ACTOR · BORN 1958
Shakti Kapoor
- Born
- 3 September 1958
- Known for
- Maharaja (2024), Gunda (1998), Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994)
10 archived facts 2 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Shakti Kapoor (born 3 September 1958) is an actor best known for Maharaja, Gunda and Andaz Apna Apna.
10 Interesting Facts About Shakti Kapoor
Interesting Facts (5)
- #001
Shakti Kapoor appeared in a highly controversial scene in Mere Agosh Mein, shown performing oral sex on a topless actress, and India's censor board held the film back for months.
- #002
Shakti Kapoor owes his longevity and legendary status to his readiness to change. He had been a pure villain and nothing more, and must have realised that wouldn't last him long, with dozens of newcomers flooding into the industry. So he turned comedian and grabbed the opportunity South Indian producers offered him. The rest, as they say, is history.
- #003
At FTII, Shakti Kapoor pursued actress Daljeet Kaur, as did Satish Shah, and the rivalry ended in a bloody fight between the two.
- #004
Shakti Kapoor modelled for Suryvanshi and Gwalior suits and Panama cigarettes to make ends meet, taking any work that paid.
- #005
Shakti Kapoor tried his hand as a leading man in Madine Ki Galiyan (1981), Zakhmee Insaan and Begunaah Qaidi (1982), but none of them worked.
Life & Family (5)
- #006
Director Arjun Hingorani came to the institute to pick new faces for his film Khel Khilari Ka, chose three young men, Phunsok Ladhakhi, Dhruv and Shakti Kapoor, and brought them to Mumbai.
- #007
In Mumbai, Shakti first lived as a paying guest, and later Vinod Khanna let him live in his house rent-free for five years; Shakti knew Anil Verma, brother-in-law of Vinod Khanna's brother Pramod Khanna.
- #008
Shakti Kapoor grew up in Karol Bagh, Delhi, where his father sold fabric and ran a tailor's shop and his mother was a housewife. After university his father wanted him in the family business, but Shakti wanted something of his own and trained for six months to open a travel agency. When his father went back on a promise to give him part of the fabric shop for it, Shakti was deeply hurt and enrolled at FTII (the Film and Television Institute of India) in Pune for a two-year acting diploma. He had no interest in acting, but his university friends, who moved in Delhi's theatre circles, filled in his application along with theirs. To his shock FTII called him: all his friends were rejected and he was the one selected. He signed his first film in 1975 while still at the institute.
- #009
For the first five years of his marriage, Shakti Kapoor didn't get on with his father-in-law, who accused him of arranging Padmini's secret wedding to Tutu Sharma.
- #010
Before Sunil Dutt named him "Shakti," he was going to be "Karan Kapoor," a name Dutt had picked, until he realised it would cause confusion in the industry if Shashi Kapoor's son Karan became an actor.
Related pages
- Mithun Chakraborty — Shakti Kapoor comes up in the facts on that page
- Raj Babbar — Shakti Kapoor comes up in the facts on that page
- Govinda — Shakti Kapoor comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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