RAJ KAPOOR - THE GREATEST SHOWMAN OF INDIAN CINEMA

Raj Kapoor – The greatest showman of Indian Cinema

Ranbir Raj Kapoor (14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as "the greatest showman of Indian cinema", was a noted Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema.   Raj Kapoor was the son of well-known Indian actor Prithviraj Kapoor, who acted both in film and on stage.

His films had great entertainment value, emotional and tender love portrayal and master craftsmanship of the medium of cinema.  RK was the doyen of Hindi Cinema.  His films offered guaranteed entertainment value and beautiful depiction of song sequences with magnanimous sets.  Raj Kapoor had great sense of music and the music of his films was very popular not only in India but in countries like Russia too.

He was a multitalented artiste – an actor, director and producer.  His films portrayed the struggle of common man even though he himself led a luxurious and lavish lifestyle in real life.

His name is famous in Africa, the Middle East, China, Turkey, Southeast Asia and Russia.  In Russia uncensored version of “Bobby” with intimate scenes were shown to audiences during the time of release of the movie there.

Raj Kapoor passed away on the day he was honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for contribution to Indian Cinema.

Despite being in a very bad health, RK agreed to come personally to Delhi to receive the big award. The ceremony was held at the Sirifort Auditorium and due to security reasons, his oxygen cylinder wasn't allowed inside. When his name was announced, he felt a chest pain and asked his wife to go on the stage. Seeing this, the then President of India R. Venkataraman broke the protocol and walked down the stage himself for RK. But by then his condition began falling and RK had to be rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) located in New Delhi, India. He was admitted with an advanced stage of trachea obstruction, and after a month of battling for life on artificial respiratory system, he succumbed to "multiple organ failure leading to cardio-respiratory arrest".

Raj Kapoor hailed from the second generation of Bollywood's film family. Son of Prithviraj Kapoor, he had more to what met the eye. Well, he began as a clap-boy for director Kidar Sharma. RK used to comb Kidar's hair. Once Kidar even slapped Raj when he accidentally pulled off his fake beard! 

RK initially wanted to become a music director.  By the age of 24 he established his own studio, R.K Films, and began his directorial career, starting with Aag. He went on to direct, produce and act in many box office hits.

Raj Kapoor set up RK Films in 1948. But it was Barsaat that became the first hit of his studio. Remember the scene wherein he and Nargis are holding a violin? That went on to become the logo of RK Films.

If you saw his film “Mera Naam Joker” in your childhood, chances are that you won't realize the depth of it. Why we call the movie, a piece of art is because of its relevance in any time period. The film is one of the most iconic films in India. It is said the film was so heavy on its subject, that it was the first Hindi movie to have two intervals. And it was four and a half hours long !

The scene where Rishi meets Dimple Kapadia in her house in his film “Bobby” was picked from RK's real life meeting with his favorite actress Nargis.

Raj Kapoor had a fascination for white saree or dress and almost all his heroines he directed had worn the same in his films.  Also his penchant for female bosom was talk of the town and his heroines were made to expose bare boobs in his movies and he got away with censors at that time and the movies were released with such scenes in-tact.  Remember the fact that it was the time when India was more conservative and social media was not popular as it is today.

              

                                                            Dimple Kapadia in “Bobby”  

                            

                                                 Mandakini in “Ram Teri Ganga Maili”

    

                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                  Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram

                                                                                                                          

                                                             Vyjayantimala in “Sangam”

     

   

                                                     Simi Grewal in “Mera Naam Joker”      

              

Simi Grewal gave such nude scenes in “mera naam joker” which are incomparable till today in Bollywood.

“Mera Naam Joker” was RK’s most ambitious film and it was like his second skin he wanted to portray his close to heart emotions in Joker.  However, the film bombed in Box Office and RK suffered huge losses.  It was “Bobby”, a teenage romantic film that put him back as a successful producer and director.   He made a dream caste with his second son Rishi as the hero and the debutant actress Dimple Kapadia as the heroine in Bobby.  Dimple Kapadia with this film became a national heartthrob and stolen the hearts of millions of young cine-goers.  “ BOBBY ”   was a super duper hit in India as well as abroad.  In the history of Indian cinema, Dimple’s marriage to the then reigning superstar Rajesh Khanna and her subsequent retirement from films broke the hearts of many an Indians.  The second time such a heart breaking marriage of film artists happened was when the most beautiful actress and former Miss World Aishawarya Rai married actor Abhishek Bachchan.

His successive films were handled with great sensuality like in Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Prem Rog.

RK is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers and actors in the history of Indian cinema.  He was the winner of several accolades including 3 National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India. The Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award is named after Raj Kapoor. He was a two-time nominee for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954). His performance in Awaara was ranked as one of the top ten greatest performances of all time by Time magazine. His films attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in Asia and Europe. He was called the Clark Gable of the Indian film industry.

The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 for his contributions to the arts

He enacted the role of a tramp in “Awara” and won accolades for his Chaplinesque histrionics. His act imitating the Legend Charlie Chaplin was noteworthy.

Brief biography: 

Raj Kapoor was born in Dhakki Munawwar Shah near Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar, then India (modern day Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) into a Punjabi Hindu family to Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Devi Kapoor. He was the eldest of six children in the family. He was the grandson of Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor and great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, part of the famous Kapoor family. His brothers are actors Shashi Kapoor and the late Shammi Kapoor. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial. Two other siblings died in infancy. They later on moved from Peshawar into present-day India for residence and for education.

Raj Kapoor attended Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun in the 1930s and St Xavier's Collegiate School.

At the age of ten, he appeared in films for the first time, in 1935's Inquilab. After acting in several films over the next 12 years, Raj Kapoor's big break came with the lead role in Neel Kamal (1947) opposite Madhubala in her first role as a leading lady. In 1948, at the age of twenty-four, he established his own studio, R. K. Films, and became the youngest film director of his time making his directorial debut with Aag starring himself, Nargis, Kamini Kaushal and Premnath. In 1949 he co-starred alongside Dilip Kumar and Nargis in Mehboob Khan's hit film Andaz which was his first major success as an actor. He had his first success as producer, director and star of Barsaat released later that year.

He went on to produce and star in several hit films made under his R.K. Banner including Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Chori Chori (1956), Jagte Raho (1956) and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), the last was directed by Radhu Karmakar, his longtime cinematographer, and which won Filmfare Award for Best Film. These films established his screen image modeled on Charlie Chaplin's most famous screen persona of The Tramp. Outside of his home productions, his other notable films as a leading actor included Anhonee (1952), Aah (1953), Anari (1959), Chhalia (1960) and Dil Hi To Hai (1963). He also produced the hit social films Boot Polish (1954). and Ab Dilli Door Nahin (1957).

In 1964, he produced, directed and starred in the romantic musical Sangam alongside Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayantimala which was his first film in color. This was his last major success as a leading actor as his later films like Around the World (1966) and Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968) with younger starlets Rajshree and Hema Malini were box office flops. In 1965 he was a member of the jury at the 4th Moscow International Film Festival.

In 1970 he produced, directed and starred in his ambitious film Mera Naam Joker which took more than six years to complete. His son Rishi Kapoor made his debut in this film playing the younger version of his character. When released in 1970, it was a box office disaster and put Kapoor and his family into a financial crisis. In later years it was acknowledged as a cult classic. In 1971, he launched his eldest son Randhir Kapoor in the family drama Kal Aaj Aur Kal starring himself, his son Randhir, his father Prithviraj Kapoor as well as Randhir's would-be-wife Babita. He launched his second son Rishi Kapoor's career in 1973 when he produced and directed Bobby which was a huge box office success and introduced actress Dimple Kapadia, later a very popular actress; it was the first of a new generation of teen romances. Dimple wore bikinis which was quite unique for Indian films then. In 1975 he acted alongside his son Randhir again in Dharam Karam, which Randhir also directed.

In the latter half of the 1970s and early 1980s he produced and directed films that focused on the female protagonists: Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) with Zeenat Aman, Prem Rog (1982) with Padmini Kolhapure and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) which introduced Mandakini. He acted in fewer films by the late 1970s and early 1980s but played a notable supporting role alongside Rajesh Khanna in Naukri (1978) and as the titular character alongside Sanjay Khan in Abdullah (1980). He played a detective in two comedy films directed by Naresh Kumar Do Jasoos (1975) and Gopichand Jasoos (1982). In 1979 he was a member of the jury at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival.  Raj Kapoor's last major film appearance was in Vakil Babu (1982) where he appeared with his younger brother Shashi. His last acting role was a cameo appearance in a 1984 released British made-for-television film titled Kim.

He was set to direct Henna starring his son Rishi and Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiar before his death in 1988. His son Randhir directed the film and it released in 1991.

Raj Kapoor is appreciated both by film critics and movie fans. Film historians and movie buffs speak of him as the "Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema," since he often portrayed a tramp-like figure, who, despite adversity, was still cheerful and honest. His fame spread worldwide. He was adored by audiences in large parts of Africa, the Middle East, Russia, China, and Southeast Asia; his movies were global commercial successes. Raj had the knack of getting the best out of any one, since he had mastered all departments of film making and even marketing them. His films reflected the Era in which it was made.

Many of Raj Kapoor's movies had a patriotic theme. His films Aag, Shree 420 and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (In the country where the Ganges flows) celebrated the newly independent India, and encouraged film-goers to be patriots. Raj Kapoor commissioned these famous lyrics for Mera Joota Hai Japani, a song from the movie Shree 420:

Mera joota hai Japani (My shoes are Japanese)

Ye patloon Inglistani (These trousers are English)

Sar pe lal topi Roosi (The red cap on my head is Russian)

Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani (But still, however, my heart is Indian)

The song is still extremely popular and has been featured in a number of movies since Shree 420 was released. Indian author Mahasweta Devi stopped the show with her inaugural speech at the 2006 Frankfurt Book Fair when she used these lyrics to express her own heartfelt patriotism and debt to her country.

Raj Kapoor was a canny judge of filmi music and lyrics. Many of the songs he commissioned are evergreen hits. He introduced the music directors Shankar-Jaikishan and the lyricists Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra. He is also remembered for his strong sense of visual style. He used striking visual compositions, elaborate sets, and dramatic lighting to complete the mood set by the music. He introduced the actresses Nimmi, Dimple Kapadia, and Mandakini, as well as launching and reviving the careers of his sons Rishi, Randhir and Rajiv. He was also famous for making his actresses wear revealing clothing which was not very common in Indian cinema.

A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him on 14 December 2001. To honour him, a brass statue of his was unveiled at Walk of the Stars at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai in March 2012.

In 2014, Google commemorated his 90th birthday.

In 1946, Raj Kapoor married Krishna Malhotra, who was his first cousin once removed. The news of his marriage was reported in the cine-magazine Filmindia June 1946 issue as, "Raj Kapoor, the talented and versatile son of Prithviraj Kapoor ended his career of wild oats by marrying Miss Krishna Malhotra in the second week of May at Rewa".  Krishna's father was Raj Kapoor's father's maternal uncle. It was a match arranged by the family, and Krishna proved to be a wife and mother in the traditional mould, which is what the family wanted. Krishna's brothers, Rajendra Nath, Prem Nath and Narendra Nath, later became actors, and her sister Uma was married to the Film villain Prem Chopra.

RK was rumoured to have had a longtime romantic relationship with the renowned actress Nargis during the 1940s and 1950s, despite RK being a married man, although neither ever publicly admitted to this.  The couple starred in several films together, including Awaara and Shree 420. As Raj would not leave his wife and children, Nargis ended their relationship after Chori Chori and married Sunil Dutt with whom she fell in love after met on set of Mother India (1957).  RK is also said to have had an affair with renowned actress Vyjayantimala during the shooting of Sangam. Vyjayanthimala has denied that she was ever involved with RK. She deemed the whole thing a publicity stunt by RK to promote his film.  RK  has also been linked with the southern actress Padmini.
 

Both of  RK’s brothers, all three of RK’s sons, two of RK’s daughters-in-law and three of RK’s grandchildren have been active at various times in the film industry. His granddaughter Kareena (daughter of  RK’s eldest son Randhir) and grandson Ranbir (son of RK’s second son Rishi) are the latest Bollywood superstars from the Kapoor family.

His film “Awara” featured 3 generations of  RK clan -

RK had received many awards throughout his career, including 3 National Film Awards, 11 Filmfare Awards and 21 nominations. His films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954) were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His acting in the former was rated as one of the "Top-Ten Performances of all time", by the Time Magazine.  His film Jagte Raho (1956) also won the Crystal Globe award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

The Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987 – the highest award for cinematic excellence in India. In 2001, he was honored with "Best Director of the Millennium" by Stardust Awards.  He was named "Showman of the Millennium" by Star Screen Awards in 2002.

In June 2011, Noah Cowan, Artistic Director of TIFF Bell Lightbox, and Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft along with members of the Kapoor family came together to pay tribute to the life and work of Indian actor, director, mogul and legend Raj Kapoor, as presented in partnership by TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), and the Government of Ontario.  Indian Mirror Reports suggest RK will be inducted onto the Brampton Walk of Fame in Ontario, Canada.

Filmography

Title	Year	Credited as				Director	Notes	Ref.
		Actor	Producer	Other	Role(s)
Inquilab	1935	Yes			Unknown	Debaki Bose	Child artist
Hamari Baat	1943	Yes			Unknown	M.I. Dharamsey		[2]
Gauri	1943	Yes				Kidar Nath Sharma		[3]
Valmiki	1946	Yes				Bhalji Pendharkar		[4]
Jail Yatra	1947	Yes				Gajanan Jagirdar		[5]
Dil-Ki-Rani	1947	Yes			Madhav (Madho)	Mohan Sinha		[6]
Chittor Vijay	1947	Yes				Mohan Sinha		[7]
Neel Kamal	1947	Yes			Madhusudan	Kidar Nath Sharma		[8]
Gopinath	1948	Yes			Mohan	Mahesh Kaul and Latika		[9]
Amar Prem	1948	Yes				N. M. Kelkar		[10]
Aag	1948	Yes	Yes	Director	Kewal Khanna	Himself		[11]
Sunehre Din	1949	Yes			Premendra	Satish Nigam		[12]
Parivartan	1949	Yes				N. R. Acharya		[13]
Andaz	1949	Yes			Rajan	Mehboob Khan		[14]
Barsaat	1949	Yes	Yes	Director	Pran	Himself		[15]
Sargam	1950	Yes				P L Santoshi
Pyaar	1950	Yes				V. M. Vyas		[16]
Jan Pahchan	1950	Yes			Anil	Fali Mistry		[17]
Dastan	1950	Yes			Raj	Abdul Rashid Kardar		[18]
Bawre Nain	1950	Yes			Chand	Kidar Nath Sharma		[19]
Banwra	1950	Yes				Raghupat Roy Kapur		[20]
Awaara	1951	Yes	Yes	Director	Raj Raghunath	Himself		[21]
Bewafa	1952	Yes			Raj	M L Anand		[22]
Ashiana	1952	Yes			Raju	B. Trilochan		[23]
Anhonee	1952	Yes			Rajkumar Saxena	Khwaja Ahmad Abbas		[24]
Amber	1952	Yes			Raj	Jayant Desai		[25]
Paapi	1953	Yes			Raju / Swami Satyananand	Chandulal Shah		[26]
Dhoon	1953	Yes				M. Kumar		[27]
Aah	1953	Yes	Yes		Raj Raibahadur	Raja Nawathe		[28]
Boot Polish	1954	Yes	Yes		Man asleep on train	Prakash Arora	Uncredited Winner, Filmfare Best Movie Award	[29]
Shree 420	1955	Yes	Yes	Director	Ranbir Raj/Raj Kumar of Pipli	Himself		[30]
Jagte Raho	1956	Yes	Yes		Peasant	Sombhu Mitra and Amit Maitra	Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award	[31]
Chori Chori	1956	Yes			Sagar/Sultana Daku	Anant Thakur		[32]
Sharada	1957	Yes			Chiranjeev / Shekhar	L.V. Prasad		[33]
Ab Dilli Dur Nahin	1957		Yes		None	Amar Kumar		[34]
Phir Subah Hogi	1958	Yes			Ram Babu	Ramesh Saigal	Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award	[35]
Parvarish	1958	Yes			Raja J. Singh	S. Bannerjee		[36]
Main Nashe Mein Hoon	1959	Yes			Ram Das Khanna	Naresh Saigal		[37]
Kanhaiya	1959	Yes			Kanhaiya	Om Prakash		[38]
Do Ustad (1959)	1959	Yes			Raj Kumar (Rajan)/Himself	Tara Harish		[39]
Char Dil Char Rahen	1959	Yes			Govinda	Khwaja Ahmad Abbas		[40]
Anari	1959	Yes			Raj Kumar	Hrishikesh Mukherjee	Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award	[41]
Shriman Satyawadi	1960	Yes			Vijay	S M Abbas		[42]
Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai	1960	Yes	Yes		Raju	Radhu Karmakar	Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award	[43]
Chhalia	1960	Yes			Chhalia	Manmohan Desai	Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award	[44]
Nazrana	1961	Yes			Rajesh	C. V. Sridhar		[45]
Aashiq	1962	Yes				Hrishikesh Mukherjee		[46]
Ek Dil Sau Afsane	1963	Yes			Shekhar	R.C. Talwar		[47]
Dil Hi To Hai	1963	Yes			Yusuf/Chand/Khan Sahib	C.L. Rawal		[48]
Sangam	1964	Yes	Yes	Director, editor	Sundar Khanna	Himself	Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award nominee, Filmfare Best Movie Award Winner, Filmfare Best Director Award
Dulha Dulhan	1964	Yes			Raj Kumar	Ravindra Dave		[49]
Teesri Kasam	1966	Yes			Hiraman/Meeta	Basu Bhattacharya		[50]
Diwana	1967	Yes			Pyarelal	Mahesh Kaul		[51]
Around the World	1967	Yes			Raj Singh	Pachhi		[52]
Sapno Ka Saudagar	1968	Yes			Raj Kumar	Mahesh Kaul		[53]
Mera Naam Joker	1970	Yes	Yes	director, editor	Raju (Joker)	Himself	Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award Winner, Filmfare Best Director Award Nomination, Filmfare Best Movie Award	[54]
Kal Aaj Aur Kal	1971	Yes	Yes		Ram Kapoor	Randhir Kapoor		[55]
Bobby	1973		Yes	Director, editor	None	Himself	Nomination, Filmfare Best Movie Award Nomination, Filmfare Best Director Award	[56]
Mera Desh Mera Dharam	1973	Yes				Dara Singh		[57]
Do Jasoos	1975	Yes			Dharamchand Jasoos	Naresh Kumar		[58]
Dharam Karam	1975	Yes	Yes		Ashok Kumar	Randhir Kapoor		[59]
Khaan Dost	1976	Yes			Ramdin Pandey	Dulal Guha		[60]
Chandi Sona	1977	Yes			Gypsy singer	Sanjay Khan		[61]
Satyam Shivam Sundaram	1978		Yes	Director, Narrator, editor	None	Himself	Nomination, Filmfare Best Director Award	[62]
Naukri	1978	Yes			Swaraj Singh	Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Abdullah	1980	Yes			Abdullah	Sanjay Khan	Nomination, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award	[63]
Biwi O Biwi	1981		Yes		None	Rahul Rawail		[64]
Gopichand Jasoos	1982	Yes			Gopichand Jasoos	Naresh Kumar		[65]
Vakil Babu	1982	Yes			Advocate Mathur	Asit Sen		[66]
Prem Rog	1982		Yes	Director, editor	None	Himself	Winner, Filmfare Best Movie Award Winner, Filmfare Best Director Award	[67]
Kim	1984	Yes			Policeman	John Davies
Ram Teri Ganga Maili	1985		Yes	Director, editor, writer	None	Himself	Winner, Filmfare Best Movie Award Winner, Filmfare Best Director Award	[68]

Association with other artists

Shankar-Jaikishan

Shankar-Jaikishan were Raj Kapoor's music director of choice. He worked with them in 20 films in all including 10 of his own films from Barsaat until Kal Aaj Aur Kal. (Jagte Raho with Salil Chowdhury and Ab Dilli Dur Nahin being two exceptions in this period). Only after Jaikishan died, did he turn to a different music director – Laxmikant-Pyarelal for Bobby, Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Prem Rog (later on, his children used Laxmikant-Pyarelal for Prem Granth as well), Rahul Dev Burman for Dharam Karam, and Ravindra Jain for (Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Henna). It is interesting to note that Raj Kapoor acted in a movie with music by Madan Mohan only once(twice) i.e. Dhoon (1953) & Aashiana (1952) which featured duet Hum Pyaar Karenge by Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar, only instance Hemant Kumar giving playback to Raj Kapoor, and did only one movie with O. P. Nayyar (Do Ustad).

List of films with Shankar-Jaikishan: (18 Films)

Barsaat (1949) Aah (1953) Awaara (1951) Boot Polish (1954) Shree 420 (1955) Chori Chori (1956)

Kanhaiya (1959) Main Nashe Men Hoon (1959) Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960) Aashiq (1962) Ek Dil Sao Afsane (1963)

Sangam (1964) Teesri Kasam (1966) Around the World (1967) Diwana (1967) Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968) Mera Naam Joker (1970) Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971)

Nargis

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Raj Kapoor and Nargis worked together in 16 films including 6 of his own productions.

Aag (1948) Andaz (1949) Barsaat (1949) Pyaar

Jan Pehchan (1950) Awaara (1951) Amber (1952) Anhonee (1952)

Ashiana (1952) Bewafa (1952) Aah (1953) Paapi (1953)

Dhoon (1953) Shree 420 (1955) Chori Chori (1956) Jagte Raho (1956) (cameo)

 

Mukesh and Manna Dey

Mukesh was Raj Kapoor's almost exclusive singing voice in almost all of his films. Also, when Mukesh died, Raj had said, Main ne apni aawaaz ko kho diya... (I have lost my voice...).

However Manna Dey has also sung many notable and super-hit songs for Raj Kapoor, for instance in Shree 420 and Chori Chori. Examples of such Manna songs are best illustrated by the following list:

• "Laga Chunri Mein Daag" (Dil Hi To Hai)
• "Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo" (Mera Naam Joker)
• "Dil Ka Haal Sune Dil Wala" (Shree 420)
• "Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein Hum" (Chori Chori)
• "Jahan Mein Jati Hoon Wahin Chale Aate Ho" (Chori Chori)
• "Yeh Raat Bhigi Bhigi, Yeh Mast Fizayen" (Chori Chori)
• "Masti Bhara Hai Samaan" (Parvarish)
• "Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh" (Shree 420)
• "Chalat Musafir" (Teesri Kasam)
• "Belia Belia Belia" (Parvarish)
• "Lallah Allah Tera Nigehbaan" (Abdullah)
• "Mama O Mama" (Parvarish)
• "Ye Bhai Zara Dekhein Chalo" (Mera Naam Joker).

I would like to present below two of his famous quotes on friendship -

  

RK studio in Chembur, Mumbai is famous for their “ HOLI” and “GANESH FESTIVAL” celebrations.

Raj Kapoor continues to remain an inspiration and a benchmark for every Indian filmmaker. His films spoke about love, life and struggles of a common man. Despite living a lavish life himself, his films spoke of reality and real suffering of every Indian. Be it Boot Polish, Shree 420, Jagte Raho or Anari, all of his 72 films are an entire library of filmmaking in itself. His last film on paper was Ram Teri Ganga Maili. But his impact on future generation of directors still reverberates in the films of today. 

In my profile I always mentioned that I am a movie buff and a cricket enthusiast who is to identify with today’s Indian citizen.  In India cinema is the staple diet and cricket is Religion.  All Indians are crazy about both these entertainments and sometimes movies are thought provoking than mere visuals.  My blogs are studded or sandwiched with film personalities both native and international.  Sometimes movie reviews also find a place in my writings.  

 

Hence, it is not surprising that Raj Kapoor found a place in JOHNNY’s BLOG as I love both popular entertainments and off-beat movies alike.  

Adieu! RK, the doyen of Bollywood.  We bow to the true showman of India.