Ranbirraj “Raj” Kapoor (Hindi: राज कपूर, Urdu: راج کپُور Rāj Kapūr, December 14, 1924 – June 2, 1988), also known as the show-man, was a legendary Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi films. He was the winner of eight Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954) were nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Early life and background
Raj Kapoor was born in Peshawar in the NWFP Province of Pakistan to actor, Prithviraj Kapoor, and Ramsarni (Rama) Devi née Mehra. He was the eldest of the four children in the Khatri Hindko family.He was the grandson of Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor and great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, part of the famous Kapoor family.
His younger brothers are the actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. He also had a sister by name Urmila
Sial.
Career
Raj Kapoor began his career as a clapper boy assisting Kidar Sharma at a film studio. At age eleven, he appeared in films for the first time, in the 1935 film Inquilab. After acting in several other films 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. His first movie as a producer, director and star was the 1948 film Aag which was also the first of his many films with actress Nargis. However the film failed to do well at the box office. In 1949 he once again starred alongside Nargis and
Dilip Kumar in Mehboob Khan’s classic blockbuster Andaz which was his first major success as an actor.
He went on to produce, direct and star in many box office hits such as Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Chori Chori (1956) and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960). These films established his screen image as The Tramp modeled on Charlie Chaplin’s most famous screen persona. In 1964 he produced, directed and starred in Sangam which was his first film in colour. This was his last major success as a leading actor. He moved onto directing and starring in his ambitious 1970 film, Mera Naam Joker (My name is Joker), which took more than six years to
complete. When released in 1970, it was however a box office disaster putting him into a financial crisis. Despite this setback, Raj himself regarded this film as his favourite.
He bounced back in 1971 when he co-starred with his eldest son Randhir Kapoor in Randhir’s acting and directorial debut Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) which also starred Raj’s father Prithviraj Kapoor as well as Randhir’s wife to be Babita. From then on he acted in films as a character actor and focused on producing and directing films. He launched his second eldest son Rishi Kapoor’s career when he produced and directed Bobby (1973) which was not only a huge box office success but also introduced actress Dimple Kapadia, later a very popular actress, and was the first of a new generation of teen romances. Dimple wore bikinis in the film which was quite unique for Indian films then.
In the latter half of the 1970s and early 1980s he produced and directed
films which 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.
Raj Kapoor’s last major film appearance was in Vakil Babu (1982). His
last acting role was a cameo appearance in a 1984 released British made-for-television
film titled Kim.
Raj Kapoor suffered from asthma in his later years; he
died of complications related to asthma in 1988 at sixty-three years of age. At
the time of his death he was working on the movie Henna (an
Indo-Pakistani love story). The film was later completed by his son Randhir
Kapoor and released in 1991 going onto become a huge success.
Legacy
Raj Kapoor is appreciated both by film critics and ordinary film 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, the former Soviet Union, China, and Southeast Asia; his
movies were global commercial successes.
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
- Ye pataloon Inglistani
- Sar pe lal topi Roosi
- Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani
- My shoes are Japanese
- These trousers are English
- The red cap on my head is Russian
- However my heart is Indian
The song is still extremely popular and has been featured in a number of
movies since Shree 420. Indian authorMahasweta 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 directorsShankar Jaikishan and
the lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri. 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 actors Nimmi, Dimple
Kapadia, and Mandakini, as well
as launching and reviving the careers of his sons Rishi and Rajiv. Raj Kapoor
was a great actor in Bollywood.
Personal life
The Kapoor family hailed from what is now Faisalabad (then called
Lyallpur) in the Punjab province
of present-day Pakistan.
In 1946, at 22, Raj Kapoor married Krishna Malhotra belonging to Jabalpur, in a
traditional family-arranged wedding. Krishna was a distant relative, his
father’s maternal uncle’s daughter. Her brothers Prem Nath as well as Rajindernath were also
actors. Raj Kapoor and Krishna’s eldest son Randhir Kapoor was born
in 1947, followed by their elder daughter Ritu the year after, in 1948.
The second son actor, Rishi Kapoor was born in
1952, and second daughter Reema
Kapoor in 1956. Their youngest son, Rajiv Kapoor was born in
1962. Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor have all been associated
with Bollywood as actors, directors or producers.
Kapoor is also known to have had a longtime romantic relationship with the
renowned actress Nargis during the 1950s. But
he couldn’t marry her as his brother-in-law Premnath threatened him if he would
do so, then he would shoot both of them. The couple starred in several films
together, including Awaara and Shree
420. He is also alleged to have had an affair with Vyjayanthimala, his
co-star in Sangam.
His grand daughters are Bollywood actress, Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the
daughters of his eldest son Randhir Kapoor by his
wife Babita. Ranbir
Kapoor, the son of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu
Singh, his family has found another Kapoor scion to join the ranks of the
Hindi Film Industry in 2007.
Association with other artists
Shankar Jaikishan
Shankar-Jaikishan were his 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.
List of films with Shankar Jaikishan:
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Nargis
- Raj Kapoor and Nargis worked together in 16
films including 6 of his own productions.
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Mukesh
Mukesh was Raj Kapoor’s almost exclusive singing voice in almost all of his
films. 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 songs are best illustrated by following songs:
- Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua Hai (Shree 420)
- 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 Fazayen (Chori Chori)
- Masti Bhara Hai Samaan (Parvarish)
- Dum Dum diga diga
Further reading
- The Kapoors: the first family of Indian cinema, by Madhu Jain. Penguin, Viking, 2005. ISBN 670058378.
References
- Allmusic biography
- “Bollywood’s First Family“. Rediff. http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/feb/02slide1.htm.
- “Prithviraj Kapoor: A centenary tribute“. Daily Times / University of Stockholm. http://www.statsvet.su.se/publikationer/ahmed/artiklar_2006/41_prithviraj_kapoor.htm.
- “Prithviraj Kapoor:“. Kapoor Family Page.
Sources
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. London: British Film Institute; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994
- Kishore, Valicha. The Moving Image. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1988
External links
- Raj Kapoor at the Internet Movie Database
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[...] is best known for the songs he sang as a playback singer for Raj Kapoor, a legendary actor/director of Bollywood in the 1950s and [...]
[...] this period. Examples include the Guru Dutt films Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and the Raj Kapoor films Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with [...]
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