Sohaila Kapoor is an Indian actress, journalist, theater director and playwright. She has mainly worked in the Hindi film and television industry. She worked as a host on Lok Sabha TV.
Wiki/Biography
Sohaila Kapoor was born in New Delhi. She was educated at Modern High School (Modern Modern School), New Delhi. She pursued her BA in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She also studied for a master’s degree at the same university. Later, she completed a diploma course in journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye color: black
family
She belongs to a Punjabi Hindu family.
Parents and siblings
Her father Kulbhushan Kapur is a doctor. He served as the personal physician to former Indian President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Her mother Sheel Kanta Kapur is a journalist. Her brother Shekhar Kapur is a film producer. She has two sisters named Aruna Kapoor and Niru Kapoor.
Sohaila Kapoor (centre) and her siblings
husband and children
Sohaila’s first marriage to Anirudh Limaye ended in divorce. She later married Anil Charnalia, a chartered accountant in Ontario. Anil Charnalia died of a massive heart attack during a flight on October 23, 1999. He was in the bathroom when he suffered a heart attack. Following the incident, a major lawsuit was filed against the airline for negligence. She has a stepdaughter and a stepson named Jayant Charnalia with her second husband.
other relatives
She is the niece of famous actors and film producers Dev Anand, Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand. Her mother Sheel Kanta Kapur is the sister of Chetan, Dev and Vijay Anand. Popular actor Parikshit Sahni is her brother-in-law. He is married to her sister Aruna Kapoor.
Dev Anand and his sister Sheel Kanta Kapur
Profession
playwright
Sohaila wrote the drama Yeh Hai Bombay Merijaan in 2002. This is a musical performed at the Traverse Theater in Edinburgh, Scotland. She wrote the play “The Great Indian Wedding” for her brother, the filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. Some of the plays written by Sohaila Kapoor include A Club of Her Own, A Christmas Fable, Monkey Man, Mahim Junction and Kuh Life Jaisa.
theater director
She gained recognition for directing the play Rumi: Unveiling the Sun, which was highly appreciated by critics and audiences. The play was nominated for “Best Domestic Theater Production” and “Best Theater Director” at the Mahindra Excellence in Theater Awards 2008 in New Delhi.
Poster of the drama “Rumi: Unveiling the Sun”
In 2018, she directed the play Albeli Naar, a Hindi adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew. The play was performed by Three Arts Club at the Theater Festival 2018 at Shri Ram Center, New Delhi.
actor
Movie
Hindi
Sohaila Kapur made her debut as an actress in Bollywood in 1991, playing the role of Damayanti in the film “Rukmavati Ki Haveli”.
Sohaila Kapoor (left) in a still from the movie “Rukmavati Ki Haveli”
In 2015, she played the role of Ameena Bai in the movie “Phantom” starring Saif Ali Khan. Her performance as Sushila Devi in the film Daas Dev (2018) was greatly appreciated by the audience.
Movie “Daas Dev” poster
In 2018, she played a homeowner in the short film “The Circus.” In 2021, she starred in the movie “Silence… Can You Hear?” “Mrs. Choudhury”. Premiered on OTT platform ZEE5. She has acted in several films including “Dev Bhoomi” (2016), “Satellite Shankar” (2019), “Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare” (2020), “Bawri Chhori” (2021) and “Tadap ” (2021).
English
She played Aunt Kamla in the Canadian film Cooking with Stella, which was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2009.
Sohaila Kapoor in a still from the movie Cooking with Stella
television
Sohaila Kapur made her television debut in 1989 with the historical drama television series “Bharat Ek Khoj”, which was aired on DD National channel. She has played various roles in TV series.
Stills of Sohaila Kapur in the TV series “Bharat Ek Khoj”
theater
In 2023, he starred in the TV series “Where Did My Purdah Go?” “The play was created by Mahesh Dattani and is adapted from the life of veteran theater actor and founder of Modern Theater Nazia. The play is presented by Zee Theatre.
TV series “Where did my purdah go?” “poster
web series
In 2019, she played the role of a principal in the web series “The Family Man” starring Manoj Bajpayee. The web series is streaming on the OTT platform Amazon Prime Video.
Stills of Sohaila Kapur in 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).
Reporter and anchor
Sohaila Kapoor has been a journalist at The Times of India for nearly a decade. Later, she became a freelance writer and wrote hundreds of articles for various magazines and newspapers. She worked as an anchor and reporter for Lok Sabha TV.
Sohila Kapur anchors Lok Sabha TV
She also serves as the host of the National Geographic Channel (NGC) documentary “The Witch Hunt in India.” She has worked as a writer, anchor and coordinator for several shows on Doordarshan in India and Canadian channel CFMT (now Omni) in Toronto.
author
In 1983, she wrote a book about Indian esoteric rituals called Witchcraft in Western India.
Cover of the book “Witchcraft in the West Indies”
Awards
In 2022, Kailash Kher gifted Achala Samman to her.
Note: She has received several awards and honors.
Facts/Trivia
- In an interview, she revealed that she had a crush on her uncle Dev Anand as a teenager.
- She has wanted to be an actress since she was a child. She began performing in stage plays while in high school.
- She is one of the founding members of “Ruchika Theater Company” established in 1972. Later, the troupe was led by Feisal Alkazi.
- She has taught journalism at Times College of Communication, New Delhi.
- In 2019, she walked the ramp for Prashant Verma at the Lotus Make Up India Fashion Week held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
Sohaila Kapur at Lotus Make Up India Fashion Week 2019
- Sohaila was a member of the expert committee for the first Ibsen Theater Festival in Delhi and also a member of the expert committee for production grants sponsored by the Ministry of Culture for a period of two years.
- She served as a judge for the National Television Awards for 3 years.
- She follows a non-vegetarian diet.
When Sohaila Kapoor eats non-veg
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education