Annu Kapoor

Some Lesser Known Facts About Annu Kapoor

• Does Annu Kapoor smoke?: No (Earlier, he used to smoke but he gave up smoking in 2007 owing to health related issues) ^[8]India Forums

• Does Annu Kapoor drink alcohol?: Yes
  

• Annu Kapoor is an Indian actor, television presenter, film director, and a film producer who is well known for hosting the popular music reality show, “Antakshari” (1993-2006).

• His father originally came from Peshawar, Pakistan and motivated his wife (Annu’s mother) to learn Urdu, Persian, and Arabic, and after some time, she became a teacher of Urdu.

• Annu wanted to become a surgeon or an IAS officer since childhood. However, his family could not afford to support his studies after class 10.

• Annu left his studies after class 10, and started doing odd jobs like selling tea, dummy currency notes, fire-crackers, and lottery tickets.

• After a while, his father insisted him to join his Parsi theatre company. In his father’s theatre company, Annu worked in many professional plays, like “Laila Majnu,” “Harischandra,” “Shirin-Farhad,” “Bhakta Prahlad,” “Dahi Wali,” and “Qatl-e-Tamizan.” He even went on to direct a few of them.

• Thereafter, he joined the National School of Drama (NSD) on the insistence of his elder brother, Ranjit Kapoor. Ranjit was also a student of NSD at that time.

  

• During his NSD days, Annu took part in plays like “Antim Yatra,” “Three Sisters,” “The Great God Brown,” and “The Zoo Story.”

• In 1981, Annu acted in the play “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla” in Mumbai in which he played the role of a 70-year-old man. Impressed by his performance, Shyam Benegal, a renowned movie director, then signed him for his film, “Mandi.”

• In 1982, he moved to Mumbai with just Rs. 419.25 with him.

  

• He then went on to feature in films like “Betaab,” “Mashaal,” “Utsav,” “Arjun,” “Chameli Ki Shaadi,” “Susman,” and “Tezaab.”

• Subsequently, he appeared in TV shows like “Darpan,” “Phatichar,” “Param Vir Chakra,” “Wheel Smart Shrimati,” “Ek Se Badkar Ek,” and “Golden Era With Annu Kapoor.”

  

• Annu became a household name after hosting the popular reality TV show “Antakshari” (1993-2006).

• He has also featured in many other Hindi films like  “Mr. India,” “The Perfect Murder,” “Ram Lakhan,” “Dil Ki Baazi,” “Waqt Hamara Hai,” “Darr,” “Om Jai Jagadish,” and “7 Khoon Maaf.”

  

• In 2012, he played the role of ‘Dr. Baldev Chaddha,’ a fertility expert in the Bollywood film “Vicky Donor.” He received around seven awards for this film.

  

• In addition to acting, he has also directed the film “Abhay (The Fearless)” (1994). Annu received the V. Shantaram Award for “Best Director” for the film. The film even won a National Film Award for “Best Children’s Film.”

• He used to run a show- “Suhaana Safar with Annu Kapoor” on BIG 92.7 F.M. During the show, he talked about vintage Bollywood movies and its music.

  

• On 13 December 2008, he got angry on the set of “Ek Se Badhkar Ek – Chota Packet Bada Dhamaka,” and fought with Kunal Kohli because Kunal was against his decision regarding extra marks given to Tanmay (a contestant on the show).

• Kapoor is 13 years older than his first wife, Anupama. ^[9]India Times

• His sister, Seema Kapoor, was once married to Om Puri. However, their marriage lasted only for a few months.

• Annu has even produced a musical contest for children “Aao Jhoomein Gaayen” which aired on SAB TV.

• Kapoor disclosed during an interview that he had never cast his vote in any election. On being asked the reason for it, he said,
  

  Because I don’t want to elect between don**yes and mu**sI only want to elect the best. This country elects corrupt people.”

  He even said that he was a free man of a free country and that it was his right to vote or not to vote for anyone. ^[10]India Today

• Kapoor is very close to the film director Satish Kaushik and the actor Rumi Jaffery.

  

• While talking about his struggling days, Kapoor revealed that his mother’s salary as an Urdu teacher was only Rs. 40 a month. ^[11]Times of India

• Annu’s grandfather, Dr Kripa Ram Kapoor, was a doctor in the British Army.

• Kapoor’s great-grandfather, Lala Ganga Ram Kapoor, was a revolutionary and was executed by the British government. His maternal grandfather served as the ‘Pradhan’ of the state of Tikamgarh.‘

• While talking about his father’s theatre group, Annu said that his father had founded his theatre company in 1947 by investing Rs. 25,000. He told the interviewer that people had started calling them ‘Nautankiwalas.’ His grandmother was very upset with his son’s work, and she chucked him out of the house.

• Annu has a love for reading religious texts like the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Quran. He has read them for as many as 14 times.

• Annu revealed during an interview that he believed in ‘euthanasia’ (the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering). ^[12]Times of India

• Kapoor was born as Anil Kapoor. Later, he changed it to Annu from Anil to avoid confusing it with the Bollywood actor, Anil Kapoor. This happened in 1984 during the shooting of the film, “Mashaal.” At that time, Anil Kapoor was an emerging actor, and both of them (Annu and Anil) were cast for the film “Mashaal.” Annu was to receive Rs. 4000 for his role in the film and Anil Kapoor was cast at the amount of Rs. 10,000. However, their cheques got exchanged with each other due to the same names. On realising that there was another actor with the same name, Kapoor changed his name to Annu.

• In September 2022, he became a victim of an online robbery when he was duped by an online fraudster of Rs 4.36 lakh. According to Annu Kapoor, a person disguised as a banker asked for his bank details to update his KYC following which he shared his bank details along with the OTP, and within minutes, Rs. 4.36 lakh was withdrawn from his account. Reportedly, the Oshiwara police managed to recover Rs 3.08 lakh from the two banks where the fraudsters did the transactions. ^[13]The Times of India