Shammi Kapoor's son directs a Hindi film

By Subhash K. Jha Oct 13, 2007, 7:45 GMT

Mumbai, Oct 13 (IANS) After trying his hand in business for 20 years, Shammi Kapoor's son Aditya Raj Kapoor, who is fondly called Mickey, has finally taken the plunge in Bollywood. He is directing a Hindi film.

'I'm casting for the film right now. Actually, this is my fourth film. I've made three English-language films. Now I'm finally making a Hindi Bollywood film,' Mickey told IANS.

However, this is not his first film as a director.

'The first one I directed was 'Schamal', then 'Sambar Salsa' and finally 'Don't Stop Dreaming' (featuring Rishi Kapoor, Suneil Shetty). Times Music will release the music of 'Don't Stop Dreaming'. It has been released in England and will be released here shortly,' said Mickey.

In the 1970s, his father too directed two films, 'Manoranjan' and 'Bundalbaaz'. Unfortunately both were unsuccessful.

'He did it for a lark. He didn't need to,' said Mickey.

What took the 50-year-old so long to find his Bollywood bearings?

'I was doing management for 20 years. Before that I served as an assistant to Raj Kapoor. At an early age of 19 I chose to pursue business rather than movies.

'Three years ago I decided enough was enough. I took off my shirt and tie and bought myself a good pair of jeans and decided to make films. I wrote three scripts and all of them were accepted. Luckily for me, my family was with me both the times, when I chose to leave films and when I returned.'

Why did Mickey decide to quit the RK banner at 19?

'I needed to know more about the world at large, wanted to know more about business. Also, at that time a lot of people in my family were into films - Raj saab, my dad, Shashi, Randhir and Rishi - they were all up and running. I didn't want to be the sixth RK member on the screen.

'It was too much competition from home and too big a burden. So I opted out of acting. But now not too many Kapoors are active. And besides, I've gone into direction now rather than acting. That's about creating opinions through visuals. I'm comfortable with that.'

Asked what kind of Hindi film he'll make, he said: 'It's not a big film. It's an intimate character study. And by intimate I don't mean it will have sex in it. It'll be an intense single-hero film.'

Mickey has also set up a TV channel in Dubai.

'That was my turnaround. I'm really blessed to belong to one of the most illustrious families. And I want to make the best of it.'

Having Shammi Kapoor for a father has been a blessing for Mickey.

'It's always up to the individual how he treats the lineage and opportunities he gets. I'm in no hurry. I'll spend the next five years doing Hindi films. Then I'll do some more English films.'

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service