About Raj Kapoor

In 1948 at the age of 24, Raj Kapoor established his own studios R.K. Films and launched his first film Aag, as a director, producer and actor. Starring for the first time with the actress Nargis, with whom he is rumoured to have a long affair, the film did not fare well at the box office. The setback did not stop him from continuing to produce, direct and star in many box office hits such as Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), and Chori Chori (1956). These films established his screen image as “The Tramp” modeled on Charlie Chaplin's most famous screen persona.

In the late 1950s the era of romantic Raj Kapoor movies concluded when the Raj-Nargis affair ended, after she married Sunil Dutt whom she had met while shooting Mother India. Raj returned to RK Studio with a determination to show the world (and Nargis) that he could still make great movies on his own! He was fired up by the true-life story of a schoolteacher in Gujarat, who reformed a tribe of dacoits by education. This became the setting of Raj’s finest movie Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1961) set in the UP badlands.

The success of this film led him to think big. Sangam was a four-hour, Technicolor magnum opus, which travelled the world (Switzerland, Paris, London) and earned him the title The Great Showman of Indian Cinema. 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. This semi-autobiographical film was a box office disaster when released in 1970 putting him into a financial crisis. This film was later acknowledged as a misunderstood classic and Raj himself regarded this film as his favourite.

Sensing the importance of youth culture, Raj Kapoor bounced back with Bobby (1973) and sparked a new generation of teen romances which showed the influence the West was having on integration with Indian culture. The blockbuster film launched his second eldest son Rishi Kapoor and introduced Dimple Kapadia. 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 suffered from asthma in his later years; he died of complications related to asthma in 1988 at sixtythree 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.