New Delhi, “When I die, bring my body to my studio. There’s a good chance I’ll wake up in their lights and scream action…action” by Raj Kapoor is said to have been mentioned in his daughter’s book. His words, captured as if captured in a frame, freeze the passion of a filmmaker who has left a lasting mark on Indian cinema.
Raj Kapoor would have turned 100 on December 14th. He released his first film in 1948, the year after independence. And as India evolved over the decades, so did his films, showing society’s dreams and struggles in shades of black and white that gave way to glossy Technicolor.
For this filmmaker, visionary entrepreneur who founded RK Studios with his first film, and patriarch of cinema’s “first family,” the lines have blurred and the original Repositioned into a larger-than-life portrait of the man still known as the showman. of indian movies.
Through nostalgic sepia tones, a keen foresight emerges that knew what was coming.
He is the ardent lover in ‘Barsaat’, the poor wannabe in ‘Shree 420’, the down-on-his-luck chapurine-like vagrant in ‘Awala’, the sensitive joker in ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and ‘Sangam’. He was a very possessive husband. Add to these titles such as ‘Bobby’, ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’, which he produced and directed but did not act in, and he was a box office hit. He is a perfect movie person with a solid eye on income.
Raj Kapoor ruled the silver screen along with two other greats Dev Anand and fellow Peshawari Dilip Kumar. But unlike his colleagues, he was not only an actor, but also a producer and director whose music still resonates decades later.
He has directed only 10 films, including ‘Awara’ and ‘Shree 420’ which are in the gallery of unforgettable classics, blockbusters ‘Bobby’ and ‘Sangam’ and ‘ Satyam Shivam Sundaram’, ‘Prem Rog’ and other controversial hits. ‘ and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’.
His filmography includes ‘Andaz’, ‘Jaagte Raho’ and ‘Teesri Kasam’, in which actor Raj Kapoor shined. He also produced films through RK Studios, one of the most powerful studios in the industry for decades.
In all of this, there was one failure. Introspective and ambitious, ‘Mera Naam Joker’ is now considered a classic. This failure left him hurt and he went on to do the teen romance “Bobby”.
And every movie had great songs. Remember the global hits ‘Awara Hoon’, ‘Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan’, ‘Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua’ or ‘Hum Tum Kamre Mein Band Ho’?
“He was a great musician…I think it was probably innate. He probably inherited it from his mother, who was a singer, not from his father…He played the accordion, the tabla, the piano, the flute, or… He could play any instrument, including ‘Dav’,” his younger brother Shashi Kapoor recalls in the documentary.
Raj Kapoor was the eldest of three children, including the unforgettable Shammi Kapoor. Each of them carved out their own space in the industry, leaving the shadow of their famous father Prithviraj Kapoor.
Raj Kapoor was just 17 years old when he asked his father for permission to abandon his studies for a career in film. Prithviraj agreed on the condition that he would work for a monthly salary as one of the many assistants he employs. INR10.
After appearing in several films as an actor, including 1947’s Neel Kamal, in which he co-starred with Madhubala, Raj Kapoor decided to take the plunge as a director and producer with Aag. At 24 years old, he was one of the world’s youngest film directors at the time.
“Aag” is also a rumination on inner and outer beauty, love and loyalty, a theme that resonated deeply with the filmmaker, who revisited this theme in “Barsaat” and “Satyam Shivam Sundaram.” .
Raj Kapoor’s early films began with 1951’s Awala and continued with Shree 420 and Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, directed by his trusted aide Radhu Karmakar. Many focused on Charlie Chaplin’s role as a vagrant.
He was a creature of habit. Throughout his 37-year career as a film director, starting with ‘Aag’ in 1948 and ending with ‘Ram Teri…’ in 1985, he stuck to much the same talented team.
They include writer KA Abbas, cinematographer Karmakar, musician Shankar Jaikishen, lyricist Shailendra, and singer Mukesh, the voice he called his soul. was.
According to the younger brother Shashi, their father and his theatrical work influenced the socialist tone of his brother’s early films.
Raj Kapoor once spoke about why ‘Awara’ became such a sensation.
“This script came to me just at a time when India was developing a new social concept, embracing millions of its citizens, rather than just a few haves and a rest of the have-nots. “It was something,” he said. A documentary by Simi Garewal, who co-starred in Mera Naam Joker.
His heroines, mostly dressed in white, played central roles in his films. Vyajanthimala, Padmini and the most important collaboration was Nargis. Their enduring partnership produced blockbuster hits like ‘Barsaat’, ‘Awara’, ‘Andaz’ and ‘Chori Chori’.
This association came to an end with her brief appearance in ‘Jagte Raho’.
A scene from ‘Barsaat’, released in 1949 after ‘Andaz’, inspired Raj Kapoor’s famous RK Studios logo, which has a violin in one arm and Nargis dangling from the other. .
“Awara” was named one of the “Top 10 Best Performances in World Cinema History” by Time magazine in 2005. This film was also the one that established Raj Kapoor’s enduring stardom outside of India, especially in Russia.
He was born Ranbir Raj Kapoor on December 14, 1924 in Peshawar, not far from where Dilip Kumar was born, and set down roots hundreds of miles away in Mumbai when he bought land in Chembur. Ta. RK Studio was established there.
It gave wings to his dreams.
This is where we designed massive sets to shoot dream scenes in ‘Awara’, brought in tulips and expensive champagne to shoot important scenes in ‘Bobby’, and where we designed ‘Mera Naam’. There were filmmakers who were unencumbered by logistics, such as filming a circus troupe for “Joker.” It is his most autobiographical film and the last time he played a main character.
1964 marked a change in his films. ‘Sangam’ was the first major Hindi film to be shot in Technicolor and abroad. It’s also a film in which his talent as a showman becomes more apparent, with the idealism and intense romanticism of his earlier work replaced by a more populist tone.
His later films, especially Bobby, Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Ram Teri Ganga Maili, were often controversial for their voyeuristic nature. However, Raj Kapoor dismissed it all.
“We are shocked when we see nudity. We need to mature. I have always respected women, but I don’t understand why we are accused of exploiting them. Fellini’s naked women are art But when a woman’s beauty is shown on screen, it becomes art.”It’s called exploitation,” Ritu Nanda quoted her father as saying in her book Raj Kapoor Speaks. was quoted.
On May 2, 1988, Raj Kapoor, who was in Delhi to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, suffered a severe asthma attack and collapsed in the auditorium and was rushed to the hospital. He died a month later.
Raj Kapoor was 63 years old.
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