Shobha Kapoor Height, Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

 

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shobha Kapoor

• Shobha Kapoor is an Indian producer and entrepreneur. Shobha is the wife of former Indian actor Jeetendra, and she is known for producing Bollywood films, television shows, and web series.
  

  A childhood picture of Ekta Kapoor (left) and Tusshar Kapoor (right) with their parents, Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor

• Reportedly, Jeetendra saw Shobha for the first time on Marine Drive in Mumbai when she was just fourteen. After dating for approximately more than a decade, the couple decided to get married on 13 April 1973, but it was called off as Jeetendra’s father fell ill. ^[8]The Times of India

• Before getting married, Shobha Kapoor and Jeetendra enjoyed a courtship period of almost 13 years. As per sources, while dating Shobha, Jeetendra’s name was often linked up with a few Bollywood actresses. His name was also linked to former Indian actress, Hema Malini.
  

  Jeetendra Kapoor with Hema Malini

  As per Hema’s authorised biography “Hema Malini: Beyond The Dream Girl,” Jeetendra had developed feelings for her, but Hema, on the other hand, had a soft corner for Dharmendra. Hema’s parents were not in favour of her daughter’s decision of dating an already married man. Hema’s parents convinced her to marry Jeetendra, but apart from friendship, she had never developed any kind of romantic feelings for him. For the sake of their family’s happiness, Hema and Jeetendra decided to get married, and they reached Chennai for a secret wedding. Somehow, Dharmendra got the news of her wedding, and he, along with Shobha, immediately flew to Chennai to stop the wedding. When they reached Hema’s house in Chennai, Shobha was completely in a state of shock after Jeetendra announced her wedding to Hema. On the other hand, Dharmendra, who was in a drunk state, convinced Hema to not marry Jeetendra, and eventually, they got married on 21 August 1979. ^[9]Hindustan Times

• In an interview, on being asked about the challenges she faced as an air hostess, Shobha replied,
  

  There were people who made passes at me when I was an air-hostess, but that is no reason to shy away from the job. Plus it is a personal choice you make about staying in your limits. There are girls who get involved by choice and they have to face repercussions.” ^[10]DNA

• In 1994, during the phase when Jeetendra’s films were not doing well at the box office, Shobha Kapoor decided to launch her own production house, and she started producing content for one of her friends, who was associated with TV Asia in London. Later, Shobha found out that her friend sold the channel to Zee TV, which made her sell all the self-produced content to other television channels. In an interview, Shobha talked about the obstacles that came in her way while she launched her own production house and said,
  

  Jeetuji got an offer to do a television show and we asked a friend of ours, who was running TV Asia in London, for his advice. He dissuaded him from acting and instead asked him to produce television content for him. Within two months, we started our production house in 1994. Ekta was 19 then. Our friend soon sold TV Asia to Zee TV and did not need the content anymore. But, I had produced a lot of content and put all my savings into it and had to fend for myself. After struggling for a year, we sold our shows to different channels and, by 1996, we were ruling television.

• On 11 November 1994, Shobha registered her company ‘Balaji Telefilms Private Limited’ in Mumbai, and on 29 February 2000, it was incorporated as a public limited company. ^[11]Money Control In the initial years, she produced only television shows, but in 2001, Shobha founded Balaji Motion Pictures to produce and distribute Bollywood films.

• Shobha serves as a director of 12 companies in India, which are associated with various industries like Real Estate, Manufacturing (chemicals and chemical products), Business Services, Construction, Personal and Social Services, and Recreational, Cultural, and Sporting Activities.

• In an interview, talking about the source from which she inhabited the skills of entrepreneurship, Shobha said
  

  I am a Sindhi and my nana was a fantastic businessman from Karachi. My mother was a working woman. So my working capacity comes from her and the business acumen from him. I have always been a business person in my mind. ^[12]The Times of India

• On 19 April 2000, Shobha changed her company’s name from “Balaji Telefilms Private Limited” to “Balaji Telefilms Ltd,” after listing it on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. ^[13]Money Control

• In an interview, Shobha talked about how she started her company from a garage and said,
  

  All this happened from the garage of my house (a basement, which was also a car park) from where I ran my office for six years. We then took a loan against our house and made Balaji house and moved here in 2000. ^[14]The Times of India

• Shobha Kapoor had produced some popular Bollywood films like Kyaa Kool Hai Hum (2005), Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), The Dirty Picture (2011), Ek Villain — There’s one in every love story (2014), and Udta Punjab (2016) under her banner Balaji Motion Pictures.

• In an interview, Shobha talked about the difficulties she faced due to her family’s declining financial situation and said,
  

  I was the bread-earner looking after my family and that made me happy. I went through a phase where I did not have the loads of money I was used to and also had to sell some jewellery to raise money, but, emotionally, it did not bother me.” ^[15]The Times of India

• Shobha Kapoor’s production house, Balaji Telefilms, in the early 2000s, produced some popular television shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kaahin Kisii Roz, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Kahiin to Hoga on Star Plus, Kkusum on Sony TV, and Kasamh Se on Zee TV.

• In 2021, a proposal was made by Ekta Kapoor to increase the annual total remuneration of Shobha Kapoor, the managing director of Balaji Telefilms. On 31 August 2021, the shareholders rejected the proposal during the annual general meeting, because as per the rules, any proposal can be only approved if 75 per cent of the members cast vote in favour of it. ^[16]The Free Press Journal

• In July 2021, Shobha Kapoor was invited to become an academy member by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was among the 395 members, chosen from across 50 countries, to join the ‘Class of 2021.’ ^[17]Cinema Express

• On 6 November 2021, Jeetendra, along with his daughter, Ekta Kapoor, was invited to one of the episodes of The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony TV. During the show, Jeetendra revealed an incident when he escaped death, and how his wife, Shobha Kapoor, saved him unknowingly. On 12 October 1976, on the occasion of Karva Chauth, Jeetendra had to catch a flight for Chennai, but the flight got delayed due to some technical issues. Instead of staying back at the airport, Jeetendra left for home to complete the pending rituals of Karva Chauth. He reached home to break his wife’s fast, but Shobha was not in favour of his decision to leave for Chennai on the same night. Jeetendra cancelled the plan, and he booked the flight for the next day. After a few minutes, he saw a giant fireball approaching the airport, and he later found out that the flight he was supposed to board had crashed. He lost one of his co-stars, Rani Chandra, a Malayalam actress, in the air crash. ^[18]Hindustan Times In an interview, he recalled how his wife saved him from the 1976 Indian Airlines flight crash and said,
  

  I was going to Madras to shoot a film. Shobha said that today is Karva Chauth. But I was adamant on leaving and made him understand that it was very important for me to go. The flight was at 7 pm. When I went to the airport, I came to know that the flight is late. I told that the flight will leave at 8 or 9 in the night, then check outside whether the moon is coming out or not. I reached back home. When I came back he didn’t let me go. Later it was found that that flight has crashed.

• On 10 February 2023, Ekta Kapoor took to Twitter to announce that she, along with Shobha Kapoor, had stepped down as the heads of ALTBalaji.
  

  Ekta Kapoor’s Instagram post about her decision to quit ALTBalaji as its head