South superstar Chiranjeevi revealed that he always wanted his family to be known as the Kapoors of the South Indian industry. Chiranjeevi is busy promoting his upcoming film Acharya, co-starring his son Ram Charan. In a promotional interview with News 18, he said that there is a "Kapoor craze" in Hindi cinema and wished his family to be known as Kapoors of south cinema. Kapoor family is popularly known as the First Family of Bollywood as they have been in the industry for over 93 years. From Prithviraj Kapoor to Ranbir Kapoor, at least five generations of the family are in the industry.
"There is a Kapoor craze in Hindi cinema. In South Cinema, I also wished for our family to be like that. I'm so happy to see how these kids (Ram Charan, Allu Arjun and others) have grown up and made a name for themselves in cinema," News18 quoted Chiranjeevi saying.
For the uninitiated, the Konidela family is also one of the oldest in south cinema. Chiranjeevi is married to comic actor Allu Ramalingaiah's daughter Surekha. And he has two brothers, Nagendra Babu and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan, who are also in the industry. Their children Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, Varun Tej, Niharika and others are also working in the industry.
Chiranjeevi also elaborated on an incident where he once felt humiliated and insulted during an award ceremony in 1989. "Despite the fact that I had won the Nargis Dutt Award for a Best Feature film in National Integration for Rudraveena, there was little mention of the South in the award event. I felt humiliated," Chiranjeevi told News18.
He also spoke about his experience working with his son, Ram Charan. He said that such opportunities do not come along very often, and he is fortunate to witness his son's growth as an actor. "Such opportunities do not come along very often for actors. I am a fortunate father who has witnessed Charan's incredible growth as an actor."
Meanwhile, on the work front, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan and Pooja Hegde's Acharya is slated to hit the theatres on April 29.