Kapoor family to sell iconic RK Studio, Kareena nostalgic
Mumbai, Aug 26 : Bollywood's iconic Kapoor family has collectively decided to sell the sprawling landmark RK Studio. Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan says she has fond memories of the studio, built by her late legendary grandfather Raj Kapoor.
Kareena, who has been under the weather for a few days, told IANS here: "I don't know how far what is actually happening. In fact, I have been quite under the weather and I haven't even met my father in the last four or five days... But of course, we have all grown up walking around in those corridors."
"I think it's probably something that the family has decided, so it's upto my fathers, his brothers and up to them... If that's what they have decided, so be it," added the actress on the sidelines of the Lakme Fashion Week, where she was the showstopper for the finale show.
The Kapoor family has taken the tough decision of selling the two acre RK Studio 70 years after it was established as it was not economically viable to rebuild it after it was gutted down in a fire last year.
Rishi Kapoor, in an interview to Mumbai Mirror on behalf of the family, said they were initially juggling with the idea of renovating the place with state-of-the-art technology, but the investment in rebuilding the studio would just not have yielded sufficient revenue to keep it going. He called it a "level headed decision".
In September last year, a major fire broke out on the sets of a dance reality show, leaving a section of the studio gutted.
R.K. Studio, the headquarters of the film production company R.K. Films, was founded and named after the Great Showman, Raj Kapoor, in 1948.
Its inaugural banner film "Aag" that year crashed at the box office, but the next year proved to be a good omen when its production "Barsaat" (1949), starring Raj Kapoor-Nargis was a superhit.
In fact, the company's logo was designed to reflect the poster of a scene from "Barsaat" and after that, the studio never looked back.
It had a string of successful black-and-white releases like "Awaara" (1951), "Boot Polish" (1954), "Shri 420" (1955), "Jaagte Raho" (1956).
Later, the studio was the venue for several other big ticket films like "Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hain" (1960), "Mera Naam Joker" (1970), "Bobby" (1973), the debut film for Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (1978), "Prem Rog" (1982), "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" (1985), which was the founder-actor's last film before his death in June 1988.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Excise policy: SC questions ED over delay in probe, asks for case files before Kejriwal's arrest
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the "delay" in its probe into the excise policy-linked money laundering case involving Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and asked the agency to produce case files before the arrest of the AAP leader.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also asked the ED to produce case files before and after the arrest of Delhi's former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is also an accused in the case.
The bench is hearing arguments on Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by the ED in the case.
It questioned the ED on the time taken to probe the case and noted that the agency has taken two years to unearth something
The bench also asked why relevant direct questions were not put to witnesses and accused in the case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, said initially Kejriwal was not the focus of the investigation in the case and his role became clear at later stage.
He said Kejriwal had stayed in a seven-star hotel during the 2022 Goa Assembly polls and part of the bills were allegedly paid by the Delhi government's general administration department.
The bench was given a note by Raju in which he contradicted the submission of Kejriwal that the statements of approvers were suppressed by the probe agency.
The arguments in the matter are underway.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
The top court had issued a notice to the ED on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal's plea against his arrest.
On April 9, the Delhi High Court had upheld Kejriwal's arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.
The case relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
