Raj Kapoor

Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in Hindi Cinema. He is often referred to as ''The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema''. He received multiple accolades, including three National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India. The Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award is named after Kapoor. He produced two films, ''Awaara'' (1951) and ''Boot Polish'' (1954), that competed for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His performance in ''Awaara'' was ranked as one of the "Top-Ten Greatest Performances of All Time in World Cinema" by ''Time'' magazine. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 for his contributions to the arts. India's highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, was bestowed on him in 1987 by the Government of India.

His movies were popular in large parts of South/Central/Southeast Asia, the former Soviet Union/ Bloc, China, the Middle East, and Africa; his movies were global commercial successes. He was inspired by Charlie Chaplin and played characters based on The Tramp in films such as ''Awaara'' (1951) and ''Shree 420'' (1955). Raj Kapoor was known as the Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema.

Early life and background

Raj Kapoor was born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor on 14 December 1924 at ''Kapoor Haveli,'' a large house then owned by his grandfather in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar neighborhood of Peshawar, British India into a Punjabi Hindu family of the Kapoor clan, who belonged to the Dhai Ghar Khatri community. His parents were Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Devi Kapoor (''née'' Mehra). The Kapoor family hailed originally from Samundri, Samundri Tehsil, Lyallpur District, Punjab Province, British India. He was the eldest sibling of six children in the family. He was the grandson of Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor, great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, and great-great-grandson of Dewan Murli Mal Kapoor, and was part of the famous Kapoor family. His brothers were the late actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial. Two other siblings died in infancy. Kapoor's family later on moved from Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province to Bombay, Bombay Presidency for residence and for education.
He is the nephew of actor Trilok Kapoor, who is the younger brother of his father Prithviraj Kapoor. His first cousin was actor Subbiraj who was his father's sister's son.
His father's cousin was film producer Surinder Kapoor, whose children are producer Boney Kapoor and actors Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor. His father's maternal first cousins were actors Kamal Kapoor, Ravindra Kapoor, and Nandkishore Kapoor. Kamal Kapoor's grandson is filmmaker Goldie Behl. His maternal first cousin, Juggal Kishore Mehra, was a singer, whose step-granddaughter, Salma Agha, later became an actress and singer.

As Prithviraj moved from city to city early in his career during the 1930s, the family had to move too. Raj Kapoor attended several different schools like Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dera Doon, St Xavier's Collegiate School in Calcutta and Campion School in Bombay.

Career

At the age of ten, he appeared in a Hindi film for the first time, in 1935's ''Inquilab''. 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), Aah (1953), ''Shree 420'' (1955), ''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 ''Dastan'' (1950), '' Anhonee'' (1952), '' Chori Chori'' (1956), ''Anari'' (1959), '' Do Ustad'' (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 colour. This was his last major success as a leading actor as his later films like '' Dulha Dulhan'' (1964), '' Around the World'' (1966) and '' Sapnon Ka Saudagar'' (1968) with younger starlets Sadhana, 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 to-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: ''Do Jasoos'' (1975) and ''Gopichand Jasoos'' (1982), both directed by Naresh Kumar (brother of Rajendra Kumar). 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. A film he had shot and completed in 1982 titled ''Chor Mandali'' in which he appeared opposite fellow veteran actor Ashok Kumar remained unreleased due to a legal dispute. 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.

Personal life

On 12 May 1945, Raj Kapoor married Krishna Malhotra (1931-2018), who was his father's first cousin (commonly known as his first cousin once removed). Her father was a brother of Raj Kapoor's paternal grandmother, and she was thus a first cousin of Raj Kapoor's father Prithviraj Kapoor. It was a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way, and it lasted all their lives. The news of Raj Kapoor's 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, Madhya Pradesh". Krishna was one of nine siblings, and following her marriage, many of them joined the Hindi film industry. Her brothers, Rajendra Nath, Prem Nath and Narendra Nath, later became actors, and her sister Uma is married to actor Prem Chopra.

Raj and Krishna Kapoor had five children: three sons, actors Randhir Kapoor (1947-), Rishi Kapoor (1952-2020) and Rajiv Kapoor (1962-2021), and two daughters, Ritu Nanda (1949-2020) and Rima Jain (1955-). Randhir is married to former actress Babita and is the father of actresses Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Rishi was married to former actress Neetu Singh until his death and is father of two children, a daughter Riddhima, and a son, actor Ranbir Kapoor. Raj Kapoor's elder daughter, Ritu Nanda, was married until their deaths to industrialist Rajan Nanda (scion of the family which promoted and controls the Escorts group), and she was the mother of two children. Her son, Nikhil Nanda, is married to Shweta, daughter of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. Raj Kapoor's younger daughter, Rima Jain, is married to investment banker Manoj Jain and is the mother of aspiring actors Armaan Jain and Aadar Jain.

Both of Kapoor's brothers, all three of Kapoor's sons, two of Kapoor's daughters-in-law and three of Kapoor's grandchildren have been active at various times in the film industry. His granddaughters Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor (daughters of Kapoor's eldest son Randhir), and grandson Ranbir Kapoor (son of Kapoor's second son Rishi) are the latest Bollywood stars from the Kapoor family, while another of his grandsons, Nikhil Nanda (Kapoor's daughter Ritu's son), is a noted industrialist.

Kapoor had a longtime romantic relationship with renowned actress Nargis Dutt during the 1940s and 1950s, despite 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 on the set of ''Mother India'' (1957). Kapoor is also said to have had an affair with top 1960s actress Vyjayantimala during the shooting of '' Sangam''. Vyjayanthimala has denied that she was ever involved with Kapoor. She deemed the whole thing a publicity stunt by Kapoor to promote his film. Kapoor has also been linked with the southern actress Padmini. In 2017, his second son Rishi confirmed his father's affairs in his autobiography ''Khullam Khulla''.

In January 2020, Kapoor's eldest daughter Ritu died. His second son Rishi died in April the same year. His youngest son Rajiv died in February 2021.

Dilip Kumar, Mukesh, Dev Anand, Pran, Rajendra Kumar, Manna Dey, Shankar Jaikishan, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Rajesh Khanna were among Kapoor's closest friends from the movie industry.

Filmography

Directed features

1. '' Aag'' (1948)

2. '' Barsaat'' (1949)

3. ''Awaara'' (1951)

4. ''Shree 420'' (1955)

5. '' Sangam'' (1964)

6. ''Mera Naam Joker'' (1970)

7. ''Bobby'' (1973)

8. ''Satyam Shivam Sundaram'' (1978)

9. ''Prem Rog'' (1982)

10. ''Ram Teri Ganga Maili'' (1985)

Death

Cause

Raj Kapoor suffered from asthma in his later years; he died of complications related to the disease in 1988 at the age of 63. He collapsed at the event where he was to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in New Delhi, and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi for treatment. He was hospitalised for about a month before he succumbed to complications arising from his asthma. At the time of his death, he was working on the movie '' Henna'' (an Indo-Pakistan based love story). The film was later completed by his sons Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor and was released in 1991.

Memorial at family farm in Pune

His and his parents' Samadhi (memorial) is at their family farm ''"Rajbaugh"'', which means the ''"gardens of king"''. Located inside the MIT Art Design and Technology University (MIT ADTU), Rajbaugh lies on the banks of Mula-Mutha River in Loni Kalbhor village 30 km east of Pune in Maharashtra. Kapoor family sold part of 125 acres Rajbaugh to MIT ADTU which built a memorial for the Kapoor family on its campus. Memorial was unveiled in 2014 in the presence of Lata Mangeshkar and Kapoor clan. Kapoor family memorial has 7 pagodas showing elements of Raj Kapoor's movies, a museum or viewing gallery which showcases family photographs and moments from his movie making from 1945 to 1990. Raj Kapoor shot many of his films at this farm, including ''Satyam Shivam Sundaram'', ''Mera Naam Joker'', ''Bobby'', and ''Prem Rog''. The family Banglow inside the farm has been preserved; the popular song " Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho" was shot inside this banglow.With RK Studios up for sale in Mumbai, here is how Pune still hangs on to Raj Kapoor's memories
Hindustan Times, 2 September 2018.Raj Kapoor Memorial
mitsft.in.Madhu Jain, 2009
Kapoors: The First Family of Indian Cinema
Penguin Books