Ranbir Kapoor uncle Kunal Kapoor sparks controversy after calling vegetarians ‘racist'

Kunal Kapoor calls vegetarians racist

The Kapoor family’s love for food is almost as famous as their film legacy, and it has often sparked lively conversations in the public eye.

This time, that long-running association with the dining table has taken a more controversial turn, with Kunal Kapoor, son of the late Shashi Kapoor, finding himself at the centre of a heated discussion.

Kunal Kapoor recently appeared on Pooja Bhatt’s podcast, where an otherwise casual conversation took an unexpected direction.

Speaking candidly, Kunal Kapoor admitted that he has little affection for vegetarians and openly said he looks at them with “disdain." He explained that his frustration comes from what he perceives as unequal treatment when it comes to food and hospitality.

According to Kunal Kapoor, he always ensures that vegetarian guests in his home are comfortably catered for. However, he feels the same consideration is rarely extended to him when he visits vegetarian households. It is this experience, he said, that led him to describe vegetarians as “racist," a remark that quickly raised eyebrows.

The moment took on a lighter tone when Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt’s elder sister, responded with humour and asked, “So, I’m a racist?" Kunal Kapoor’s reply was immediate and unapologetic: “Yes, you are, because you deny me being a non-vegetarian. On my table, you’ll have vegetarian food and non-vegetarian food. But when I go to a vegetarian house, he won’t give me non-vegetarian food. But in my house, I’ll treat him. I’ll give him veg and non-veg food."

While Pooja Bhatt laughed, the exchange did not go unnoticed by listeners and viewers.

As clips from the podcast circulated online, many pointed out that food debates seem to follow the Kapoor family.

Recently, Ranbir Kapoor was criticised after he was seen enjoying fish curry, mutton and paaya with his family in the Netflix documentary Dining with the Kapoors.

The footage resurfaced after claims that Ranbir Kapoor had given up non-vegetarian food, alcohol and smoking to prepare for his role as Lord Ram in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana.

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A Reddit user summed up the backlash with the comment, “Ranbir Kapoor’s PR team claimed he gave up non-vegetarian food out of respect for playing Lord Ram in the Ramayana movie, but he is seen enjoying fish curry, mutton, and paaya with his family. Ranbir Kapoor has the most effective PR in Bollywood."

Away from the debate, Kunal Kapoor has led a quietly diverse career. He made his film debut in 1972 with Siddhartha, stepped away from acting for a period to focus on advertising, and later returned to the screen with Singh Is Bliing in 2015 and Panipat in 2019, continuing his family’s enduring connection with Indian cinema.