(Exclusive) Jatin Sial, The Grandson Of Prithviraj Kapoor And Popular TV Actor You Didn't Know About

Prithviraj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor. Karisma Kapoor. Kareena Kapoor. Ranbir Kapoor. Jatin Sial. The last one doesn’t really ring a bell, although if you see his face, it will immediately remind you of the various 90s TV shows you would have seen him in. This is why Jatin officially changed his name to Jatin Prithviraj Kapoor two years ago.

Jatin is the son of Urmila Sial, the daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor and the only sister of Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. His cousins include the late actor Rishi Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Aditya Raj Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, and Randhir Kapoor. In a long phone call with The Free Press Journal, he spoke about starting off as an assistant director with his uncle Shashi in Ajooba (1991), assisting and acting with his cousin Rishi in his directorial debut Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999), the popular TV shows he was part of like Saans, Dard, Sanjeevani, Rishtey, and Parampara, and why he thought of renaming himself. Excerpts:

Q. You changed your name from Jatin Sial to Jatin Prithviraj Kapoor two years ago. Why?

A. I grew up in this family with the Kapoors and I was surrounded not by superstars, but mega stars. But to me, they were my uncles and relatives. When I came into the film industry, I started realising what big personalities they are. I then started hesitating to tell people that I am related to them — that I’m their relative. Later on, when I was doing television shows, people who I had been working with for the last two years would come to know that I was related to the Kapoors. They even started going to the extent of saying, “Aap ye baat chupatei kyun ho?” So this happened to such an extent that I decided people should now know who I am. Instead of introducing myself as Jatin Sial, grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor, I should name myself after my nana, which my mother would have also liked. That’s when I officially changed my name from Jatin Sial to Jatin Prithviraj Kapoor.

Q. Did you want to be a hero when you started out?

A. I joined the film industry not because of the glamour; I’ve been part of this world since my birth. I’ve seen the best parties and people, but that didn’t attract me. I wanted to join the industry and the best way to do that was to go through the technical side to understand what it is. That’s when I joined Shashi ji when he was starting Ajooba, beginning as an unpaid assistant and then growing and moving onto acting. Even when I started doing television shows, I looked at the character and played them in a larger-than-life way. Whether it was a positive or negative role, I wasn’t concerned about that aspect. Positive and negative should be looked at only in batteries.

Q. You were assistant director with your uncle Shashi Kapoor in Ajooba (1991), where Amitabh Bachchan was the superhero. Did the failure of the film impact him or you in certain ways?

A. Ajooba was very dear to me. Shashi ji was brilliant; the way he would explain the storyboard was fantastic. It was an Indo-Soviet project, and we shot in Bombay and the USSR. I have never thought of Ajooba as a failure, to be honest. Anyway, I wasn’t involved in the commercial side of the film. But as a film, I think it was damn good. Even Shashi ji took whatever financial loss might have happened in his stride; he would always say, “Beta, kaam bolta hai.” He was a smiling, large-hearted man.

Q. Tell us about Aa Ab Laut Chalein.

A. Aa Ab Laut Chalein was one of the most interesting parts of my life. Again, I approached Chintuji (Rishi Kapoor) because I had become an actor. Even though he was my cousin and I was friendly with him, I took an appointment via his secretary. He called me up one day and told me, “You're doing the role, but I’m going to America, and you are not there as an actor in this schedule. But will you assist me in it? I'll take you to America with me, it’s a 45-day schedule.” I told him I would love to come. He said, “You should ask your mother, so that she doesn’t misunderstand anything.” It’s the protocol which Chintu Saab always followed. I came very close to him while making the film. Also, even in Ajooba, he was the hero.

Q. You had a busy run in the 2000s in popular TV serials.

A. During the 45-day schedule, I got a call from Neena Gupta's office for my role in Saans (1998-99). It was a very successful show and I got a lot of work after it. I just kept doing a lot of TV shows and never went into films. Whichever company I worked for, they always repeated me in their other serials too or extended my roles.

Q. You had a busy run in the 2000s in popular TV serials. Did it become difficult getting roles in the years after that?

A. In television at that time, I would say they became a little casual about the actors. It would be more about how much the actor would be charging, compared to the creativity. So I took a backseat then, waiting for something better to come.

Q. Has the OTT boom given you more projects?

A. It all started off with Mismatched, for which I was called for an audition. Then came Potluck and the others. The good part is that there are a lot of character roles here; it isn’t about who’s playing the hero.

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