The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government of Pakistan is all set to legally purchase the ancestral houses of two legendary Indian actors Dilip Kumar and the late Raj Kapoor. The KP government has enacted a necessary section of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of the state, to take possession of both the houses on an emergency basis.
The ancestral houses of Dilip Kumar and the late Raj Kapoor are located at Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (formerly known as the Northwest Frontier Province) in Pakistan. Both actors were born in their ancestral houses and were raised there before the Partition.
The price of Dilip Kumar’s 101 square meter house has been fixed at Rs. 80.56 lakh ($50,517) while that of Raj Kapoor’s 151.75 square meter house is fixed at Rs. 1.50 crore ($94,061) by the Archeological Department of Pakistan. The amount to purchase the houses will soon be released to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Peshawar.
Raj Kapoor’s ancestral home Kapoor Haveli is located in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar of Peshawar. The haveli was built between 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actor’s father Prithviraj Kapoor. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by Raj Kapoor’s father Prithviraj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor was born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor to Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Devi.
Dilip Kumar’s house is located in the Khudadad area, a five-minute walk away from Prithviraj Kapoor’s house. Dilip Kumar was born as Yusuf Khan to Lala Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Ayesha Begum.
The ancestral homes of these legendary actors are right near the 2,000-year-old Qissa Khwani Bazaar (Market of Storytellers). The Bazaar was once a camping ground for the caravans of traveling merchants. The provincial government of KP has declared these homes which are currently in a bad state as national heritage. The current owners of the two buildings have made several attempts to demolish the buildings located in prime area to construct commercial malls.
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