a Screen Award all in the category of Best Supporting Actor. After Vicky Donor, he starred in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (2013), Shaukeen (2014), Saat Uchakkey (2016), Jolly LLB 2 (2017), Missing (2018), Dream Girl (2019), Khuda Haafiz (2020) and Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari (2020).

Television

In 2007, Antakshari – The National Challenge was relaunched on STAR One. The previous year, its “final” episode was telecast; the program’s initial run was from 1993 to 2006. His range of roles varies from portrayal as Saint Kabir in DD National TV serial of the same name, as Mahatma Gandhi in Sardar and Veer Savarkar in Kaala Pani, to police inspector in 7 Khoon Maaf, a petty thief in Utsav to comedic villain in Hum.

The Golden Era – With Annu Kapoor on the Mastiii channel is a nostalgic TV show about Indian cinema, adorned with classical era Hindi film songs and commentary by Annu Kapoor on unheard tales of Bollywood Cinema‘s Legends.

Despite films, Annu has been very active in television shows. He is also known for judging and hosting the 90’s musical show Antakshari (1993-2005) and Golden Era with Annu Kapoor (2011). He has also appeared in some television series like Param Vir Chakra (1988), Ajnabi (1994), Kabeer (1995), Gubbare (1999), etc.

As a radio presenter

Currently, he does a radio program on 92.7 Big FM called “Suhaana Safar with Annu Kapoor on 92.7 Big FM”. It’s a daily show that features nationally on the radio networks covering all Hindi-speaking radio stations across the country. He recreates the magic of the Golden era with unforgettable melodies of that era and untold stories of the stars and films of the Hindi Cinema. The show comes with the tagline “Filmy Duniya Ki Kahi Ankahi Kahaniya”.

Director

Kapoor has directed several plays. He also directed a feature film Abhay (The Fearless), starring Nana Patekar, Moon Sen, and Benjamin Gilani) for the Children’s Film Society, India. The film won the 1995 National Film Award for Best Children’s Film.

Producer

Kapoor produced a musical talent contest for children (Aao Jhoomein Gaayen for SAB TV) and a Bengali-language musical talent hunt show, Gaan Gaao Taaka Naao on Rupashi Bangla TV in Kolkata. He also produced a musical in Mathura entitled Ek Sunhari Shyam.

Filmography

Directed venture

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Role	Notes
TBA	Hum Do Hamare Baarah	TBA
	Sab Moh Maya Hai
2023	Dream Girl 2
2021	Chehre	Anand Mahant
2020	Darbaan	Narrator	Released on Zee5
	Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari	Shantaram Kaka
	Khuda Haafiz	Usman Hamid Ali Murad
2019	Dream Girl	Jagjeet Singh
	Khandaani Shafakhana	Baby’s uncle
	The Fakir of Venice	Sattar
2018	Mangal Ho	Gyanii Jail Singh
	Missing	Inspector Buddhu
	Ba Baa Black Sheep	Brian Morris/Santa Claus
2017	Jolly LLB 2	Adv. Pramod Mathur
2016	Saat Uchakkey
2015	Dharam Sankat Mein	Adv. Nawab Mehmood Shah
	Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho	Sualaal Gandass
2014	Shaukeen
	Saat Uchakkey
	Kisi Ne Titli Ko Dekha Hai Kya
	Jai Ho Democracy
	Muavza	Bechu Bhai
	Badlapur Boys
2013	Yamla Pagla Deewana 2	Sir Yograj Khanna
2012	Vicky Donor	Dr. Baldev Chaddha
2012	Gali Gali Chor Hai	Constable Parasuram Khuswa
2011	7 Khoon Maaf	Inspector Keemat Lal
2004	Aitraaz	Barrister Ram Chauthrani
2004	Raincoat	Landlord
2004	Kuch To Gadbad Hai	Justice Balwant Khanna
2002	Om Jai Jagadish	KK
2002	Hum Kisise Kum Nahin	Munnu Mobile
2000	Tune Mera Dil Le Liyaa	K.K.’s assistant
1999	Arjun Pandit	Imran
1999	Kachche Dhaage
1997	Udaan	Anand Lagpade
1996	Vijeta	Constable Chamanlal
1996	Kala Pani	Vinayak Damodar Savarkar	Malayalam Film
1995	Anokha Andaaz
1995	Jawab
1994	Sardar	Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
1994	Drohkaal	Surinder
1993	Darr	Vikram “Vicky” Oberoi
1993	Gardish	Manishbhai Harishbhai
1993	Waqt Hamara Hai	Cafeteria supervisor
1993	Dil Ki Baazi	Bihari Daulatram’s cook
1993	Shreemaan Aashique	Masterji (song “Is Se Jyada Dukh Na Koi”)
1992	Muskurahat	Jaggan
1992	Paayal	Pardesi
1992	Jeena Marna Tere Sang
1991	Ranbhoomi	Stationmaster
1991	Vishnu-Devaa	Petty thief
1991	Hum	Havaldar Arjun Singh
1991	Jamai Raja	Paltu/I.C. Mishra
1991	Yodha	Umeed Singh
1990	Ghayal	Drunkard
1990	Aawaz De Kahan Hai	Hariya (AKA Harry)
1990	Pyasi Nigahen	Susheel
1990	Veeru Dada	Ibrahim Gharewali
1990	Zakhmi Zameen	Madhav
1989	ChaalBaaz	Daya Tribhuvan’s servant
1989	Elaan-E-Jung
1989	Dost	Forest officer
1989	Aakhri Gulam
1989	Main Azaad Hoon	Munna
1989	Ram Lakhan	Shiv Charan Mathur
1988	The Perfect Murder	Tiny man
1988	Gunahon Ka Faisla	Dinu
1988	Khoon Bahaa Ganga Mein
1988	Tezaab	Abbas Ali Guldasta
1987	Diljalaa	Fakir Baba
1987	Mr. India	Mr. Gaitonde (editor)
1987	Susman	Lakshmaya
1986	Chameli Ki Shaadi	Chhadami Lal
1986	Ek Ruka Hua Faisla	Juror #9
1985	Arjun	Babu Ram
1985	Damul	Sanjeevan
1984	Utsav	Masseur
1984	Khandhar	Anil
1984	Mashaal	Nagesh
1983	Betaab	Chelaram
1983	Mandi

Television

Radio (RJ)

Theatre

Parsi theatre

• Laila Majnu
• Harischandra
• Shirin-Farhad
• Bhakta Prahlad
• Shree Krishna Avtar
• Dahi Wali
• Qatl-e-Tamizan

Modern plays

• Antim Yatra: Directed by Barry John
• Three Sisters: Written by Anton Chekhov, directed by E. Alkazi
• The Great God Brown by Eugene O’Neill
• The Zoo Story by Edward Albee
• Ek Ruka Hua Faisla

Awards

Footnotes