Kunal Kapoor

Kunal Kapoor is a former Indian film actor of British and Indian descent. He is the eldest son of Shashi Kapoor and the late Jennifer Kendal.
Family background
Kunal was born in the famous Kapoor family, particularly known for having produced several generations of popular actors and actresses. His paternal grandfather was Prithviraj Kapoor. his paternal uncles are Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. His younger brother Karan Kapoor and sister Sanjana Kapoor have also acted in some films but like him they were not very successful. His 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 his father and his aunt, the actress Felicity Kendal.

He was married to Sheena Sippy, daughter of film director Ramesh Sippy, they have two children, Zahan Prithviraj Kapoor & Shaira Laura Kapoor.

Career
Actor
Kunal mostly acted in his father's films. He made his debut with the 1972 English-language film Siddhartha in which he played the son of the title character played by his father. He then appeared in Shyam Benegal's critically acclaimed 1978 film Junoon which also featured his father, mother and both his siblings. In 1981 he appeared in his first mainstream Bollywood film titled Ahista Ahista opposite Padmini Kolhapure. The film was a box office hit but it failed to launch his career. In 1982 he once again featured alongside his father in the much acclaimed Vijeta. After that he appeared in the controversial art film Utsav (1984), and Trikaal (1985).

Director and producer
In 1987, Kunal set up his own company, Adfilm-Valas, and started producing and directing television commercials. One of this memorable creations was the "Dream Lover" series for Bombay Dyeing, starring his brother, Karan. Since then, he has directed more than 800 television commercials and is considered one of the better adfilm directors in India.[citation needed] He is particularly known for his large scale formats, action, glamour and humour. Of late, most of the successful car commercials in India have been produced and directed by Kunal[citation needed].

Adfilm-Valas has also line-produced for many international feature films and adfilms shot in India. Notably, the credit sequence of the film City of Joy, and the French films Le Cactus (2005) and Fire in Paradise.

Kunal Kapoor, along with his father, Shashi Kapoor are the Trustees of the Shri Prithviraj Kapoor Memorial Trust & Research Foundation, which owns and runs Prithvi Theatre in Juhu, Mumbai ( set up and built by Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer Kapoor ). The Prithvi Theatre, now managed by Kunal’s younger sister Sanjna Kapoor, aims to promote professional Indian theatre, develop new theatre talent and audience, and be a centre of inspiration for Theatre and the performing arts.

Filmography (as an actor)
Siddharta (1972)
Junoon (1978)
Ahista Ahista (1981)
Vijeta (1982)
Utsav (1984)
Trikaal (1985)