Babita (or Bhambhani) (born 20 April 1948 age 63) is an Indian actress. She is now better known as the mother of actresses Kareena Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor and the wife of Randhir Kapoor. Babita was born to actor Hari Shivdasani into a Sindhi family. Shivdasani organized a screen test for her with veteran producer G.P. Sippy. He liked her screen test and gave her the opportunity to star in his film.In her short career she appeared in 78 films including: Dus Lakh (1966), Raaz (1967), Farz (1967), Aulad (1968), Haseena Maan Jayegi (1969), Kab Kyon Aur Kahan (1970) and many more. She starred with her future husband Randhir Kapoor in the hit film Kal Aaj Aur Kal.
She married Randhir Kapoor, six years younger than her, on 6 November 1971. After their marriage, Babita had to leave the film industry, as part of the Kapoor tradition which forbids women from acting in films. The marriage produced 2 children: Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor.
After the birth of their daughters, their relationship was under strain and finally after a few years they separated. Babita walked out taking her daughters with her. She would eventually break the tradition for which she was forced to leave the industry. Her two daughters went on to become huge stars of their generation.
After 20 years of separation, Babita re-united with husband Randhir Kapoor in 2007 and moved in with him from her old household. Babita is half-Christian.
In March 2005, she became a grandmother when elder daughter, Karisma gave birth to a baby girl. She now lives in Mumbai with Kareena Kapoor.
Filmography
- Dus Lakh(1966)
- Raaz (1967) ... Asha
- Farz (1967) ... Sunita
- Kismat (1968)
- Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968) ... Archana 'Archie'
- Aulad (1968) ... Bharti
- Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai (1969) ... Asha
- Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati (1969) ... Deepali Lakhanpal
- Doli (1969) ... Asha
- Anmol Moti (1969)
- Anjaana (1969) ... Ratna
- Kab Kyon Aur Kahan (1970)
- Pehchan (1970)
- Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) ... Monica
- Bikhare Moti (1971)
- Banphool (1971)
- Jeet (1972) ... Kohili
- Ek Hasina Do Diwane (1972)
- sone ke hath - (1973 )
Trivia
- Babita was offered the author-backed role of a widow (eventually played by Hema Malini) in Ramesh Sippy's Andaaz, but her father thought it was contrary to her glamour girl image and prevailed upon Babita to turn it down.
- She worked in at least one film with all the top stars of the day, including Shammi Kapoor in Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai, Rajendra Kumar in Anjaana, Manoj Kumar in Pehchaan and Dharmendra in Kab, Kyon Aur Kahan.
- Around the jubilee week, the censor board scissored off a portion of the song Hum to tere ashiq hain. After a lot of public hue and cry, the song was reinstated which gave the film a lease of an additional 25 weeks.
- During the shooting of Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai, a disbelieving Shammi Kapoor was appalled that an assistant dance director had to give Babita cues about the song's beat before she could move her dainty feet. Shammi accepted the onus of teaching Babita to count the beats in her head. But Babita was too caught up in holding her head straight under the weight of her huge bouffant to follow his instructions for long.
- Babita could not swim either. S D Narang's Anmol Moti was a film publicised as India's first underwater film. Since Babita could not swim, she would stand on a chair, draped in a fisherwoman's sari et al. and allow her swimming instructress to push her into a water-filled tank that lay submerged in a swimming pool. A desperate Babita would flap her hands like an octopus and zoom to the surface when she got breathless.
Says her daughter Kareena "She now does a lot of charity work with charitable institutions like the Mount Mary Old Age Home in Bandra. She is a very giving woman. I should know. She sacrificed her own career and joys to bring up my sister and me."
Not too many people know Babita is half-Christian. Reveals Kareena, "Her mother was a Christian and father a Sindhi. So we are as fond of the church as we're of the temple. Christmas is a big event for us. That's why I needed to rush home at this time from Philadelphia to be home for Christmas before taking off for my holiday."
After Babita separated from her husband Randhir Kapoor, it is said that she moved in with the then villain Ranjeet. But, it is still debated whether or not her daughters accompanied her.
