Mumbai, Oct 29 — Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming epic ‘Ramayana’, recently recollected his fondest childhood memories of Diwali celebrations at the iconic R.K. Studio.
The actor recently appeared on the latest episode of the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan. He recalled his childhood Diwali traditions during a festive special episode of the show.
Talking about the same, Ranbir Kapoor shared, "Diwali ka matlab khushiyan hain... bachpan se jo Diwali hoti thi, pehle hum R.K. Studio jaate the, wahan ek Lakshmi puja karte the, phir hum meri dadi Shri Krishna Kapoor ko milne jaate the, woh hume mithai deti thi, mujhe paise deti thi jo bahut saare paise the (Diwali means happiness... Since childhood, our Diwali celebrations would begin with us going to R.K. Studios, where we would perform Lakshmi Puja. Then we would go to meet my grandmother, Shri Krishna Kapoor. She would give us sweets and give me money, a lot of money)”.
He further mentioned that after returning home, the family would perform Lakshmi Puja, while his father would step outside to light firecrackers.
He added, "Jaa ke ghar mein Lakshmi puja karke, papa bahar kuch pataake jalate the, aur phir hum sath mein khana kha ke so jaate the, and this was a perfect Diwali for us (After going home and performing Lakshmi Puja, Papa would go outside and light some firecrackers, and then we would eat together and go to sleep, and this was a perfect Diwali for us)”.
Describing those moments as his idea of a perfect Diwali, Ranbir said the simple family traditions had made the festival particularly memorable for him.
‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ airs on Sony Entertainment Television.
The studio was established by the legendary filmmaker Raj Kapoor in 1948 in Mumbai’s Chembur, and became a landmark of Hindi cinema, hosting the production of classics such as ‘Awaara’, ‘Shree 420’, ‘Bobby’ and ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’. On September 16, 2017, a major fire broke out on the sets of the television show ‘Super Dancer’.
The Kapoor family decided to sell it. In May 2019, Godrej Properties acquired the 2.2-acre site for an undisclosed amount.