Late actor Raj Kapoor and legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar have ancestral homes in Peshawar, Pakistan. The homes have been unoccupied for decades and in a recent turn of events, the Pakistan government has decided to turn these houses into museums! The government recently sent notices to the families of these actors and released 2.3 crores for the two ancestral homes!
Both these homes have been built many decades ago and exude an otherworldly charm. They are what would be called “havelis.” We might soon see the Pakistani government start restoration work on the same. Rs 2.3 crores were released to the Archaeology department and they will be responsible for the restoration and reconstruction of the two sites which will be deemed historical.
Raj Kapoor’s house which is 6.25 marla (a unit where 1 marla is 272 sq ft) had a fixed rate of 1.5 crore rupees and Dilip Kumar’s house 4 marla house was set to be 80 Lakhs. The Raj Kapoor’s house was built by his great-grandfather, Dewan Bashesrwarnath Kapoor and is called the Kapoor Haveli. It is located in the Qissa Khwani Bazar and was built between 1918-1922. Raj Kapoor himself was born in the same house along with his uncle Trilok Kapoor. It has been named a national heritage sight!
Incidentally, Dilip Kumar’s more than 100 years old ancestral home is also located in the same lane. But it is said that the state of the house is extremely poor and the place has attracted several landowners to build commercial complexes there, but the archaeology department has tried to preserve it as it was deemed a national heritage site in 2014 by the Nawaz Sharif government.
While the owner of the Raj Kapoor house wanted about 20 crores for the house, the government only chose to pay him as per market value. We cannot wait to see how these museums will turn out to be!
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