Eminent actor, producer, and director Randhir Kapoor turns 67 on February 14. On his birthday, Glamsham.Com looks back at the dramatic chapter in his early life — when he dared to defy the traditions of the illustrious Kapoor family to marry the woman he loved, actress Babita.
The eldest son of the legendary Raj Kapoor, Randhir was born into cinema royalty. He first appeared as a child artist in Shree 420 (1955) and later in Do Ustad, where he played the younger version of his father’s character. But his true debut as a leading man came with the 1971 film Kal Aaj Aur Kal, which was special for many reasons. Not only did it bring together three generations of the Kapoor family — Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, and Randhir Kapoor — but it also starred Babita, the woman who would soon become the first daughter-in-law of the Kapoor clan.
Randhir and Babita’s love story had begun years earlier, during their college days. The two were inseparable and determined to marry. However, their union faced a major obstacle — the Kapoor family’s long-standing disapproval of actresses as daughters-in-law. From the days of Prithviraj Kapoor, the family had a tradition that their sons would not marry women from the film industry.
Randhir, deeply in love, tried to find a way around this. When Kal Aaj Aur Kal went into production, he convinced his father to cast Babita opposite him, hoping her presence on set would endear her to the family. For a while, it seemed to work — until Randhir finally expressed his wish to marry her. Both Raj Kapoor and Prithviraj Kapoor were furious and flatly refused the match.
But Randhir Kapoor was not one to surrender easily. He stood his ground, declaring that he would either marry Babita or never marry at all — even threatening to take his own life if his wish was denied. Faced with his determination, the family relented, though not without conditions. Babita would have to give up her acting career after marriage.
In 1971, the couple tied the knot, fulfilling Randhir’s promise of love and defiance. True to her word, Babita stepped away from films after marriage. Together, they went on to become parents to Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, both of whom later carried forward the illustrious family legacy.
Randhir Kapoor’s rebellion, thus, was not one of defiance alone — it was a story of conviction and love that challenged the norms of one of India’s most powerful film dynasties. In choosing Babita, he didn’t just win his love; he quietly reshaped the Kapoor tradition for generations to come.
