RK's house for sale

The landmark RK Villa, worth nearly 30 crore, has three top builders vying for the property

Upala KBR and Vaibhavi Shitut
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Deonar Cottage, Raj Kapoor's sprawling, one-acre bungalow located on Deonar Farm Road, Chembur is up for sale. Many local builders are interested in the property and negotiations are on. Sources in the Chembur real estate business claim that the Kapoor sisters — Reema and Ritu — are the ones holding up the deal. Our source claims, "Negotiations for the deal first started a few years ago at the behest of brothers Randhir, Rishi and Rajeev. But Reema Jain, Ritu Nanda and mother Krishna Kapoor do not want to sell. Since Raj Kapoor has not made a will, the consent of all family members is required for any sale."
At the moment, Krishna, Randhir and Rajeev stay in the bungalow.
Hush-hush deal
A few years ago, it was rumoured that Kukreja Builders were interested in buying the property, estimated to be worth Rs 30 crore. Today, sources claim other builders have queued up hoping to snag the deal. Once a residential complex is built, the per sq ft cost is estimated to be Rs 6,000 per sq mt.A Chembur-based real estate broker who is close to the Kapoor family claims that nothing has been finalised regarding the sale of the property. "This is the only prime land in the area, so naturally it is sought after. Three top builders want it."
The Raheja group is also said to be interested. Mohan Kukreja, director of Kukreja Builders, says they are no longer interested in the property. "We were about to strike a deal with the Kapoor family three years ago but they asked for too much money. There was also some dispute between the family members because of whom the deal was called off," he says.
However, another source says, "The place got sold more than three months ago. But it's all hush-hush and none of the Kapoors want to talk about it."
Rajiv denies sale
Says a source known to the family, "The Kapoors are being very secretive about the sale. They don't want anybody to know till the sale is finalised. According to the terms of the sale, the builder has promised them four new flats in Bandra (the area where Rishi Kapoor lives with his family and Randhir's daughters, Kareena and Karisma live with their mother Babita) and a certain amount of money has been put in fixed deposit for the grandchildren. Krishna and Randhir will have to move out by August."
We checked with both Rajiv (Chimpoo) and Randhir. Rajiv said, "It's not true. We have sold RK Villa and the lands with it. It's still very much our humble home. I am not shifting to Bandra."
Is it true that he has shifted to Pune? "No, I haven't. I have a small bungalow there, which I visit on weekends. We had a bungalow in Loni but that has been sold sometime ago."
Randhir Kapoor refused to come on the line. We were told, "Dabboo is in a meeting and if it's about the sale of RK Villa, he would like to repeat what Rajiv said."
What about the RK banner?
Says Rajiv, "Dabboo and I will be announcing two projects in the next couple of months under the RK banner. They will be love stories. Right now they are in the preliminary stages."
Why after such a long break? "Everything takes its own course. Now it is the right time to start our new projects."