He was also the patriarch of the Kapoor family of Hindi films, five generations of which family, beginning with him, have played active roles in Bollywood. Prithviraj was born on November 3, 1906 at Samundri  near the town of Lyallpur (now known as Faisalabad) in Punjab to a middle-class Pathan family belonging to the Khatri caste of Hindus. Prithviraj could speak Punjabi, Hindi, Hindko, and Pashto. His father, Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, was a sub-inspector of police. Prithviraj received his initial education at Lyallpur and at Lahore. His paternal grandfather, Dewan Keshavmal, was a powerful influence during his childhood. Baseshwarnath was posted at Peshawar, and so Prithviraj received his higher education at the Edward College, Peshawar, Pakistan and joined a one year program in Law to become a Lawyer. It was here that his talents on stage first received expression. Prithviraj's son Shammi recollects[8] that Prof. Jai Dayal, a member of the faculty, was instrumental in nurturing his talent. The Indian professor was in love with an English lady by name Nora Richard, who in turn was a theatre aficionado with a passion for Shakespeare and Ibsen. The couple found Prithviraj the perfect material for many roles in the plays they mounted. This was his grounding in the art of the theatre. Prithviraj did his B.A. from Edward college, Peshawar, a feat that few of his descendants were destined to match. He also studied law as a graduate student for one year, but his heart was in the theatre. In 1928, with the help of a loan from his aunt, Prithviraj moved to the city of Bombay (present-day Mumbai) which is the switch of the Hindi film industry.

The couple went on to have four children further. All three of their surviving sons, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, were to become famous actors and film-makers in their own right. They also had one daughter, Urmila.

After his retirement, Prithviraj settled in Bombay, in a cottage near Juhu beach. The property was later to be converted into a small, experimental theatre, the Prithvi Theatre. Both Prithviraj and Ramsarni suffered from cancer in their declining years and died within a fortnight of each other. Prithviraj died on May 29, 1972 and was followed by his wife of 48 years on June 14th the same year.

The year was 1931, and the memories of the loss of two young sons were stilI afresh in the minds of my parents. My mother was expecting once again, and both my parents wanted to take no chances. They were very cautious about my arrival on the scene and brushing aside the traditional practice of delivering at home, I was born on 21st October at Ajinkya Hospital on Charni Road. 

Incidentally, that also made me the first Kapoor offspring born on soil that is today independent India.

Chaiji was a woman of intense strength and full of energy. The entire household revolved around her and she played mother not just to us but to all the other family members and friends who were staying with us. She toured with Papaji and his drama company and shared the tough touring life with them.

Life with a touring company was a very hectic affair and it meant a lot of hardships. There used to be atleast 80 members travelling together like a huge family in a third class compartment with loads and loads of stage equipment. This meant loading and unloading all this equipment at all the halts for putting up performances and living in varied accomodations from time to time. Papaji's drama company toured various places and a typical tour schedule would comprise of halts at Surat, Baroda, Bharuch, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Porbunder, Jamnagar and many other places. At any given time, the Drama company would be touring on road for two to four months at a stretch and these hectic routines and irregular timings would take their toll on Chaiji's health at times.

Despite the hardships of the touring life, Chaiji always played the perfect mother to all the members of the touring company. She was always around taking care of everyone and making sure that everybody was looked after. We were a very large family on road, almost clannish and everyone looked up to her as a mother figure.

Chaiji was a woman of substance and she seemed to know what the future held in store for her and Papaji. They were both suffering from cancer. During the last days, Papaji was staying at the Prithvi Jhopda at Juhu while Chaiji continued to stay at Matunga. She met him for the last time when he was at the Tata Cancer Hospital. Papaji's end came on the 29th of May, 1972. Chaiji too was suffering from cancer at that time and she was at home when he passed away. We asked her if she would like to see him for the last time, but she refused. She did not want to see him in that lifeless state. She wanted her mind to be filled only with warmer memories of the brighter days they had spent together.

Papaji's body was taken to the Prithvi Jhopda and he was duly cremated. All the three of us, myself, Raj and Shashi wanted to take Papaji's ashes for immersion at Haridwar. Chaiji stopped us and said only Raj could go. Shashi and myself would have our chance later. She seemed to know what lay ahead. Chaiji passed away on the 14th of June, 1972, exactly 16 days from the demise of my father. Shashi and myself took her ashes to Haridwar along with my brother-in-law Charni.
 

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