The funeral for Krishna Raj Kapoor, the widow of the legendary Bollywood actor-filmmaker Raj Kapoor, took place on Monday. The 87-year-old died on Monday following a cardiac arrest, bringing an end to the second generation of the influential clan.
A gamut of film fraternity celebrities mourned her demise, and remembered her as the pillar of the Kapoor family, and as someone who personified grace, dignity and affection.
She was due to attend, on Tuesday, the inauguration of Raj Kapoor’s dream project — the planet’s biggest pillar-less dome in Pune on a property formerly owned by the late actor-filmmaker, which Krishna Raj sold to Vishwanath Karad.
Krishna was the sister of legendary actors — the late Prem Nath and Rajendra Nath.
She is known to have conducted herself with great dignity when Raj had an affair with popular Bollywood actress Nargis, but she put her foot down and moved out of the house when her husband began an affair with Vyjayanthimala, son Rishi Kapoor had shared in his book.
“He did all he could to woo her back, but my mother wouldn’t give in until he had ended that chapter of his life,” Rishi wrote.
In the industry, Krishna commanded a lot of respect, and that was visible as a string of celebrities turned up to pay their last respects.
Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Kajol, Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Alia Bhatt, Rani Mukerji, Ayan Mukerji and Anil Kapoor were among those who were present.
“If Raj Kapoor was an institution in filmmaking, Krishna ji was an institution in living life. A very sad loss to all of us,” Aamir tweeted.
Filmmaker Johar said she was “the embodiment of grace, of dignity, of elegance and of strength”.
“Krishna aunty will always be the ‘First Lady of the Film Fraternity’. The most generous, kind and gentle person I have ever known with the most terrific sense of humour,” he added.
