Sohaila Kapur

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sohaila Kapur

• Sohaila Kapur was born into a Punjabi Hindu family.

• Her father was the personal physician to the former President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

• She had a passion for acting since childhood. While studying in school, she began participating in theatre plays and also founded the ‘Ruchika Theatre Group’ along with Feisal Alkazi and others in 1972.

• After completing her diploma in journalism in Delhi, she moved to Mumbai, where she worked as a journalist for the newspaper ‘The Times of India’ for almost ten years.

• She later started working as a freelance writer and has penned more than hundred articles for several magazines and newspapers.

• She has also served as a journalism educator at Times Media School, located in New Delhi.

• In 1983, she authored a book called “Witchcraft in Western India.”

  

• In 2002, she wrote a musical play titled ‘Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan,’ which was later performed at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland.

• She has also penned the play ‘The Great Indian Wedding’ for her filmmaker brother, Shekhar Kapur.

• She has written several plays including ‘A Club of Her Own,’ ‘A Christmas Parable,’ ‘The Monkey Man,’ ‘Mahim Junction,’ and ‘Kuch Life Jaisa.’

  

• Her directorial work on the play ‘Rumi: Unveil the Sun’ was highly praised by both critics and audiences. The play was nominated for ‘Best Plays Produced in the Country’ and ‘Best Play Director’ at the 2008 Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in New Delhi.

• After making her Bollywood debut with the film ‘Rukmavati Ki Haveli’ (1989), she appeared in the film ‘Phantom’ (2015) in which she essayed the role of Ameena Bai.

• In 2018, she played the role Sushila Devi in the film ‘Daas Dev’ and received huge praise for her performance.

  

• In the same year, she acted in the short film ‘Circus’ in which she essayed the role of a house owner.

• She was featured in the film ‘Silence… Can You Hear It?’ (2015), which was streamed on ZEE5. She played the role of Mrs. Chaudhary in the film.

• Sohaila Kapur has appeared in several Bollywood films such as ‘Dev Bhoomi’ (2016), ‘Satellite Shankar’ (2019), ‘Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare’ (2020), ‘Bawri Chhori’ (2021), and ‘Tadap’ (2021).

• Apart from Hindi films, she also appeared in a English-language film named ‘Cooking with Stella.’ The film was released at the Toronto International Film Festival on 16 September 2009.

  

• She worked as a director for the play ‘Albeli Naar,’ a Hindi adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew,’ which was performed by Three Arts Club at its Theatre Festival 2018 at Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi.

• She played the role of School Principal in the web series ‘The Family Man’ (2019), which premiered on Amazon Prime Video.

  

• She walked the ramp at the Lotus Make Up India Fashion Week 2019, hosted at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. She showcased the designs of Prashant Verma in the event.

• In 2020, she essayed the role of Rajeshwari Singh Rathore in season 1 of the web series ‘Aarya,’ which streamed on the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar. She also appeared in season 2 and 3 of the web series.

  

• She has also been featured in the Disney+ Hotstar web series ‘Special OPS’ (2020) and ‘Bhaukaal’ (2020).

• In 2023, she performed as an actor in the Mahesh Dattani’s teleplay ‘Where did I leave my Purdah?’ presented by Zee Theatre. The play drew inspiration from the life story of Nazia, the renowned theater actress and founder of Modern Theatre.

  

• Sohaila Kapur has been an anchor and journalist for Lok Sabha TV for a long time.

• She has also anchored the documentary ‘Indian Witch Hunt,’ which was broadcast on National Geographic Channel (NGC).

  

• She has worked as a script writer, anchor, and coordinator for various TV shows for Doordarshan in India and Canadian channel CFMT (now Omni) in Toronto.

• She has been a member of the Expert Committee for the first Ibsen Theatre Festival in Delhi and was also a member of the Expert Committee for Production Grants under the Ministry of Culture for two years.

• She served as a judge for the National Television Awards for a period of three years.