Meet the women battling for Sunjay Kapur’s Rs300 billion empire: Karisma Kapoor, Rani Kapur, and Priya Sachdev Kapur

Dubai: If you thought the hit glossy web series laced with deception and dollops of drama Big Little Lies or Dynasty was messy, step aside. Real life has scripted a saga that could put both to shame. At the centre of it is the sudden death of industrialist Sunjay Kapur, the 53-year-old chairman of Sona Comstar, whose empire is worth a staggering Rs300 billion.

What began as a shock – he reportedly died of a heart attack triggered by a bee sting on June 12 – has spiralled into an inheritance drama starring three women bound by one man and an unimaginable fortune.

In the weeks since, rumours about coercion, disputed wills and frozen bank accounts have transformed a high-profile, ultra-glam Delhi business family into the backdrop of India’s most riveting power play.

This isn’t just a fight over money. It’s a generational battle over who controls one of the country’s most influential automotive empires.

And it has all the ingredients: the formidable matriarch, the glamorous widow, and the Bollywood star ex-wife – each with something to gain, and even more to lose.

Rani Kapur, Sunjay’s mother, has emerged as the loudest voice demanding answers. She has accused those around her son of coercion, claiming her accounts were frozen and that she was forced to sign documents while reeling from loss.

Calling the official version of his death “suspicious,” she is invoking her late husband Surinder Kapur’s will and her majority shareholding in Sona Group to insist that she remains the rightful guardian of the company her family built. For Rani, this fight is not just about money – it’s about legacy, loyalty and justice.

On the other side is Priya Sachdev Kapur, Sunjay’s widow, who has stepped confidently into the boardroom. Backed by the RK Family Trust, where Sunjay was sole beneficiary, she was appointed to Sona Comstar’s board at the company’s AGM on July 25 despite fierce objections from Rani. With that single vote, Priya went from being a fashion-world fixture to a formidable corporate player. Her position may be unassailable on paper, but she is now the lightning rod for family resentment.

And then there’s Karisma Kapoor, the Bollywood star who divorced Sunjay in 2016 after a turbulent marriage. Reports suggest she has made an informal move for a slice of the estate, despite receiving a hefty Rs700 million alimony settlement nearly a decade ago and a trust fund set up for their children. Whether her interest is driven by the future of their children or by entitlement is unclear – she has made no public statement – but her name alone ensures the battle now has a very public audience.

What’s striking is how this empire has become defined by its women.

In death, Sunjay Kapur has left behind not just wealth but a legacy that now depends on three very different visions: a grieving mother who feels cheated, a widow who refuses to be sidelined, and an ex-wife navigating the fine line between privacy and power.

This saga is about far more than money. It’s about what happens when the pillars of a family business – trust, succession, and shared history – are shaken.

In India’s billionaire dynasties, the women often become the ultimate gatekeepers. And as the Kapur empire hangs in the balance, the real story may just be how these three women decide to wield that power.