Raj Kapoor
Raj kapoor is considered one of the greatest and most celebrated actors and filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema and has been crowned as The Greatest Showman and also as the Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema .
He used to be the actor, producer and director of his films under his banner RKfilms .
Raj Kapoor was born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor on
14th, December, 1924 at Kapoor Haveli, in Peshawar, in a Punjabi Hindu family of a very illustrative- kapoor clan . His father was legendary Prithviraj Kapoor and mother was Ramsarni Devi Kapoor (Nee-Mehra). The Kapoor family hailed originally from Samundri, Tehsil, Lyallpur District, west Punjab . He was the eldest of six siblings in the family.
His brothers were the famous late actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor .He is the nephew of actor Trilok Kapoor, who is the younger brother of his father. His father’s cousin was film producer Surinder Kapoor, whose children are producer Boney Kapoor and actor Anil Kapoor .
As Raj’s father Prithviraj moved from city to city early in his career for stage dramas during the 1930s, the family too had to move along with him . Raj Kapoor attended different schools like Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun, St Xavier’s School in Calcutta and Campion School in Bombay.
At the age of ten, Raj Kapoor appeared in a Hindi film for the first time, in the 1935 film Inquilab.
His big break came with the lead role in 1947 ‘s romantic film Neel Kamal नील कमल which had a good performance at box office .
In 1948, he founded his own film production company in the name of R. K. Films and made his directional debut with the film Aag आग in which he starred alongside Nargis, Premnath and Kamini Kaushal. The film
received positively acclaimed . His next hit movie was Andaz – a maga success followed by film Barsaat बरसात which was also directed and produced by him . The film emerged as a huge blockbuster including the highest grossing film of all time breaking the record of Ashok Kumar’s earlier film Kismet. The huge success of Andaz and Barsaat made Raj Kapoor as one of the leading male stars of the time along with Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand .
His next directorial film was Awaara अवारा co-starring Prithviraj Kapoor and Nargis. The film had a highly positive response from the audience and critics and proved to be another mega blockbuster . It’s music was composed by Shankar–Jaikishan and the songs of the film became best selling Hindi film music album of the 1950s and these songs ( i.e आवारा हूँ, गर्दिश में हूँ या आसमान का तारा हूँ , घर आया मेरा परदेसी and others ) became hugely popular not only in the country but also in countries like Soviet Union, China, Turkey and Afghanistan. Awaara also earned Kapoor a massive fan-following in Soviet Union where the film had app. 10 crores admissions and remains the third-most watched foreign film in that country.
In 1955, he produced, directed and starred in the film Shree 420, which broke the records of his earlier film Awara. His next hit movies were Chori Chori, Jagte Raho, Do Ustad (1959), Anari (1959) and Chhalia (1960).
In 1960, he produced and starred in the hit musical social film Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai जिस देश में गंगा बहती है . His performance in this film was simply genius.
In 1964, he acted in and directed the superhit first technicolour movie Sangam संगम starring alongside Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar and this became the highest grossing film in his career at that point of time .In 1970, Raj Saheb directed and starred in film Mera Naam Joker मेरा नाम जोकर which was not commercially successful but the film would later gain a cult following and was acknowledged as initially a misunderstood film.His next film , a family drama was Kal Aaj Aur Kal कल आज और कल which brought together three generations of the Kapoor family, with Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and his elder son Randhir in the main roles as well as Randhir’s would be wife – Babita. Then in 1973 he launched his middle son Rishi Kapoor’s career with the romantic comedy super hit film Bobby बोबी which also introduced Dimple Kapadia in the heroine’s role and made her a star . The movie was a block buster hit . In early 1980s , he produced and directed films that focused on the female protagonists ( major roles) like Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) with jeenat Amaan and a superb film Prem Rog प्रेम रोग ( 1982) with Padmini Kolhapure and yet another blockbuster film Ram Teri Ganga Maili राम तेरी गंगा मैली ( 1985) which introduced Mandakini as the heroine and last two films were super hit .Raj Kapoor’s last major film appearance was in Vakil Babu (1982) . Raj Saheb was bestowed with three National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards . His performance in film Awaara was ranked as one of the “Top-Ten Greatest Performances of All Time in World Cinema” by Times magazine, Newyork, in 2005. Again his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954) competed for the prize at the Cannes Film Festival . The Government of India honoured him with the award of Padma Bhushan in 1971 and also with country’s highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, in 1988 . In 2001, he was honoured with “Best Director of the Millennium” by Stardust Awards. He was named “Showman of the Millennium” by Star Screen Awards in 2002.In 2011, Raj Kapoor was inducted into the Brampton Walk of Fame in Ontario, CanadaHe died on 2nd june, 1988 at AIIMs , new delhi at a relatively young age of 62 due to complications of his asthma disease . Raj kapoor saheb will be remembered for centuries for his great contributions to the cinema world .His and his parent’s Samadhi समाधि is located at kapoor family’s farm house at Raj baug , on the banks of Mula-Mutha River in Loni village 30 km east of Pune . The place also has a memorial unveiled in 2014 in the presence of Lata Mangeshkar and Kapoor clan which had 7 pagodas showing elements of Raj Kapoor’s movies, a museum which also showcases family photographs and moments from his movie making from 1945 to 1988 . Raj Kapoor shot many of his films at this farm, including Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Mera Naam Joker, Bobby, and Prem Rog. The family bungalow inside the farm has been preserved; the popular song “Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho” हम तुम एक कमरे में बंद हों was shot inside this bungalow only .
—🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹—
Seven stars
Special Comment
Raj Kapoor was a fearless film maker for tackling controversial or sensitive themes and subjects . Most of his classic movies, since the early periods, were social dramas that celebrated the triumph of an underdog or of the common man . However several of these movies were romantically and erotically charged and hence were considered as being ahead of their time. The lyrics of a song from his film Shree 420—and its depiction of the hero and heroine sheltering under an umbrella was an example of the progressive nature of Raj Kapoor’s films.He was also known for tackling complex themes in his films, many of which are counted among India’s most acclaimed cinematic works and also for creating a screen personality slightly modeled on English film actor -Charlie Chaplin . He is often described as “the greatest showman of Indian cinema,” and is credited for elevating Indian films to the global stage.Raj Saheb’s later films post 1975 , explored and showed more-complex subjects like his film ‘Prem Rog ‘( 1982) was on sexual assault on women , remarriage of widows and acceptance of marriage alliance between a village’s poor Brahmin boy with the widowed daughter of village’s rich and conservative landlord’s family . On the other hand his film Satyam Shivam Sundaram focused on female desire, and Mera Naam Joker was regarding sexual awakening of an adolescent and Raj’s use of overtly erotic imagery challenged the traditionally strict Indian film standards. Two films of Raj Kapoor in particular struck a chord with international audiences namely Awaara and Shree 420—both of which were blockbusters in India and abroad. A popular song from Shree 420 summarized the global outlook of Raj kapoor but with a stress on motherland :-“Mera joota hai Japani, yeh patloon Englishtani, sar pe lal topi Roosi, phir bhil dil hai Hindustani मेरा जूता है जापानी, यह पतलून इंगलिशसतानी, सर पे लाल टोपी रूसी, फिर भी दिल है हिंदुस्तानी “Which in English translates to ‘My shoes are Japanese, trousers are English, a red Russian cap on my head, still my heart is Indian .’Raj kapoor also worked in stage dramas of his legendary father- Prithviraj kapoor.His RKStudio was also known for its grand celebrations of festivals such as Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi with participation of most of the cinema artists and artisans .
Mukesh Saheb was Raj Kapoor’s almost exclusive singing voice in almost all of his films. That is why when Mukesh ji died, Raj kapoor had said :-
“ मैंने अपनी आवाज़ को खो दिया है ( I have lost my voice ) .
However Manna Dey also sang many super-hit songs for Raj Kapoor such as : –
“Laga Chunri Mein Daag लागा चुनरी में दाग़ “ (film Dil Hi To Hai)
“Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo ऐ भाई जरा देख के चलो ( film Mera Naam Joker)
“Dil Ka Haal Sune Dil Wala दिल का हाल सुने दिल वाला ( film Shree 420)
“Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein Hum आ जा सनम मधुर चाँदनी मे हम ( film Chori Chori)
“Jahan Mein Jati Hoon Wahin Chale Aate Ho जहां मै जाती हूँ वहीं चले आते हो ( film Chori Chori)
“Yeh Raat Bhigi Bhigi, Yeh Mast Fizayen यह रात भीगी भीगी यह मस्त फ़िज़ाएँ ( film Chori Chori)
“Masti Bhara Hai Samaa मस्त भरा है समां (film Parvarish)
“Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh मुड मुड कर ना देख ( film Shree 420)
“Pyar hua Iqrar hua hai प्यार हुआ इकरार हुआ ( Film Shree 420)
“Chalat Musafir चलत मुसाफ़िर ( film Teesri Kasam)
Raj kapoor acted in about 70 films in his relatively short career of which 6 films were also directed and produced by him and in 4 he was also the director . His prominent films are :-
Neel kamal 1947
Barsaat (1949) Also directed and produced
Sargam ( 1950) also produced and directed it
Awaara (1951) also produced and directed it
Anhoni ( 1952 )
Aah (1953)
Boot Polish (1954) also produced it
Shree 420 (1955) Also produced and directed it
Chori Chori (1956)
Jagtey Raho ( 1956) also produced it
Anari ( 1959 )
Do Ustad 1959
Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960) also produced it
Sriman satywadi ( 1960)
Chhalia (1960)
Sangam (1964) also produced and directed it
Teesri Kasam (1966)
Around the World (1967)
Diwana (1967)
Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968)
Mera Naam Joker (1970) also produced and directed it
Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) also produced it
Bobby ( 1973 ) as director and producer
Mera Desh mera Dharm (1973)
Dharam karam (1975) also produced it
Do jasoos (1975)
Satyam shivam sundaram (1978) as producer and director
Gopi chand jasoos (1982)
Prem Rog (1982 ) as director and producer
Ram teri ganga maili (1985) as director and producer
——🪷🪷——
