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.
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.
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 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)
|
|||||
1935
|
Yes
|
Unknown
|
Debaki Bose
|
Child artist
|
||||
1943
|
Yes
|
Unknown
|
M.I. Dharamsey
|
|||||
1943
|
Yes
|
|||||||
1946
|
Yes
|
Bhalji Pendharkar
|
||||||
1947
|
Yes
|
|||||||
1947
|
Yes
|
Madhav (Madho)
|
Mohan Sinha
|
|||||
1947
|
Yes
|
Mohan Sinha
|
||||||
1947
|
Yes
|
Madhusudan
|
||||||
1948
|
Yes
|
Mohan
|
Mahesh Kaul and Latika
|
|||||
1948
|
Yes
|
N. M. Kelkar
|
||||||
1948
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Director
|
Kewal Khanna
|
Himself
|
|||
1949
|
Yes
|
Premendra
|
Satish Nigam
|
|||||
1949
|
Yes
|
N. R. Acharya
|
||||||
1949
|
Yes
|
Rajan
|
||||||
1949
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Director
|
Pran
|
Himself
|
|||
1950
|
Yes
|
P L Santoshi
|
||||||
1950
|
Yes
|
V. M. Vyas
|
||||||
1950
|
Yes
|
Anil
|
Fali Mistry
|
|||||
1950
|
Yes
|
Raj
|
||||||
1950
|
Yes
|
Chand
|
||||||
1950
|
Yes
|
Raghupat Roy Kapur
|
||||||
1951
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Director
|
Raj Raghunath
|
Himself
|
|||
1952
|
Yes
|
Raj
|
M L Anand
|
|||||
1952
|
Yes
|
Raju
|
B. Trilochan
|
|||||
1952
|
Yes
|
Rajkumar Saxena
|
||||||
1952
|
Yes
|
Raj
|
||||||
1953
|
Yes
|
Raju / Swami
Satyananand
|
Chandulal Shah
|
|||||
1953
|
Yes
|
M. Kumar
|
||||||
1953
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Raj Raibahadur
|
|||||
1954
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Man asleep on train
|
Prakash Arora
|
Uncredited
Winner, Filmfare Best Movie Award |
|||
1955
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Director
|
Ranbir Raj/Raj
Kumar of Pipli
|
Himself
|
|||
1956
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Peasant
|
Sombhu
Mitra and Amit Maitra
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award
|
|||
1956
|
Yes
|
Sagar/Sultana Daku
|
Anant Thakur
|
|||||
1957
|
Yes
|
Chiranjeev /
Shekhar
|
||||||
1957
|
Yes
|
None
|
Amar Kumar
|
|||||
1958
|
Yes
|
Ram Babu
|
Ramesh Saigal
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award
|
||||
1958
|
Yes
|
Raja J. Singh
|
S. Bannerjee
|
|||||
1959
|
Yes
|
Ram Das Khanna
|
Naresh Saigal
|
|||||
1959
|
Yes
|
Kanhaiya
|
Om Prakash
|
|||||
1959
|
Yes
|
Raj Kumar (Rajan)/Himself
|
Tara Harish
|
|||||
1959
|
Yes
|
Govinda
|
||||||
1959
|
Yes
|
Raj Kumar
|
Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award
|
|||||
1960
|
Yes
|
Vijay
|
S M Abbas
|
|||||
1960
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Raju
|
Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award
|
||||
1960
|
Yes
|
Chhalia
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award
|
|||||
1961
|
Yes
|
Rajesh
|
||||||
1962
|
Yes
|
|||||||
1963
|
Yes
|
Shekhar
|
R.C. Talwar
|
|||||
1963
|
Yes
|
Yusuf/Chand/Khan
Sahib
|
C.L. Rawal
|
|||||
1964
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Director, editor
|
Sundar Khanna
|
Himself
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award
nominee, Filmfare Best Movie Award Winner, Filmfare Best Director Award |
||
1964
|
Yes
|
Raj Kumar
|
Ravindra Dave
|
|||||
1966
|
Yes
|
Hiraman/Meeta
|
||||||
1967
|
Yes
|
Pyarelal
|
Mahesh Kaul
|
|||||
1967
|
Yes
|
Raj Singh
|
Pachhi
|
|||||
1968
|
Yes
|
Raj Kumar
|
Mahesh Kaul
|
|||||
1970
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
director, editor
|
Raju (Joker)
|
Himself
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Actor Award
Winner, Filmfare Best Director Award Nomination, Filmfare Best Movie Award |
||
1971
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Ram Kapoor
|
|||||
1973
|
Yes
|
Director, editor
|
None
|
Himself
|
||||
1973
|
Yes
|
|||||||
1975
|
Yes
|
Dharamchand Jasoos
|
Naresh Kumar
|
|||||
1975
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Ashok Kumar
|
|||||
1976
|
Yes
|
Ramdin Pandey
|
Dulal Guha
|
|||||
1977
|
Yes
|
Gypsy singer
|
||||||
1978
|
Yes
|
Director, Narrator,
editor
|
None
|
Himself
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Director Award
|
|||
1978
|
Yes
|
Swaraj Singh
|
||||||
1980
|
Yes
|
Abdullah
|
Nomination, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor
Award
|
|||||
1981
|
Yes
|
None
|
||||||
1982
|
Yes
|
Gopichand Jasoos
|
Naresh Kumar
|
|||||
1982
|
Yes
|
Advocate Mathur
|
||||||
1982
|
Yes
|
Director, editor
|
None
|
Himself
|
||||
1984
|
Yes
|
Policeman
|
John Davies
|
|||||
1985
|
Yes
|
Director, editor,
writer
|
None
|
Himself
|
||||
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)
|
|
|
Nargis
- Raj Kapoor and Nargis worked together in 16 films including 6 of his own productions.
|
|
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).
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.
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