Kal Aaj aur Kal

PATH-MAKER. PATH-FINDER. PATH-BREAKER. BABITA KAPOOR IS ALL OF THESE, WRITES FARHANA FAROOK

- FARHANA FAROOK

In a career of about five years, she featured in around 19 films, most of them being hits. No pretence of histrionics nor conforming to the teary stereotype of her predecessors and peers, Babita was plain glamour. Amidst voluptuous heroines, she cut a slim silhouette. Hugging churidar kurtas, happy hoops and go-go glasses became her logo. Bellsleeves, jumpers, polka prints, ribbons, bows, pastel lip-colour… her teen experiments influenced campus fashion. “I was a flower pot, who was paid in lakhs,” Babita once admitted with candour. That’s why she’s a path-maker… When her marriage with Randhir Kapoor hit foggy weather, she bravely piloted out of it with her daughters. Divorce was never an option for her. Randhir and she may have stopped living together but never stopped caring for each other. With a five-decade old relationship behind them, they continue being friends. Babita sanely chose the middle path. That’s why she’s a path-finder. A Kapoor daughter could be the pride of a home, not of the marquee. Babita squashed the supposed patriarchy and emboldened her daughters to dare and dream. Superstars Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan would not have become the bestsellers they are without this supermom, who wielded tremendous sway over their choices. That’s why she’s a path-breaker…

HIT MISS

Babita was born on 20 April 1947 in Bombay to actor Hari Shivdasani (of Bharat Ki Beti fame) and British mother, Barbara Shivdasani. Her father belonged to a Sindhi family, which had migrated from Pakistan after the Partition. The late actress Sadhana was her first cousin.