Raj Kapoor- A Big Dreamer

 

Being a big dreamer doesn’t mean that you walk around with your head in the clouds. It means that you’re seeking a purpose for your life. Raj Kapoor was the person who dreamt big and went after them, At the age of 24, he was a director and a studio owner His first film Aag was released in 1948

As a filmmaker, Raj Kapoor produced 16 films and directed 9 of them under his R.K. banner. Most of his films were successful films and received appreciation from critics and the audience. Mera Naam Joker was his biggest dream project  He made it but the film was a failure at the box office putting Raj Kapoor into a big financial crisis.

He didn't stop dreaming, he came up with an idea to get out of this debt. He released the film 'Bobby' in the year 1973. With this film, he launched his 18-year-old son Rishi Kapoor. This trick proved to be really effective and Bobby proved to be a blockbuster hit of that era. After this, along with Raj Kapoor, the days of the whole family and family went back. The film had Dimple Kapadia in the lead role along with Rishi Kapoor.

He had a dream to make a film Henna, for nearly two decades, the showman carried around Henna as an idea, like a dream. In fact, when Raj Kapoor died in 1987,  only the title, the story, and two songs: chitti and mai der karta nahin hoon, der ho jati hai. were ready

His dream lived on when his sons decided to complete the film and got it released on 28th June 1991. This film for the brothers Kapoor was a tribute to Raj Kapoor. It took them 3 years to fulfill the dream of their father. IT wasn't easy. The Cassandras of the film industry labeled the film a non-starter but the sons had the genes of Raj Kapoor of not backing out. 

Raj Kapoor had another film on his wishlist, the title of the film was 'Rishwat' the story was ready and was working on its screenplay. Another dream project was a film on Ajanta caves.

Raj Kapoor had received many awards throughout his career, including 3 National Film Awards, 11 Filmfare Awards and 21 nominations. His films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish(1954) were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His acting in the former was rated as one of the "Top-Ten Performances of all time", by the Time Magazine.His film Jagte Raho (1956) also won the Crystal Globe award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

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 I am posting some of my Favourite Raj Kapoor's Songs

Musical Instruments Played by Raj Kapoor on Screen

 

Raj Kapoor had always been interested in music. He was classically trained and capable of playing several instruments reasonably well. He was good in Tabla and Harmonium, he was also excellent in Piano.  He played different instruments on screen, the first time he played an instrument on screen was in a song of Barsaat 1949.

 Kindly recall the iconic pose where Raj Kapoor holds a violin in one hand and Nargis in the other hand. On my research, I have found more than a dozen instruments were played by him on screen.

 He was seen playing the Violin in this song, though he did not sing but played the violin only. If you watch the song 'Mujhe Kisi Se Pyar Ho Gaya' he looked so realistic as if he is actually playing it. .

Song of Barsaat 1949

The next year once again he was seen playing the flute in a song 'Sun bairi balam sach bol re' from Bawre Nain (1950), he was playing the instrument only.

Song of Bawre Nain 1950

The piano remained the favourite instrument of Bollywood Films. In almost every film it was seen in the 50s or 60s films. In many hit songs, Piano was essential Prop. In this song 'Main dil hoon ek armaan bhara' from Anhonee 1952, Raj Kapoor is singing and playing the Piano.

Song of Anhonee 1952

Raj Kapoor plays 'Daph' in this very popular song of Shree 420 (1955)film.

Song of Shree 420 (1955) 

Another song from the same film 'Shree 420' Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua, Raj Kapoor can be seen playing the Penny Whistle

Song of Shree 420 (1955) 

In 3 songs of Shree 420, we can see Raj Kapoor playing three different instruments. In this song, 'Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh' he plays the Trumpet for a few seconds.

Song of Shree 420 (1955) 

The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument from the Indian subcontinent, In this song, Raj Kapoor plays the Sarangi

Song of Parvarish 1958

There is another song from Parvarish where he plays the Tabla. He displays his real skills in this song. He plays the Tabla with his elbow also.

Song of Parvarish 1958

Another rustic instrument played in a song of the 1959 film Do Ustad.  Raj Kapoor playing the been in this song. Generally Been is used by the snake charmers.The Been music was very popular in the 50s, especially after the popularity of the song from Nagin in 1954. Recall the song 'Man Dole Tan Dole'

Song of Do Ustad 1959

'Daph' was the favourite instrument of Raj Kapoor. He played this instrument again in the Songs of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Raj Kapoor plays 'Dhol' in the song 'Yeh To Kaho Kaun Ho Tum' from 'Aashiq' released in 1962

Song of Aashiq 1962

Sangam (1964) film had 3 songs in which he played 3 different instruments. He plays the Piano in the song 'Dost Dost Na Raha', Piano Accordion in 'Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega' and Bag Pipe in 'Bol  Radha Bol Sangam'

Song of Sangam 1964

In the 1967 film 'Deewana', he played Shehnai in almost all the songs

Song of Deewana 1967

Raj Kapoor left an indelible impact on Indian cinema.

Raj Kapoor, the Greatest Showman of Bollywood started as a Clapper Boy assisting Kidar Sharma. Raj Kapoor appeared in a film for the first time at the age of ten in  1935's Inquilab. He appeared as a child artist in many more films It was his Guru Kidar Sharma, who introduced him in 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.
On Raj's 95th birth anniversary today, I give a lowdown on his films which you have and will continue to watch multiple times.

Song of Aag 1948

Aag (1948): This 1948 Bollywood flick, which marked Raj Kapoor's debut as producer and director, was the first of several films in which he was paired opposite Nargis. Interestingly, the film also starred Raj's youngest brother Shashi Kapoor as a child artiste. Shashi had essayed the role of the younger version of Kewal, the character which Raj played.


Andaz(1949)

Song of Andaz 1949

 He got real recognition from 1949 film Andaz, he co-starred alongside Dilip Kumar and Nargis in that film. Though Andaz is talked about its unique casting coup of bringing together  Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, it must be admitted that at the time of Andaz’s making, both were just beginning to become stars Andaz took Nargis right to the top and established her without doubt as India’s finest dramatic actress. Dilip Kumar too consolidated on his image of paying the tragic lover   Raj Kapoor in the more difficult role of the husband suspecting his wife’s infidelity more than manages to match strides with Dilip Kumar while showcasing the comic side of his personality 

Barsaat (1949): 

Song of Barsaat (1949)

Released in 1949, the film starred the already popular Bollywood onscreen couple - Raj Kapoor and Nargis. Actress Nimmi was launched in the film industry with this film. Barsaat is referred to as one of the first key successful films which Raj had directed. Such was the success of the film that it enabled Kapoor to purchase RK Studios in 1950. 

Awara (1951)

Song of Awara (1951)

Produced and directed by Raj Kapoor, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. It stars Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Prithviraj Kapoor. Awaara is considered a milestone in the history of Bollywood. In the film, Kapoor's poor, innocent "little tramp" character references Charlie Chaplin and was further developed in other Kapoor films such as Shree 420. 



Chori Chori (1956) 

Song of Chori Chori (1956)

This was not a RK film but was an AVM Film.The film starred Raj Kapoor and Nargis again and it was the last film they worked together as Hero and Heroine. The film was a musical hit.Raj Kapoor played a Daku for the first time.

Anari (1959) 

Song of Anari (1959)

The film stars Raj Kapoor, Nutan, Motilal, and Lalita Pawar. This was among the few movies in which Lalita Pawar played a positive role and Motilal a role with shades of grey. The film was directed by Hrishikesh Mukharjee. Raj Kapoor got a Filmfare Award for this film.

Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960): 

Song of Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960)

Directed by Radhu Karmakar and produced by Raj Kapoor, the film was a hit at the Box Office. Raj played the role of a poor friendly orphan who ekes out a livelihood by crooning songs.

Mera Naam Joker (1970):

Song of Mera Naam Joker (1970)

It's an RK Film The film was made over six years and a huge portion of the money invested came from Raj's personal fortune. The film stars Kapoor as the eponymous character, with Simi Garewal, Kseniya Ryabinkina and Padmini in supporting roles.The film was partly made with the participation of Soviet actors and was partly shot in Moscow. The film was rejected by audiences and critics, putting Kapoor into a financial crisis,

Bobby (1973) .

Song of Bobby 1973

After the debacle of Joker, this was the film Raj Kapoor produced and directed It was a Teenager's love story having his son Rishi Kapoor and a newcomer Dimple Kapadiahe film became a trendsetter    The film became a blockbuster, the top-grossing Indian hit of 1973, the second-top-grossing hit of the 1970s at the Indian box office

Raj Kapoor- The fascination of seeing his heroines wearing a white saree

Raj Kapoor(14 Dec 1924), who was one of the greatest and most successful directors who started at a young age of 24 and also one of the best actors in the history of Indian cinema. He was a pioneer in making Hindi cinema bolder, by making his heroine show off their beauty on the silver screen. He had a fascination of seeing his heroines wearing a white saree in at least one scene in his films.
One may recall the white-saree clad heroines of RK Films as Nargis in Awara, Padmini in Mera Naam Joker, Vyjayanthimala in Sangam, Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Mandakini in Ram Teri Ganga Mail and also Padmini Kolhapure in Premrog. His ‘woman in white’ fascination can be traced from his wife Krishna. It started before he marrying Krishna. It is said that Raj Kapoor once saw Krishna a young girl in a white saree with mogas in her hair, playing the sitar. That was the time when Krishna taking music lessons. Being an artiste, he reacted to the visual. He was reminded of Goddess Saraswati. The image of the ‘lady in white’ stayed in his mind and was later seen in his films.If you recall Krishna, his wife always wore white and had a flower in her hair.

Very few know that Nargis who was Raj Kapoor's heroine in Barsaat 1949 and Awara 1951  was dubbed as the Lady in White, given her penchant for white sarees. “She wore only cotton and organza with a little embroidery.
Raj Kapoor the person was not very different from the personality. A flair for flamboyance was the hallmark 

Song of Awara 1951

Song of Satyam Shivam Sundaram 1978

Song of Prem Rog 1982

Song of Ram Teri Ganga Meli 1985