MAANANIYA PAPAAJI,

I had only one opurtunity to see you , it was when you had come to my college as the chief guest of the opening ceremony of the Punjabi Kala Sangam and the impression you made on my young mind with your handsome looks , your walk and the way you talked in Punjabi and Hindi still lives in my mind and also my heart …..

I have seen some of your best films like Mughal E Azam, Rustam Sohrab, Sikandar , Kal Aaj Aur Kal and Teen Bahuraaniyan and many other films and you have always left me baffled with the range of your performances . I also didn’t have the opportunity to see you perform in the plays staged by your own Prithvi Theatre and some of the play of IPTA  if I am not mistaken and I believe that you must have been mesmerising in all of them . If there is one regret in my life, it is not being able to see you in all your glory in the plays you worked in . I was not even lucky to bid you farewell when you had left this world , but thanks to the good lord that your majesty still live with all of us your fans forever .

Dear Papaaji, you may know that all your sons Raj , Shammi and Shashi have all joined you wherever you are and so have your talented grandsons like Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor . There are some of your great grandchildren active in the same world that you and your sons ruled once, but I don’t even see a glimmer of hope in anyone of them …..

You may be wondering why I am writing his open letter to you ( they don’t write letters any more, they email or sms with no heart or mind in what they say ) . I am sitting in the canteen of Prithvi Theatre which your son Shashi and daughter- in – law built in your honour of you and to keep the tradition you set for Indian theatre alive. I don’t know whether I should thank you more or my dear friend Shashi Kapoor and his wife for building this marvel of a place and a landmark in the city of dreams ( and nightmares) , but the fact is that Prithvi Theatre is doing for theatre what no one and no government or institution has been able to do in the last sixty years. Actors , writers and other creative people used to beg for places to display their talent, but now they have a shelter where they can rehearse , rest and show off their talent in all its splendour …….

Do you know that Prithvi Theatre has given lakhs of talented young men and women a place from where they can aim for the sky ? Do you know that Prithvi Theatre has been a home for artists from all over the country and has rarely despointed anyone who is genuinely worthy of being a part of your Prithvi Theatre ? A cup of tea in your time must have cost one anna ( six paise) but today a glass of ordinary tea costs 25 rupees , the snacks served in your time must have cost a rupee or two, but today one has to pay through one’s nose to even get a bun maska which was a delicacy in your time . And there are delicious snacks served by young men who I feel have no bright future, but one has to be a spoilt brat from a rich family to afford them or s wallet filled with currency to be lavished on their girlfriends for whom your Prithvi Theatre is more of a meeting place than to sit and discuss an important play like Ismat Apa Ke Naam directed by Naseeruddin Shah, an actor and director you would have been pleased to meet and know

A lot has been changed between your Prithvi Theatre and Shashi’s Prithvi Theatre. Changed is the law of life , but what value is change if the very values you stood for are lost or are been lost with time ?

ABHI AAPKA AUR SHASHI KA PRITHVI THEATRE SHASHI KA BETA KUNAL KAPOOR KE HAATH HAI . HO SAKE TOH KUNAAL KO APNA AASHIRWAAD DE DO KI WOH PRITHVI THEATRE KO AAGE AUR AAGE LEKAR CHALE

AAPKA AUR KAPOOR KHANDAAN KA SHUBHCHINTAK