Raj Kapoor's films were not playing. Raj knew that flop films could be a problem. Instead of backing down, he took a step forward and started his own production house 'RK Films' in 1948. Started making the first film 'Aag', spent a lot of money. So much so that by the time the film was over, money had to be borrowed from the servants for the tea-breakfast of the unit.
This is not the only case. Raj Kapoor made 'Awara', which gained worldwide recognition. But 'Mera Naam Joker' released in 1970 brought him back on the road. He had to pawn his wife's jewelry to pay people. He was going into depression.
Raj did not give up, in 1973 he made 'Bobby' which became a hit and made a comeback in the industry. With 'Bobby' he also gave Bollywood a new hero named Rishi Kapoor. After this film, Raj himself did not appear as a hero in any film and started working only as a director.
Read 10 cases of Raj Kapoor's film passion in the second episode of '100 Years of Showman' series.
Raj Kapoor started the production house 'RK Films' at the age of 24. He started directing films and also started acting in them. Raj Kapoor was one of the youngest directors of his time.
Raj Kapoor made his first film 'Aag' (1948). For this he had also pledged his car. He borrowed money from his servant to provide tea, water and snacks to the film unit. The film did not do well at the box office, but it established Raj Kapoor as the new director. With this film, he and Nargis became a popular pair of Hindi cinema.
Raj Kapoor signed Nargis in the film 'Aag'. He started liking Nargis in the very first meeting. He also cast Nargis as the heroine in his second hit film 'Barsaat' (1960).
Both got into a relationship while working together in these films. Nargis also became an important part of the 'RK Production' house. He also invested a lot of money in many films of the production house. Raj Kapoor himself said- 'Nargis' hard work and dedication is hidden in every set of RK.'
On the other hand, Nargis realizes that Raj cannot marry her, is already married and does not want to leave his first wife. Nargis also approached then Home Minister Morarji Desai for permission so that Raj could remarry. She wanted to change the law, but Morarji Desai refused. At the same time, he got an offer for the film 'Mother India' and this ended their beautiful relationship.
Nargis married Sunil Dutt on 11 March 1958, but Raj Kapoor could not forget her. When Nargis died of cancer, Raj also attended her funeral. He was wearing dark glasses. People present believed that he wore dark glasses to hide his grief.
Nargis and Raj Kapoor first worked together in the 1948 film Aag.
In 1952, Raj Kapoor made the cult film 'Awara' which changed the map of Hindi cinema in the world. It is said that after knowing the story, Raj Kapoor's father Prithviraj Kapoor agreed to work in this film. However, when he realized that his hero and director was his son, he took a step back. He believed that his son could not make a good film. He then agreed to do the film on the persuasion of writer Khawaja Abbas Ahmed.
The film talked about unemployment and corruption in the country after independence. People liked it a lot. This film paved the way for Indian films in the countries associated with the Soviet Union (now Russia). The film was remade 8 times in Turkey. In the year 2012, when Time magazine made a list of 100 best films of the world, 'Awara' was also named in it.
When the film premiered in a big hall in Moscow, a large number of fans came to see Raj Kapoor and Nargis. People requested Raj Kapoor to say two words, then he said in Russian – Comrades and friends, I love you so much and so do you. Goodbye.'
Abbas, the writer of the film, once asked Nikita Khrushchev, the Prime Minister of the former Soviet Union, why 'Awara' was so popular in his country. Nikita Khrushchev said that Russia had suffered a world war. Many Russian filmmakers have made films about war, but this film shows love and hope, like never before.
In return for this love of the Russian people and in honor of him, Raj Kapoor composed a song in the film 'Shri 420' with the lyrics – 'Mera shoe hai japani, yeh patloon inglistani, sir pe lal topi rusi, phir bhi dil hai hindustani.'
There were huge posters promoting the film 'Awara' in Moscow
Raj Kapoor became popular abroad after 'Awara'. It was around 1960, when he was preparing to make 'Mera Naam Joker'. He wanted to bring the Russian circus to film. For this he had to go from London to Moscow, but he did not have a visa there. However, he was allowed to go there.
After arriving in Moscow, he started waiting for a taxi outside the airport. Then the people present there recognized him. His taxi arrived and he got into it. Suddenly he saw that the taxi was not moving forward but going upwards. People took the taxi on their shoulders.
Raj Kapoor interacting with fans from Russia
Raj Kapoor had the story of the film 'Mera Naam Joker' (1970) long back. However, he was afraid of making a film on it. To decide whether to make the film or not, he started narrating the story to people visiting his home and taking feedback. Most people's response was positive. Making this film of 4 hours and 2 intervals was not an easy task. To maintain the glory, Raj Kapoor invested all his savings, but the film flopped and the Kapoor family hit the road.
After the film 'Mera Naam Joker' flopped, Raj Kapoor's collaborators started demanding their money. Rajan R.K. The studio, house and wife's jewelry were forced to be mortgaged. He also went into depression. He then made a comeback with the film 'Bobby' (1973) which was a hit.
While casting Rishi Kapoor in the film, he asked – do you want to work with a flop actor and a busy director?
Raj wanted Pran Sahib to work in 'Bobby'. But he didn't even have money to pay the fee. He told this to Pran Sahib. Pran sahib said that he was ready to work in it without taking money, but Raj Kapoor refused. He said that he would not cast anyone in a film without a fee. Then realizing their helplessness, Pran agreed to work in it for a fee of one rupee.
The film was a hit at the box office. A check of Rs.1 lakh was given to Pran. He didn't like this at all, he felt he deserved more fees than this and felt cheated. After this incident, he decided not to work with Raj Kapoor forever.
Raj Kapoor launched Rishi Kapoor (second from left) and Dimple Kapadia (third from left) as lead actors from the film 'Bobby'.
Raj Kapoor was very much influenced by people's characters and their thoughts. Many times he made many films like this. Like once Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru went to meet Raj Kapoor. He expressed concern that no films are being made for children. If such a film is made, they are ready to give their time for shooting. After this, Raj Kapoor made the film Ab Dilli Door Nahi (1957).
Similarly, he made the cult classic film Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) under the influence of Lata Mangeshkar. He and Lata Didi used to see each other a lot in the 50s. He wanted to make a film on the character of a girl with a beautiful voice, making Lata's beautiful voice the theme. In the film, Raj made the main character a girl who had a beautiful voice but was not herself. This girl seduces a handsome boy. This movie is the story of 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram'.
Raj Kapoor doing makeup for the lead actress Zeenat Aman on the sets of the film 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram'. He also paid special attention to the makeup and clothes of the actors
Raj Kapoor was very fond of food. His weight also increased with increasing age. It was around 1980s, when India's relations with China were not good. But still China requested India that they want to invite Raj Kapoor there.
When the Ministry of External Affairs spoke to him about this issue, he jumped with joy like a little child, as he loved Chinese food. He told his wife Krishna that they also have to come along. However, after a few days he became a bit depressed.
When his wife asked him the reason for his sadness, he said, 'I don't want to go to China anymore. People there must have seen Raj Kapoor in the 50s who was a young and handsome boy. Now that I am old, I have also gained weight. I don't want to break people's hearts by showing this side of me.' This was the reason why he never went to China.
One feature of Raj Kapoor that distinguished him from other filmmakers. He had great respect for every crew member present on the set and remembered everyone's name. The shooting of the film 'Ram Teri Ganga Meli' (1985) was going on and spotboy Laxman said, 'This shot should be shot with the help of a crane.' He said this in a very low voice, but Raj Kapoor heard it. He liked Laxman's talk and shot that shot with a crane.
Not only this, he used to sit and eat with all the crew members on the sets. A special meal was not prepared for them separately.
Raj Kapoor's son Rajiv was in the lead role in the film 'Ram Teri Ganga Meli'. Mandakini was launched with this film. Released in 1985, the film was a hit at the box office.
Raj Kapoor's film songs were the life of the film. He has given many evergreen songs to Hindi cinema. He said that he wanted to be a musician. Sung songs in early films 'Jail Yatra', 'Chittaud Vijay', 'Gopinath'. He also trained in classical music for three years.
From the 1949 film Barsaat, Lata Mangeshkar used to sing in Raj Kapoor's films, but the music caused a rift between them. Raj Kapoor wanted Lata Mangeshkar's brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar to compose the music for the film 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram'. However, Hridaynath was not ready to act in the film, but accepted on the advice of his sister.
At this time, Lata Mangeshkar was on a tour of America with singer Mukesh. There he heard Mukesh saying that the film was out of Hridayanath's hands. Lata Mangeshkar immediately called her brother and asked about this, and he replied, reading in the newspaper, 'I have been replaced by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.' Lata Mangeshkar got angry on hearing this. He sparred with Raj Kapoor and made it clear, 'I will never work with you.'
Lata Mangeshkar started harassing Raj Kapoor in different ways. He demanded royalties for his songs. When lyricist Narendra Sharma came to know about this, he spoke to Lata Mangeshkar and said, 'Only you can judge Raj Kapoor's songs.' As Lata Mangeshkar considered Narendra Sharma to be his father's equal, he could not avoid him and changed his decision and R.K. Started singing again for films.
Raj Kapoor discussing music with Lata Didi for the film 'Awara'. Actress Nargis was also present at this time.
Raj Kapoor was an asthma patient. He continued to work despite frequent asthma attacks towards the end of his life. The shooting of the film 'Hina' was going on and in the same year he was honored with the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. He attended the award ceremony in a wheelchair despite not being well. When Raj Kapoor's name was called in the ceremony, as per the rules, he was supposed to go on the stage and receive the award, but he could not get up. President of India R. Venkatraman broke protocol and went to Raj Kapoor's chair and paid his respects. Meanwhile, Raj Kapoor suffered an asthma attack and was rushed to AIIMS in the President's ambulance. After a few minutes, Raj Kapoor's health deteriorated. Doctors shifted to ICU. Senior journalist Pradeep Sardana was also present at that time. When the doctors told him to leave, Raj Kapoor stopped the journalist and said, 'Now I will never recover, I will die…' These were the last words of Raj Kapoor. He had a premonition of death. Within moments he went into a coma. Died a month later on June 2, 1988. The entire country was in mourning after the death of Raj Kapoor. Krishna Raj Kapoor passed away at the age of 87 in October 2018.
This picture is from Dada Saheb Phalke Award Ceremony. Raj Kapoor had an asthma attack.
After the death of his father, Randhir Kapoor completed the film 'Hina' and it was released in 1991. The hero of the film Rishi Kapoor was also the son of Raj Kapoor. This film was Raj Kapoor's dream film.
Note: The story of the episode is taken from Raj Kapoor's biography 'Raj Kapoor: The One and Only Showman' written by Raj Kapoor's daughter Ritu Nanda, Rishi Kapoor's TIFF red carpet interview and senior journalist Dilip Thakur's interview.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
