If there’s anything common besides cinema between Raj Kapoor, his sons Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, and Rajiv Kapoor, his grandchildren Ranbir Kapoor, Riddhima Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Jain, and Aadar Jain, it’s food. Armaan has tried to capture that part of his late grandfather’s storied legacy through the new Netflix India special, Dining with the Kapoors, directed by Smriti Mundhra, who previously helmed The Romantics, the 2023 three-part docuseries about the legacy of Yash Raj Films. In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, creator Armaan Jain and director Smriti Mundhra talk about the need for and challenges of pulling off Dining with the Kapoors and some dining secrets of the extended Kapoor family.Armaan, in Dining with the Kapoors, you reveal that you never met your late grandfather Raj Kapoor. But we see you try to restore his personal legacy through food. What was your impression of him growing up?Armaan: His legacy is vast. All our family members are trying to take a piece of that legacy forward. What I’ve seen growing up, because I didn’t meet him, is food, family, get-togethers, and gathering. That’s what we’re trying to do with Dining with the Kapoors. I am trying to take a small part of that food legacy ahead. I didn’t get the opportunity to meet Raj Kapoor. I was two years old when he passed away. What I know of him is from stories I have heard from my grandmother (late Krishna Kapoor) and mostly my mother, who spent a lot of time with him growing up. They were very close. They had a father-daughter relationship, but also a sibling relationship which was very open. It’s so beautiful when I hear these stories. Yes, there is a certain void when you haven’t met a grandparent. That gives you the opportunity to know more about him. There is an intrigue about how he was like with my mother or my cousins. But I am very privileged he had so much work in cinema to showcase as well. Thirty years ago, there was no access to social media, but there were films! When I was three or four years old, I wouldn’t eat food. So she would put the joker portions of Mera Naam Joker (1970). I would look at my grandfather and think he was a clown in a circus. I was too young. That was my early discovery. But as I grew up, I discovered he is in the whole film space, and I have followed his work after that. But it was lovely to grow up with stories about how he was a family man. Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker.Smriti, since you’ve also directed The Romantics, how much impact do you think the personal and professional legacies of these multi-generational film families have on Indian culture?Smriti: These families have essentially given us our memories, values, and history for generations. They have given us theatre, films, pop culture generation after generation. They were a part of my core memory, especially as an NRI, since I had less access to India than someone maybe like Armaan, who grew up there. So, films were my surrogate to that culture. What the Kapoor family particularly represents in their personal dynamics is what we all deal with in our families in this day and age. The culture of joint families and multigenerational homes is being lost. Times evolve and people have to evolve with it. The fact that this family is able to retain their connection to the roots through food and each other is so special. I hope that when people gather with their families on a Sunday, they watch Dining with the Kapoors as an appetizer and then enjoy a big meal rooted in their own food traditions, the dishes they grew up with and that hold meaning for them. For me and my family, it was either dal-bati or kathi dal-chawal every Sunday. They should share stories of their family’s legacy and previous generations, and make it an afternoon. That’s what I’d love the most. For the Kapoor family, the Chembur bungalow maybe gone, the (RK) studio may be gone, so much was lost to the fire in the studio, but the connection between family members remains. A lot of that is because of the food. And I would say a lot of that is because of Armaan. He really makes an effort to keep those traditions alive through the food. The extended Kapoor family in Dining with the Kapoors.Why could Alia Bhatt and Agastya Nanda not make it to the Kapoor family luncheon in Dining with the Kapoors?Armaan: Everyone has busy schedules and pre-commitments. Most of our gatherings, whether it’s Diwali, Christmas or generally when we catch up, you will see a couple of people missing because of work. Work is super important. We missed a bunch of people. Even my cousin Nikhil (Nanda) was in Delhi because of a work commitment as well.Story continues below this adIt’s the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor, but it’s also been a tough year for the Kapoor family. There has been the death and aftermath of Karisma Kapoor’s ex-husband Sunjay Kapur. There has been a knife attack at home on Kareena Kapoor’s husband Saif Ali Khan. How much of a lighthouse is Raj Kapoor in these trying times?Armaan: Raj Kapoor would eat, breathe, and sleep cinema. That was it for him. He would put everything on the line. The sacrifices would be so much that sometimes, he wouldn’t even have enough money in his pocket to make a movie. Mera Naam Joker was way ahead of its time, and at that time, was one of the biggest disasters. Before he bounced back with Bobby (1973), he’d lost pretty much everything, financially as well. But the one thing he didn’t give up was the roof over his wife and children’s heads, which is the Deonar bungalow. In times good and bad, the Kapoor family are very strong for each other. We come together as an army. That started with the Raj Kapoor-Krishna Kapoor era, and I have seen that pass on to my mum. She will always have a smiling face. With certain incidents recently and a lot of losses within our family, it’s been very tragic and difficult. But the best part, and the intent of making Dining with the Kapoors, is family being there for each other at all times. Bouncing back is a completely part of our DNA. It’s a generational thing. Ranbir Kapoor in Dining with the Kapoors.Armaan, would you consider reviving Raj Kapoor’s production house RK Films too, since that’s a huge part of his legacy?Armaan: It’s a mammoth task. He was making films about 30-40 years ago. It is something we will have to huddle and see as a family. But we are all keeping the legacy in our own ways. Of course, RK Films and RK Studio are a huge part of his legacy. But it takes a lot of hard work to recreate what that man did, especially all the sacrifices that come along with it. But what the film also reflects is we are also trying to carry forward certain traditions that were taught to us. I am a firm believer of carrying forward of legacy, even in small ways. Smriti is also a legacy keep. In the right time, if we come together, I am sure we will be able to do something.Story continues below this adSome quick questions about the Kapoor family. Who’s a bigger foodie, Kareena or Karisma? Armaan: Karisma eats a lot more than Kareena. I don’t know how. She is so lucky because of her metabolism. Kareena is also a big foodie. But this generation is so diligent and a little up to speed with working out. All of us work out maybe twice or thrice a day so that we can enjoy that meal. So, we all love our food. It’s just that we are putting in that little extra effort to keep ourselves maintained. All of us are foodies, but Karisma can eat a lot!Who’s more of an outlier to the family? Is it Neetu Kapoor because she brings dabbas to every meal? Or is it Saif because his IQ is off the charts unlike most of the Kapoor family?Armaan: Actually, Saif enjoys his food too. I think Neetu aunty had a fair bit of rich food growing up. She is one of the first people in our family to really get into fitness in her generation. I am saying this in a positive light: you can see that all the Kapoors, including my mother, grew physically in a certain manner. That was their culture back then. But Neetu aunty preserved herself from a young age. In the last 20 years, she’s been very particular with her bites. She’s not very indulgent with the Kapoor khana, which she was quite a few years ago.Story continues below this adAlso Read — ‘Kitna kha rahi hai’: Neetu Kapoor asked Kareena Kapoor to not eat ‘too much’ during her pregnancyAre your cousins Agastya and Navya Nanda more of Kapoors or more of Bachchans?Armaan: I’d like to understand what the differences would be personality trait-vise. Firstly, their dad is a Nanda. So, they have a lot of Nanda blood. I’ve grown up at their beautiful house in Delhi with my masi (maternal aunt). They have a fair bit of Nanda and Bachchan blood too. It’s a good mix. They’ve got the best of all their family members.