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Raj Kapoor () (14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director, and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema.*
He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema,* [1]
and as the Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema.
Born in Peshawar as the eldest son of Prithviraj Kapoor of the Kapoor family, Raj Kapoor starred in and produced many films for which he received multiple accolades, including three National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India. He was inspired by Charlie Chaplin and played characters based on The Tramp in films, such as Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955) and Mera Naam Joker (1970). His performance in Awaara was ranked as one of the "Top-Ten Greatest Performances of All Time in World Cinema" by Time magazine in 2005. His films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954) competed for the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1951 and 1955's editions respectively.
His films were global commercial successes in parts of Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Soviet bloc. 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 to him in 1988 by the Government of India.
Some early success came with the lead role in 1947 with Kidar Sharma's Romance film Neel Kamal opposite Begum Para and Madhubala. The film proved to be a semi-hit at the box office, but his other releases, such as Jail Yatra, Dil Ki Rani and Chittor Vijay didn't do well. In 1948, he founded his own banner R. K. Films and made his directional debut with the Musical film Aag in which he starred alongside Nargis, Premnath and Kamini Kaushal. The film was an average grosser, but received positive reviews from critics.
The following year, he starred in Sargam and Dastan opposite Rehana and Suraiya, respectively. Kapoor also acted in the 1950 film Pyar, which was not a hit movie and not a popular movie, and did not receive critical acclaim. In that film, the singers were Kishore Kumar, Geeta Dutt, and Shamshad Begum. The film had a total of nine songs, with Kishore Kumar singing five songs which were two solos and three duets. The three duets Kishore had was two duets with Geeta Dutt and one duet with Shmashad Begum. Geeta Dutt singing six songs, which were two duets with Kishore Kumar and four solos, and Shamshad Begum singing only one song which was only one duet with Kishore Kumar. This movie marked the first, and last time Kishore Kumar sang for Raj Kapoor, and it was rare for only one male singer to sing in one film as in most of his films, more than one playback singer sings for him in his films, and Raj Kapoor's major playback singers for him were Mukesh and Manna Dey.
Kapoor had only one release in 1951 which was his own directional, the Crime film Awaara co-starring Prithviraj Kapoor and Nargis. The film opened to highly positive response from critics as well as the audience and proved to be another major success for the actor. Its soundtrack composed by Shankar–Jaikishan was the best-selling Hindi film music album of the 1950s and became popular in foreign markets as well, especially in the Soviet Union, China, Turkey and Afghanistan. Awaara also earned Kapoor a fan-following in Soviet Union where the film had approximately 100 million admissions and remains the third-most watched foreign film in the country. In 1952, he reunited with Nargis for psychological drama Anhonee and Crime film Bewafa. While Anhonee was a success, Bewafa only managed average returns. This was followed by a minor setback, the next year as none of his films, including Aah and Dhoon worked at the box office.
After having no major appearance in 1954, he made a comeback in 1955 with the comedy drama film Shree 420, co-starring Nargis and Nadira, which garnered critical acclaim and emerged the top-grossing film of the year. Its songs, such as "Mera Joota Hai Japani", a solo by Mukesh, "Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua", a duet by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar, and ""Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh", a duet by Dey and Asha Bhosle, topped the year-end annual list of Binaca Geetmala and made its soundtrack the fourth best-selling Bollywood album of the 1950s.Reliving the Geetmala lore. S.K. Screen, Friday, 22 September 2000, transcript available online at , accessed online on 29 July 2006 Shree 420 was released in the Soviet Union in 1956 and it took 2nd spot at the Soviet box office charts that year. Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin , page 86, Indiana University Press, 2005 Despite being imported at an unusually high price, it was the most successful foreign film of the year at the Soviet box office, drawing an audience of 35 million viewers. At the 3rd National Awards, it won National Award for Second Best Feature Film in Hindi. The following year, he starred in Anant Thakur's Chori Chori and Sombhu Mitra's Jagte Raho (which he also produced). Although underperforming commercially, the latter received acclaim and its Bengali version won Certificate of Merit at the 4th National Film Awards. Chori Chori and Jagte Raho also proved to be the final film appearances of Nargis opposite Kapoor.
After delivering a moderate fare with Sharada in 1957, Kapoor delivered two successful films, the next year - Phir Subha Hogi and Parvarish, both co-starring Mala Sinha. In 1959, he collaborated with Hrishikesh Mukherjee for the Comedy film Anari, which also had Nutan, Motilal and Lalita Pawar in the lead. The film took number one spot at the box office that year and was a blockbuster for Mukherjee whose last directional Musafir received lukewarm response from audience. (2026). 9788179910665, Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt Ltd.. ISBN 9788179910665 The common man lure of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films Rediff.com The soundtrack of Anari became one of the best-selling Hindi film album of the decade. Especially the song "Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Pe", a solo by Mukesh, was very popular. For his performance in the film, Kapoor won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
Kapoor began the 1960s with Radhu Karmakar's Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (which he also produced) and Manmohan Desai's Chhalia. The former did very well at the box office. It won Kapoor several accolades, including National Award for Second Best Feature Film in Hindi, Filmfare Award for Best Film and his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor. On the other hand, Chhalia based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's "White Nights" was a moderate commercial success, but received positive response from critics. From 1961 to 1963, he had only one success in C. V. Sridhar's melodrama film Nazrana (1961). In 1964, Kapoor had two releases, Dulha Dulhan opposite Sadhana and his own directional Sangam, co-starring Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar, which was the first Indian film to be exclusively shot abroad on locations including London, Paris and Switzerland and was also among the most expensive film of its time with the longest runtime for an Indian film up to that time. Sangam, which was Kapoor's first color film, was the second-highest-grossing film of the 1960s behind Mughal-E-Azam. Its soundtrack, composed by Shankar-Jaikishan, became very popular and included the songs "Dost Dost Na Raha", "Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega", "Bol Radha Bol", "Yeh Mera Prem Patra". Sangam also proved to be one of the last major hits of Kapoor as a lead.
The following year, Kapoor produced and appeared alongside his son (Randhir Kapoor) and father in Kal Aaj Aur Kal. The film proved to be moderately successful and marked Shankar-Jaikishan's last collaboration with R. K. Films. In 1973, he decided to launch Rishi to cover-up the losses incurred due to the box office failure of Mera Naam Joker, in the Romance film Bobby, which paired him opposite debutante Dimple Kapadia. The film opened to thunderous commercial response, both in India as well as overseas and emerged an All Time Blockbuster as well as the highest-grossing film of 1973. In 1975, Kapoor returned to acting with two back-to-back successful films in Randhir Kapoor's Dharam Karam and Naresh Kumar's Do Jasoos. In 1978, he returned to the director's chair with Satyam Shivam Sundaram starring Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman. It ran into controversies and was accused of promoting "obscenity", but opened to positive reception from critics as well as audience and earned him a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Director category.
In 1980, Kapoor appeared alongside Sanjay Khan and Zeenat Aman in the highly anticipated romantic drama Abdullah. Upon release, it did not live up to expectations and underperformed domestically, but was successful overseas due to his popularity in the Soviet Union. In 1982, Kapoor once again directed his son Rishi in the romantic musical drama Prem Rog opposite Padmini Kolhapure. The film marked his return to social themes and emerged commercially successful at the box office as well as the second-highest-grossing film of the year. Its soundtrack composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal was also very successful and proved to be one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the decade. The same year, he appeared alongside Shashi in Asit Sen's Vakil Babu, which marked his final film appearance.
In 1985, he directed and produced romance film Ram Teri Ganga Maili, which had his youngest son Rajiv Kapoor and the then newcomer Mandakini playing the lead roles. Despite not having any stars, Ram Teri Ganga Maili took first spot at the box office that year and proved to be an All Time Blockbuster and one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. At the 33rd Filmfare Awards, it won five awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Kapoor and Best Music Director for Ravindra Jain. Ram Teri Ganga Maili was Kapoor's last work as he died in 1988. Few months before his death, he was working on an Indo-Pak cross-border love story Henna, which was later directed and released by Randhir in 1991 and went on to become a major box office success.
Raj and Krishna Kapoor had five children: three sons, actors Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor, and two daughters, Ritu Nanda and Rima Jain. Randhir is married to former actress Babita and is the father of actresses Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Rishi's widow is actress Neetu Singh and their two children are daughter Riddhima Kapoor, and son, actor Ranbir Kapoor. Raj Kapoor's elder daughter, Ritu Nanda, was married to industrialist Rajan Nanda (scion of the family which promoted and controls the Escorts group), and they had two children: daughter Nitasha Nanda and son, Nikhil Nanda, 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 Armaan Jain and Aadar Jain, both actors.
Both of Kapoor's brothers, all three of Kapoor's sons, two of Kapoor's daughters-in-law, three of Kapoor's grandchildren and a great-grandson are all actors in the Hindi 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 Hindi cinema superstars from the Kapoor family, while another of his grandsons, Nikhil Nanda (Kapoor's daughter Ritu's son), is a noted industrialist. Nikhil's son, Agastya Nanda, made his acting debut with The Archies in 2023.
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 Kapoor would not leave his wife and children, Nargis ended their relationship after Chori Chori and married her co-star Sunil Dutt with whom she fell in love on the set of Mother India (1957). In 2017, his second son Rishi confirmed his father's affairs in his autobiography Khullam Khulla.Goyal, Divya (updated 1 October 2018) Exclusive: Rishi Kapoor On What His Mother Said To Nargis About Raj Kapoor Affair – NDTV Movies. Movies.ndtv.com (18 January 2017). Retrieved on 20 November 2018.
Krishna Raj Kapoor died on 1 October 2018. Rajan Nanda, husband of Ritu Nanda, died on 5 August 2018. In January 2020, Ritu Nanda herself died. She was followed three months later by her younger brother Rishi Kapoor, Kapoor's second son, who died in April 2020. Kapoor's third and youngest son, Rajiv Kapoor, died in February 2021.
Dilip Kumar, Mukesh, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, 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.
Siddharth Kak made Raj Kapoor, a feature film documentary on the actor in 1987 which was produced by the Government of India's Films Division.
A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him on 14 December 2001. To honour him, a brass statue of his was unveiled at Walk of the Stars at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai in March 2012.
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:
Kapoor appeared in Box Office Indias "Top Actors" list twelve times from 1949 to 1960.
Apart from his success as an actor, Kapoor is also considered one of the greatest directors of Indian cinema. The films directed by him, such as Shree 420 (1955), Sangam (1964), Bobby (1973) and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) are among the biggest hits of all time with each one having footfalls ranging from 40 to 50 million or even more.
In 2014, Google Doodle commemorated his 90th birthday.
Raj Kapoor was a canny judge of filmi music and lyrics. Many of the songs he commissioned are evergreen hits. He introduced the music directors Shankar–Jaikishan and the lyricists Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra. 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 actresses Nimmi, Dimple Kapadia, and Mandakini, as well as launching and reviving the careers of his sons Rishi, Randhir and Rajiv.
Famous for making his actresses reveal the body, not very common then in Indian cinema, it was said his 'show-womanship' matched his showmanship. He often portrayed women through a deeply sensual and symbolic lens, frequently invoking themes of what he calls "sacred nudity" ( muqaddas uriyan in Urdu), a concept he linked to early memories and which manifested in recurring bathing scenes and ethereal female imagery in his films, as he recounts:
I was extremely precocious. And I was a worshipper of nudity. I think it all started because of my intimacy with my mother who was young, beautiful, and had the sharp features of a Pashtuns woman. We often bathed together, and seeing her in the nude must have left a deep erotic impression on my mind. There is an excellent Urdu phrase, muqaddas uriyan (sacred nudity), which describes this perfectly. In my films, bathing scenes recur often. Women in general occupy most of my early memories, and they appear in my films like ghosts that refuse to be buried.Raj Kapoor's Shree 420 (1955) movie's Hindi song Mera Joota Hai Japani ("My Shoes are Japanese") was used in opening sequence of 20th Century Studios 2016 movie Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds.
The 1967 "Song about Yogis" () by Vladimir Vysotsky mentions Raj Kapoor as one of the three best-known symbols of Indian culture in the Soviet Union, along with Shiva and yoga. В.С.Высоцкий 1967 Песенка про йогов . kacmanat.ru
In 2022, he was placed in Outlook Indias "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.
The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987 – the highest award for cinematic excellence in India. 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 June 2011, Noah Cowan, artistic director of TIFF Bell Lightbox, and Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft along with members of the Kapoor family came together to pay tribute to the life and work of Indian actor, director, mogul and legend Raj Kapoor, as presented in partnership by TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), and the Government of Ontario. In 2011, it was announced that Kapoor will be inducted into the Brampton Walk of Fame in Ontario, Canada. From December 13 to 15, 2024, a special screening of Raj Kapoor's most famous films were held in 40 cities and 135 theaters across India for his 100th Birthday Anniversary celebration.
List of films with Shankar–Jaikishan: (18 Films)
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