Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna were one of the most unusually paired couples back in the day. The duo had worked precisely in one film together and had a massive age gap between them. Nonetheless, the duo enjoyed their marital bliss and was blessed with their daughters, Twinkle Khanna and Rinkie Khanna. While Rajesh and Dimple drifted apart after completing nine years of togetherness, nonetheless, she was there all the time beside him during his last days.
Dimple Kapadia was a hit actress of her times, remembered most popularly for her super successful debut with the film, Bobby. However, it is quite lesser-known to many that she was followed in her footsteps to the film industry by her sister, Simple Kapadia. Interestingly, while Simple could not grab similar stardom like her sister, she had once shared the screen space with her brother-in-law, Rajesh Khanna in her debut film, Anurodh.
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Unfortunately, the film could not win big at the box office due to the visible lack of chemistry between the lead pair, Rajesh and Simple, since they naturally avoided doing intimate scenes together. Speaking about the same, Simple Kapadia, once in an interview with India Today in 1977, had revealed her feeling of being uncomfortable during the shooting of the film, and mentioned how she could never replicate being her successful sister, Dimple. In her words:
“It is definitely not a 'Bobby' and can never even be compared to it. Just like I guess I can never be another Dimple. Actually, I'm quite uncomfortable working with him because when you know a person inside out it seems funny seeing him so different in front of a camera."
In the same interview, Simple Kapadia had opened up on her comparisons with her sister, Dimple and mentioned that unlike her, she did not intend to leave acting post marrying someone. She mentioned:
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“Give up working and do what? True, I don't profess to any artistic craving but there's no other profession in the world that's so rewarding. I want people to appreciate me and what can be better than having thousands and thousands of people appreciating you."
Despite making her debut opposite such an iconic star, Simple Kapadia’s film could not make it big at the box-office and thus, it made a heavy impact on her overall career graph as well. Nonetheless, Simple did end up having a great learning and inspirational experience working with the actor in Rajesh and shared what were her ambitions as an actress. In her words:
“Before I started actual shooting with him, I had thought it would be a great moral support to have somebody known to you. But then I found I was quite nervous, probably with the thought that I was acting opposite a far more experienced actor. Kaka was very helpful, but then I sensed he too wasn’t feeling comfortable coming and telling me how to do the scene if I made a mistake."
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In another of her interviews, Simple Kapadia spoke about how she wished to repeat the success of her sister, Dimple and establish herself as a phenomenal actress with an individual identity. She highlighted how she does not want to be identified as being related to her much-established sister, or her brother-in-law. Moreover, she said how she was not bothered if she would end up being successful at all, and said that she always had the option of settling down in marriage. In her words:
“I would love to be able to repeat the success of Dimple. But then it’s not now in my hands. All that I would like is to be known as a good actress, and not as Dimple’s sister or Rajesh Khanna’s sis-in-law. As I have already said, I wouldn’t be bothered beyond a point. I can always get married and settle down."
Simple Kapadia had settled down in marriage in the year 1992 with Rajinder Singh Shetty and the duo was blessed with their son, Karan Kapadia. Sadly, while their marriage was short-lived, their son, too got a very short time with his mother as she passed away in 2009 battling with cancer at the age of 51. Thus, after that, Karan was taken under the wing of Dimple as well as her daughter, Twinkle Khanna. Once in an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Karan Kapadia had opened up on being raised by two moms in his life and said:
“I lost my mom when I was 15 but I feel extremely lucky to have two moms. I can talk to my aunt-mom about my girlfriends, fights with my friends and work too."
What do you think about Simple Kapadia’s experience of working with Rajesh Khanna?
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