Theatre veteran Sanjna Kapoor to be conferred French honour

New Delhi: Noted theatre personality Sanjna Kapoor, the daughter of Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor, will be conferred prestigious French honour, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, for her outstanding contribution to theatre.

French Culture Minister Franck Riester, currently on an official visit to India, will confer the insignia of the distinction on Sanjna Kapoor in a special investiture ceremony on Tuesday.

Sanjna Kapoor, daughter of Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal, made her film debut in Aparna Sen's 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) which was a family affair, with her mother in the leading role and her father the film's producer.

She was a leading actress in Hero Hiralal (1989) and also appeared in Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay (1988). She later went on to dedicate herself fully to theatre, acting in plays and reviving the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, founded by her parents in tribute to Prithviraj Kapoor, and run, since 2012, by her brother, Kunal Kapoor.

In 2012, she co-founded Junoon, an organisation dedicated to increasing the reach of theatre and the arts to wider audiences through innovative initiatives.

Some noted Indian recipients of this honour in the past include Bharti Kher, Shahrukh Khan, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Aishwarya Rai, Raghu Rai, Ebrahim Alkazi, Habib Tanveer, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Wendell Rodricks and Aruna Vasudev.