Did you know that Rajesh Khanna had offered Sohaila Kapur a film? Here's why she couldn't do it | Exclusive

Veteran actress Sohaila Kapur, the sister of filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and niece of Dev Anand, opens her heart on why she curved her path independently away from mainstream Bollywood

Sohaila Kapur, actress

In the 80's era, she could have been ruling the film industry as one of the leading heroines of her time, considering she is a talented actress, a prominent name in the theatre scene, and on top of that, she had a strong family background in the film industry, being the niece of Dev Anand and sister of filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

She is Sohaila Kapur, and in conversation with OTTplay, the veteran actress opened up on why, instead of exploring the advantage she had, she set her journey as an artist differently.

Sohaila shared, "Yes, I was coming from a film family, but you see, back in the days, Kapoor, Anand, and all those Punjabi families that ruled the Hindi film industry did not allow their female members to join the film industry. So when I came to Mumbai, I was told not to join films. I did theatre because that was a culture we had even in Delhi, but I never acted in films."

Eventually, the actress made her debut in Govind Nihalani's Rukmavati Ki Haveli in 1991.

Sharing the story of how, obeying her parents' decision to not do any more films, the actress had to let go of a film offer that starred the yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna, Sohaila recalled, "After my debut film won the National Award, I started getting offers for the film, but I did not do any of them. I remember being offered a film that went on to become a superhit, in which Rajesh Khanna was featured along with two heroines. They wanted two girls, one with a dusky complexion and another with a fair complexion. I do not want to take the name of the film, but when it was offered to me, the gentleman very politely tried to convince me to do an audition."

"He used to live in our building compound, and at that time my mother was visiting me and my siblings here in Mumbai. The gentleman invited my mother and my brother to his place for dinner, where he showed them his album of work that he had done in the past, etc. But they were so forbidden (to the idea of me doing his film) that he could not get himself to ask them the question, and my siblings told me, rather scolding me, that if I get into this movie business, you will be punished! That was the end."

However, many years later, in 2016, the actress did her comeback film with Phantom as an older woman.

Asked what was the undertone behind such a forbidden attitude for her parents to join the film for a girl, Sohaila opened her heart and said, "Basically, the concept of casting couch was something that scared my parents, which was very prevalent back then; I mean it is prevalent now too, but these days, girls are smart to handle a situation, but I was an innocent young girl who used to act in theatre and write books, plays, etc. only for the love of the art form."

Now, in her late 50s, the actress is working on multiple web series and films that include the Sushmita Sen-starrer series Aarya, The Family Man, Special OPS, and Bhaukaal, among others.

Searching the internet, one can easily see that Sohaila was one of the most beautiful women in her younger days, so the question naturally arises if she has any regrets about not going against her family to pursue an acting career. Given that she had it all to rule the industry, the actress had a practical approach to the whole situation.

"I know, wo tasveer mein bhi dekhti hoon aur sochti hoon lekin zindagi ab beet gayi hai, there is no point in regarting what I did not have. Maybe they had a point if I couldn't have a nice family life because, back in the day, many girls were exploited. Look, I am still acting, whether it is on stage or on screen. So I am content," Sohaila signed off.

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