Raj kapoor parents

Of the many things that I inherited from my father, one that I hold close is my admiration for Raj Kapoor's cinema. Growing up, I watched Kapoor's films a lot. Most weekends I would be glued to the television set watching one of Kapoor's classics — Shree , Awaara, or Mera Naam Joker.

My first introduction to Kapoor happened at an early age.

I have no recollection of the time I first heard about him or watched him. There remain just fragments of scenes from his films. And even though these films made little sense back then, I was drawn to his charming Chaplinesque act.

As I grew older, however, things changed. I discovered that Raj Kapoor was much more than just his impersonation of the tramp.

He was a genius, an auteur.

Son of Prithviraj Kapoor, one of the greatest actors of his time, Ranbir Raj Kapoor was born on December 14, He was the eldest of six children, including actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor.

His children, Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor, also established themselves as actors. Raj Kapoor, his father, brothers, children, and grandchildren form what is today known as ‘Bollywood’s first family.’ The Kapoor family’s contribution to Hindi cinema has indisputably been the most, compared to other Bollywood families — with a career of almost 60 years collectively.

Since a young age, Raj Kapoor strived hard to achieve a name separate from his superstar father.

While Kapoor made his acting debut in as a child artist, he entered the film industry as a filmmaker in with Aag.

And while Aag remains one of the lesser-known films in his repertoire, the film had many firsts for the filmmaker. It established him, not just as a director, but also as a producer, with the founding of his production house – RK Films.

The film also marked the beginning of the cinematic journey of one of the most celebrated Bollywood couples of all times – Raj Kapoor and Nargis.

With Aag, Kapoor became the youngest filmmaker of the time at the age of

Kapoor was a master in weaving lessons with entertainment.

His films stood at the threshold of mainstream and art house cinema. Class differences and the reality of the upper class in his times were recurring themes in his filmography.

He went on to direct and act in many memorable films in his career of over five decades. These included Barsaat (Raj Kapoor, ), Awāra (Raj Kapoor, ), Aah (Raja Nawathe, ), Shree (Raj Kapoor, ), Jagte Raho (S.

Mitra & A. Moitra, ), Sangam (Raj Kapoor, ), Teesri Kasam (Basu Bhattacharya, ), Mera Naam Joker (Raj Kapoor, ), Bobby (Raj Kapoor, ), and Satyam Shivam Sundaram (Raj Kapoor, ), among others.

Awāra brought the famous Chaplinesque tramp to life for the first time, making Raj Kapoor an overnight phenomenon, not just in India, but in the then USSR (now partly Russia) as well.

The film explored the love story of a poor vagabond and a rich lawyer, with the backdrop of blood versus upbringing, another recurrent theme in his filmography. Shree brought back the tramp as it narrated the story of how a poor, unemployed but educated villager, is pushed into a spiral of lies and deception by society.

Any discussion of Kapoor's filmography is incomplete without the mention of his most ambitious project, his magnum opus Mera NaamJoker.

The multi-starrer film, which followed the story of a circus joker, failed to connect with the audience at the time but went on to be deemed a classic. Kapoor's portrayal of Raju the joker was one of his most honest and heart-wrenching performances.

But among these, one performance that stands out for me is his portrayal of a peasant in Jagte Raho. Kapoor’s character acts as a bridge between the audience and the wrongdoings happening inside the four-walled apartments where the rich and elite live.

With only one significant monologue in the entirety of the film, Kapoor excels at conveying the thoughts of a simple man intimidated by all the chaos.

Kapoor was years ago, what Bollywood strives to be today — female-centric, telling stories that matter, yet banking on commercial successes.

He was one of the first in Bollywood to give equal, if not more, importance to female characters vis-a-vis their male counterparts.

Raj Kapoor's films were a turning point in the history of Hindi cinema. He introduced the concept of teenage love in Bollywood, which went on to become a trend in the Hindi film industry.

He was also the one who introduced the Indian masses to the alien concept of nudity. And though his move raised eyebrows, a closer look at his works reveals that it was never unnecessary, it was relevant to the story, and to the character.

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