Last Updated:December 30, 2025, 20:01 IST

Shashi Kapoor had just married British actor Jennifer Kendal, when the new bride walked into their bedroom, only to find two strangers calmly sipping coffee and chatting

It was at Kolkata’s Fairlawn Hotel where Shashi Kapoor first met Jennifer Kendal.

Stories from Hindi cinema’s most storied family have long captured the public imagination. Now, Kunal Kapoor, son of the late actor-producer Shashi Kapoor, has offered rare glimpses into the unconventional life inside the Kapoor household and the sweeping generosity of his grandfather, theatre legend Prithviraj Kapoor.

Speaking on a podcast hosted by actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt, Kunal recalled how the family home effectively transformed into a hostel during the tumultuous years of Partition. Doors were never locked, he said, and refugees streamed in and out freely. Many slept in corridors and on the terrace, turning the residence into an informal shelter at a time of enormous upheaval.

One of the most striking episodes he narrated centred on his parents’ wedding night. Shashi Kapoor had just married British actor Jennifer Kendal, when the new bride walked into their bedroom, only to find two strangers calmly sipping coffee and chatting. Startled, she asked who they were. For the Kapoor family, however, such casual intrusions were unremarkable; their home had always been open to guests, well-wishers and those with nowhere else to go.

Kunal also remembered Tara Bai, a cook who arrived at Prithviraj Kapoor’s home after losing her family during Partition. She offered her services, built her own tandoor, and soon began feeding not just the household but the entire neighbourhood. Kunal described her, half in awe and half in affection, as a pioneer of portable tandoors whose naan became the stuff of local legend.

The conversation also drifted to Shashi Kapoor’s enduring bond with Kolkata’s Fairlawn Hotel. It was there that he first met Jennifer Kendal, who was staying with her parents at the time. The couple continued to frequent the property over the years, eventually marrying in July 1958.

Kunal recounted with humour that he might well have been conceived there, adding that the hotel later reserved a suite especially for his father. During the filming of “36 Chowringhee Lane”, the entire crew stayed at Fairlawn, and the old wait staff, he said fondly, still refer to him as “Shashi Baba”.

Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal went on to have three children, namely, Kunal, Karan and Sanjana. Jennifer’s death from cancer in 1984 left Shashi deeply bereaved, but her legacy endures in the form of Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, the couple’s artistic dream project. Today, Kunal and Sanjana continue to manage the iconic cultural space, keeping alive a family tradition rooted in theatre, hospitality and an extraordinary openness to the world.