Early Life
Prithviraj was born on November 3, 1901 at Samundri near the town of Lyallpur Punjab (currently Faisalabad, Pakistan), then under British colonial rule. His ancestors were Zamindars of Samundri. Prithviraj could speak English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati and Hindko.
His father, Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, was a sub-inspector of police. Prithviraj received his initial education at Khalsa College Lyallpur and at Lahore. His paternal grandfather, Dewan Keshavmal, was a powerful influence during his childhood. Baseshwarnath was posted at Peshawar, and so Prithviraj received his higher education at the Edwardes College, Peshawar, Pakistan and joined a two year program in Law to become a Lawyer. It was here that his talents on stage first received expression. Prithviraj's son Shammi recollected that Prof. Jai Dayal, a member of the faculty, was instrumental in nurturing his talent. The professor was in love with an English lady by the name of Nora Richard, who in turn was a theatre aficionado with a passion for Shakespeare and Ibsen. The couple found Prithviraj the perfect material for many roles in the plays they mounted. This was his grounding in the art of the theatre. He became a Lawyer, and started practising Law privately.
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