The young man finds work as a mere extra for a film ironically named Challenge. But once the leading lady of the film spots him she swoons at his good looks, and insists that he become the hero of her upcoming film, Cinema Girl.

And thus the young man's career takes off; a career that spans nearly 50 years. He becomes an acclaimed actor, and what is more, he founds a dynasty. His sons, grandchildren, and great grandchildren become actors. Even his father acts in a couple of films. His dreams come true.

This is the story of Prithviraj Kapoor, the man who founded the Kapoor dynasty — the subject of Madhu Jain's informative and compelling book The Kapoors The first family of Indian cinema, which has recently been updated and republished.

In this book, Jain charts the lives of the Kapoors — a family that Randhir Kapoor once compared to the Corleones of the Godfather. The book is 'largely based on hundreds of interviews' conducted over the course of seven years, and successfully brings forth three-dimensional portraits of each one of the Kapoors — right up to the present generation — detailing their profession and personal lives with clarity and in intricate detail, thankfully without falling prey to waxing lyrical prose.

The only drawback of this book is the fact is that it is sparse when it comes to photographs, and the ones that have been included fail to create much of an impact.

Yet this flaw can be overlooked given the scope of the book as Jain's narrative is brisk, compelling, and will provide even self-confessed Bollywood junkies with many little known details about the Kapoors and Bombay's film industry.

Beginning with Prithviraj Kapoor, Jain moves on to his three sons 'the showman and the joker' Ranbir 'Raj' Kapoor; 'the junglee and the gent' Shamsher 'Shammi' Kapoor; and the 'perfect gentleman' Shashi Kapoor. All three were exceptional stars and individuals in their own right, but their lives were very different despite, or perhaps because of, their last name.

The most detailed account is that of Raj Kapoor. No surprise since Raj Kapoor was — and continues to be — the most prominent Kapoor to date. He went from being an acclaimed extension of Charlie Chaplin in comparatively 'innocent' films such as Awara, Chori Chori and Shree 420 (under the RK Films banner) with Nargis to being an equally celebrated director and 'the greatest showman' of Indian cinema.

Jain explains the shift from films with Nargis that contained hints of passion to full-fledged sexuality in his later films thus 'Raj Kapoor was the master of the sensual, teetering in his post Nargis films into voyeurism, witnessed in full flower in Satyam, Shivam Sundaram and Ram Teri Ganga Maili.

'The departure of his muse (Nargis) coincided with the time his erotically charged romantic stories acquired their prurient tint, when sex took over sensuality. Somewhere along the line, the poetic choreographer of romance became a peeping tom of sorts.'

Yet the author is unable to say exactly what caused this shift, merely conjecturing that after Raj Kapoor's most cherished film, Mera Naam Joker flopped which also had its share of s(explicit) scenes, he felt that audiences 'just wanted sex' and he supplied it freely in his later films.

Jain also delves into Raj Kapoor's many trysts with his leading ladies, especially Nargis and Vijantimala, emphasising that despite these relationships Raj always went back to his wife, Krishna Raj Kapoor, due to his 'complete dependence on her'.

The book's focus then moves to Raj's two brothers.

Shammi Kapoor realised that he needed to carve a niche for himself if he was to be a success after a series of flops. And that is exactly what he did — that of the dapper, junglee hero who broke into Elvis Presley like frenzies at the most (in)opportune moments.

A playboy by nature, Shammi changed both his cars and women frequently, and happily remembers himself as a 'male starlet'.

Shashi Kapoor, on the other hand, was by all accounts the perfect gentleman. He married and stayed true to the love of his life, actor Jennifer Kendal, who 'unKapoored' him.

Like his brothers, Shashi's first few films were duds at the box office — until Jab Jab Phool Khile proved to be a roaring success. A string of hit 'multi-starrer' films followed, resulting in him working around the clock. His brother Raj called him a 'taxi actor' since getting dates for his magnum opus, Satyam Shivam Sundaram proved to be quite an uphill task.

Yet Shashi somehow found the time for international films such as Heat and Dust, and Sammy and Rosie get Laid which caused Pauline Kael to wax lyrical about his performance in the New Yorker. He also acted in and produced such memorable films as Junoon and Kalyug, both of which were directed by the acclaimed Shyam Bengal.

Jain points out that while neither Shammi nor Shashi Kapoor's children were able to enjoy any success in Bollywood, (Remember Sanjana and Karan Kapoor's sorry performances in Hero Hiralal and Sultanat respectively?) it was Raj Kapoor's sons, Rishi, Randhir and Rajeev who kept RK Studios alive.

While Randhir and Rajeev admittedly 'remained in the shadows' with a few films to their credit (Henna and Prem Granth), the 'forever youthful' Rishi continues to act to this day and is perhaps one of the most underrated actors of all time.

He has given memorable performances throughout his career —whether it was as a child actor in Mera Naam Joker or the teenage rebel in his debut vehicle Bobby, right upto the 2005 Pyar Mein Twist where he was reunited with the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia.

Jain admits that 'middle age sits uncomfortably on Rishi Kapoor' but she is hopeful that 'he may yet get a third coming as a thespian, making him the longest surviving Kapoor in the acting arena.'

Today, the Kapoor legacy lives on with Karisma, Kareena and Ranbir Kapoor. The author is of the opinion that the 'iconic RK logo may loom large once again... Randhir... has announced plans to launch two films under the RK banner, one with Kareena and one with Ranbir.'

Clearly, the dynasty that Prithviraj founded is in no imminent danger of being extinguished.

The Kapoors The First Family of Indian Cinema
By Madhu Jain
Penguin Viking, India
ISBN 978- 067005837-8
376pp. Rs995