Archive · 7 Aug 2026
Rajesh Khanna treated Simple Kapadia like 'kachra,' dismissed as 'ugly'
Simple Kapadia was a young woman from India whose big sister Dimple became a very famous movie star.
Simple wanted to work in movies too, so she made her first film in 1977 with her sister's husband, Rajesh Khanna.
Rajesh was not kind to her — he would not rehearse with her and made her feel like dirt.
People compared her to her beautiful sister and called her the 'ugly sister' when her movie did not do well.
She acted in about 25 films but then decided to stop.
Instead, she became really good at designing clothes for movies.
She made costumes for her sister Dimple and many other stars.
Her best moment was winning a big National Film Award for the movie Rudaali.
Sadly, Simple got sick with cancer and died in 2009, but she showed that you can find a new talent even when one path does not work out.
Simple Kapadia, Dimple Kapadia's younger sister, made her acting debut in the 1977 film Anurodh opposite Rajesh Khanna, but the film flopped.
Simple said Rajesh Khanna treated her like 'kachra' (dirt), refused to rehearse with her, and was fired from the set by director Shakti Samanta.
After acting in about 25 films, Simple quit acting and became a costume designer, winning the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for Rudaali in 1994.
She said she was constantly compared to Dimple and dismissed as the 'ugly sister,' but insisted she simply did not make an effort in Anurodh.
Simple died in 2009 at age 51 after a three-year battle with cancer; her last credited work was Tum Milo Toh Sahi.
- Who
- Simple Kapadia, younger sister of actress Dimple Kapadia, and her brother-in-law, superstar Rajesh Khanna.
- What
- Simple Kapadia recounted being treated like 'kachra' (dirt) by Rajesh Khanna and dismissed as the 'ugly sister,' before quitting acting after 25 films to become an award-winning costume designer.
- When
- From her 1977 debut in Anurodh until her death in 2009; she won the National Film Award in 1994.
- Where
- The Indian film industry (Bollywood).
- Why
- She was constantly compared to her sister Dimple and needed money to avoid asking her parents, and she later found her true talent in costume designing.
Public and media perception
Simple Kapadia's own account
Why Anurodh failed to launch her career
Public and media perception
After Anurodh flopped, people said audiences could not accept an 'ugly sister' after the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia.
Simple Kapadia's own account
Simple insisted the real reason was that she did not make an effort to do well in the film and never wanted to act anyway.
Why she left acting
Public and media perception
She was constantly put down as the 'ugly sister' and compared unfavorably with Dimple.
Simple Kapadia's own account
Simple said she never pursued acting seriously and switched to costume designing, where she won a National Film Award.
- Debut film
- Anurodh (1977), opposite Rajesh Khanna
- Films as actress
- Around 25 films before leaving acting
- New career
- Costume designer
- National Film Award
- Best Costume Design, 1994, for Rudaali
- Marriage
- Rajinder Singh Shetty (1992); later divorced
- Son
- Karan Kapadia, born 1993, who debuted in Blank (2010)
- Death
- 2009, aged 51, after a three-year battle with cancer
- Other costume credits
- Darr, Barsaat, Chachi 420, Socha Na Tha, among others