Star kids have always been the talk of the town. Recently, the word ‘Nepotism’ sparked a lot of debate in B-town, after Kangana Ranaut made a controversial statement on the talk show, Koffee With Karan.
Aditya Raj Kapoor’s story which is full of struggles and failures, is going to thrash all your conventions about nepotism in Bollywood. While you may believe that many star kids have risen in the industry because of their last names, here’s a self-made man who never took the support of his forefather’s name.
In a popular magazine, Humans of Bombay, Aditya Raj Kapoor shared his story on how he struggled to fit in Bollywood and how he realized that his calling was somewhere else.
Here’s what he wrote:
“Being Shammi Kapoor’s son, I entered the film industry when I was just 16 years old. I was assisting on films and within a few short years, I knew the industry inside out…I even acted in a couple of films, but I felt that my calling was somewhere else. I also became increasingly spiritual at the time, so I took the difficult decision of leaving the RK banner and making something off myself…from scratch. I didn’t know anything about running a business, but I first began selling Kolhapuri chappals and later exporting them. I then worked in warehousing and when I had saved enough money, I started my own business, rented warehouses and trucks. On days I didn’t have money to hire labourers, so I would load the trucks myself and people would pass snide remarks like— ‘look Shammi Kapoor’s son can’t even afford labourers’ — but I wanted to create a name for myself and thankfully, life unfolded with a lot of success.
Finally, I decided to retire from my 9 to 9 work like andbecomeafull time biker and a full time writer and it all started with a simple desire to explore my country first, before the rest of the world. Through Scout My Trip, I covered 8000 kms across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal, Nepal and Bhutan and found so much humility within my people that I felt the need to reach out more. I then started biking for a cause through Rang De, where I travelled to Yavatmal and other villages to raise money for women entrepreneurs specifically.
What touched me the most was how humble, warm and welcoming they all were — they had so little but not once did they hesitate to invite me to eat with them and share their supplies. 1 lady in particular called Pramila struck a chord in my heart — she was all alone and living in a small tin shed hut in the village. I later found out that before receiving a loan to start breeding animals, her house consisted of saris that she tied together…that is how dire the situation is for such a large part of our country but she only got out of it because of the loan she received...such a small amount changed her life completely.
At 60, I’m now looking forward to ‘quest’ where I’ll be travelling 50,000 kms across our globe, in the hope that I can meet more people, spread awareness and maybe through the way discover more about myself. It’s going to be 10 months long and I’m going to be riding solo but as long as there’s fuel in my tank and humility in my soul…I’ll be okay. At 60, I feel as excited as a 16 year old taking on a new journey — with a hundred possibilities and so much to still discover.”
Aditya Raj Kapoor made his way, away from the limelight and followed his dream. He’s 60 and his journey in pursuit of his dreams is still on. He has planned to travel 50,000 across the globe to find more about himself. Truly, Aditya Raj Kapoor’s story seems to be coming straight out of a Bollywood film. But it’s not a film, it’s his life's story.
Amidst a lot of hullabaloo about ‘Nepotism’, Aditya Raj Kapoor’s story is a breath of fresh air. He has chosen the road less travelled and made a bold decision to follow his dreams.
