Peshawar Pays Tribute to Shashi Kapoor Outside ‘Kapoor Haveli’

Why Peshawar will never forget Shashi Kapoor.

Residents of Peshawar pay tribute to Shashi Kapoor.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

On Wednesday, residents of the city of Peshawar in Pakistan, paid tribute to actor Shashi Kapoor, who breathed his last on 4 December. A crowd of locals gathered and lit candles outside the actor’s ancestral home, Kapoor Haveli, which is located in the Kissa Khwani Bazaar area of the old city.

The Kapoor Haveli was built by Shashi Kapoor’s grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor in 1918 and it is here that Raj Kapoor was born. Shashi Kapoor’s father Prithviraj Kapoor is said to have moved to Mumbai in 1928 and the entire Kapoor family reportedly left the Kapoor Haveli and Peshawar during the Partition in 1947.

“Peshawar will never forget you” says the banner outside Kapoor Haveli.

According to Wikipedia, the multi-storey Kapoor Haveli has about 40 rooms and “its front is adorned with exquisite floral motifs and 'jharokas' or overhanging balconies”. However the entire structure is crumbling from neglect and has also been affected by frequent earthquakes in the region. A part of the haveli has been demolished to prevent it from collapsing and endangering lives.

Youngsters lighting candles outside the Kapoor Haveli in memory of Shashi Kapoor.

Shashi Kapoor along with Rishi and Randhir Kapoor went to Peshawar and visited the Kapoor Haveli in 1990s. In 2016, Rishi Kapoor had tweeted an old picture of Randhir and himself standing outside the Kapoor Haveli where he says they were “warmly greeted”.

This undated video by a Pakistani channel shows the condition that the Kapoor Haveli continues to be in: