Sohaila Kapur is an Indian actress, journalist, theatre director, and playwright. She predominantly works in the Hindi film and television industries. She has been a presenter for Lok Sabha TV.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Sohaila Kapur was born in New Delhi. She did her schooling at Modern High School (now Modern School), New Delhi. She pursued BA in Political Science at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She also pursued a master’s degree at the same university. Later, she did a diploma course in journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Eye Colour: Black
Family
She belongs to a Punjabi Hindu family.
Parents & Siblings
Her father, Kulbhushan Kapur, was a doctor. He served as the personal physician to Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the former President of India. Her mother, Sheel Kanta Kapur, was a journalist. Her elder brother, Shekhar Kapur, is a filmmaker. She has two elder sisters named Aruna Kapur and Neelu Kapur.
Sohaila Kapur (centre) with her siblings
Husband & Children
Sohaila’s first marriage to Anirudh Limaye was ended in divorce. She later married Anil Charnalia, a Chartered Accountant based in Ontario. Anil Charnalia, suffered a severe heart attack and passed away during a flight on 23 October 1999. He was in the washroom when he suffered the attack. After the incident, a big lawsuit was filed against the airlines, claiming negligence. She has a step-daughter and a step-son named Jayant Charnalia from her second husband.
Other Relatives
She is the niece of the popular actors and filmmakers Dev Anand, Chetan Anand, and Vijay Anand. Her mother, Sheel Kanta Kapur, was the sister of Chetan, Dev, and Vijay Anand. Popular actor, Parikshit Sahni, is her brother-in-law. He is married to her elder sister Aruna Kapur.
Dev Anand with his sister Sheel Kanta Kapur
Career
Playwright
Sohaila wrote the play ‘Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan’ in 2002. It was a musical play which was performed at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. She has written play ‘The Great Indian Wedding’ for her brother Shekhar Kapur, who is a filmmaker. Some of the plays written by Sohaila Kapur include ‘A Club of Her Own,’ ‘A Christmas Parable,’ ‘The Monkey Man,’ ‘Mahim Junction,’ and ‘Kuch Life Jaisa.’
Theatre Director
She gained recognition for directing the play ‘Rumi: Unveil the Sun,’ which received immense appreciation from critics as well as audience. The play received nominations for the ‘Best Plays Produced in the Country’ and ‘Best Play Director’ at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in 2008 at New Delhi.
Poster of the play ‘Rumi: Unveil the Sun’
In 2018, she directed the play ‘Albeli Naar’ which is a Hindi adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’ The play was performed by Three Arts Club at its Theatre Festival 2018 at Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi.
Actor
Film
Hindi
Sohaila Kapur made her Bollywood debut as an actor in 1991 with the film ‘Rukmavati Ki Haveli’ in which she played the role of Damayanti.
Sohaila Kapur (left) in a still from the film ‘Rukmavati Ki Haveli’
In 2015, she essayed the role of Ameena Bai in the Saif Ali Khan starrer film ‘Phantom.’ Her performance as Sushila Devi in the film ‘Daas Dev’ (2018) received immense appreciation from the audience.
Poster of the film ‘Daas Dev’
She appeared as House Owner in the short film ‘Circus’ in 2018. In 2021, she played the role of Mrs. Chaudhary in the film ‘Silence… Can You Hear It?’ which premiered on the OTT platform ZEE5. She has acted in various films including ‘Dev Bhoomi’ (2016), ‘Satellite Shankar’ (2019), ‘Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare’ (2020), ‘Bawri Chhori’ (2021), and ‘Tadap’ (2021).
English
She played the role of Aunty Kamla in the Canadian film ‘Cooking with Stella,’ which was released at the Toronto International Film Festival on 16 September 2009.
Sohaila Kapur in a still from the film ‘Cooking with Stella’
Television
Sohaila Kapur made her television debut in 1989 with the historical drama TV series ‘Bharat Ek Khoj,’ which was broadcast on the channel DD National. She played various role in the TV series.
Sohaila Kapur in a still from the TV series ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’
Theatre
In 2023, she acted in the teleplay ‘Where did I leave my Purdah?’ written by Mahesh Dattani, which was based on the life of the veteran theatre actress and founder of Modern Theatre Nazia. The play was presented by Zee Theatre.
Poster of the teleplay ‘Where did I leave my Purdah?’
Web Series
In 2019, she appeared as School Principal in the web series ‘The Family Man,’ starring Manoj Bajpayee. The web series was streamed on the OTT platform Amazon Prime Video.
Sohaila Kapur in a still from the web series ‘The Family Man’
She played the role of Rajeshwari Singh Rathore in all three seasons of the web series ‘Aarya’ (2020-2024), which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar. She has also appeared in the web series ‘Special OPS’ (2020) and ‘Bhaukaal’ (2020).
Journalist & Anchor
Sohaila Kapur worked as a journalist for ‘The Times of India’ for almost a decade. Later, she worked as a freelance writer and has wrote over hundred articles for several magazines and newspapers. She has worked as an anchor and journalist for Lok Sabha TV.
Sohaila Kapur as anchor on Lok Sabha TV
She has also worked as an anchor for National Geographic Channel (NGC) documentary titled ‘Indian Witch Hunt.’ She has been a script writer, anchor, and coordinator for several shows for Doordarshan in India and Canadian channel CFMT (now Omni) in Toronto.
Author
In 1983, she wrote a book about Indian esoteric rituals titled “Witchcraft in Western India.”
Cover of the book ‘Witchcraft in Western India’
Awards
In 2022, she was presented with Achala Samman by Kailash Kher.
Note: She has several awards and accolades to her name.
Facts/Trivia
- In an interview, she revealed that she had a crush on her maternal uncle Dev Anand when she was a teenager.
- She wanted to become an actress since she was a child. She started performing in stage plays while studying in high school.
- She is one of the founding members of ‘Ruchika Theatre Group’ which was started in 1972. Later, the theatre group was headed by Feisal Alkazi.
- She has taught journalism at Times Media School, New Delhi.
- In 2019, she walked the ramp for Prashant Verma at the Lotus Make Up India Fashion Week, held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
Sohaila Kapur at the Lotus Make Up India Fashion Week 2019
- Sohaila was part of the Expert Committee for the first Ibsen Theatre Festival in Delhi and was part of the Expert Committee for Production Grants under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture for two years.
- She has been a judge for National Television Awards for 3 years.
- She follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Sohaila Kapur while eating non-veg
