By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
आप हमारे दिल को चुरा के आँख चुराये जाते हैं
ये इक तरफ़ा रसम-ए-वफ़ा हम फिर भी निभाये जाते हैं
चाहत का दस्तूर है लेकिन
आपको ही मालूम नहीं हो
जिस महफ़िल में शमा हो, परवाना जायेगा
दीवाना सैंकड़ों में पहचाना जायेगा
दीवाना…
Raj Kapoor, regarded as one of the finest exponent of cinematic excellence, started his career as an assistant to noted director Kidar Sharma (of ‘Neel Kamal’ & ‘Bawre Nain’ fame). Sharma often rebuked him for being unpunctual. His father Prithvi Raj Kapoor, too, did not do much and left him to carve a niche for himself, of his own. Thus, the showman had a lackluster beginning . The former travelled in a Car while the latter was asked to come home by foot.
Raj produced” Barsaat” in 1949 when he was 22, followed by “Aah”, ” Boot Polish”, “Shri 420” and “Jagte Raho” thereby proving his versatility of being a hard working youth. It was a huge Box Office success with many a hit numbers also paving way for Prem Nath & Nimmi as actors.
His “Awaara” became so popular that it almost became a household name outside India.” Mera Joota hai Japani” (Shree 420) was on everyone’s lips in Russia.. He was a two-time nominee for the Palme d’Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954). His performance in” Awaara” was ranked as one of the top ten greatest performances of all time by Time magazine.
In his most earlier films Raj played a simpleton or a naive in the Charlie Chaplin mould. His biggest accomplishment was to feel or to read the pulse of the cine goers, coupled with his acumen . A protagonist of beauty and eroticism Raj exploited the raw, nubile beauty of all his heroines starting with Padmani, Vyjyanthimala, Simi, Dimple Kapadia, and Zeenat Aman with impunity . After “Mera Naam Joker” when the veteran was left high and dry he hit upon the idea of introducing Mandakini in #”Ram Teri Ganga Maili”, instead of his his earlier choice Divya Rana as the former was acquiescent enough to doing some of the explicit scenes. She was portrayed frolicking around in the backdrop of snow covered mountains under the murmuring of a cascading waterfall in a skimpy see-through saree.
The film rained gold and compensated him for the losses he incurred during the “Joker” debacle.
Raj produced several hit films under his R. K. Banner such as ‘Barsaat’, ‘Awaara’, ‘Shri 420’, Sangam, Joker, ‘Bobby’, ‘Ram Teri Ganaga Maili’, ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’, and ‘Prem Rog’ as producer-director, and ”Aah, ‘Boot Polish’, ‘Jagte Raho’ and ‘Jis Desh Main Ganga Behti Hai’, as producer. The last being directed by Radh Kamarkar, his long time friend and cinematographer which won Filmfare Award for Best Film. His prominent films as an actor include Anhonee (1952), Chori Chori (1956), Anari (1959), Chhalia (1960) and Dil Hi To Hai (1963). Sadhana was not happy with him. They worked together only in “Dulha Dulhan”. Dilip Kumar & Raj Kapoor also worked together only in “Andaz”-1949.
Music always remained the most significant element of his films. Mukesh and Manna Day lent their voice to him singing memorable songs like ‘Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni’, ‘Yeh Raat bhigi Bhigi, ‘Laga Chunari Me daag’,’Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua Hai’, ‘Masti Bhara Hai Sama’, ‘Jahan Main Jaati Hoon’, ‘Chalat Musafil Moh Liya Re’ and ‘Har Dil Jo pyaar karega’ & last not the least ‘Chura Le Na Tumko Ye Mousam Suahna’ to mention a few.
‘Mud Mud Na Dekh Mud Mud Ke’ (Shree 420) ‘Ruk Ja O Jane Wali Ruk Ja’ (Kanhaiya) & ‘Patli Kamar Hai Tirchi Nazar Hai’, ‘Jiya Beqarar Hai’, ‘Mujhe Kisi Se Pyaar Ho Gayaa’ (Barsaat) are some other worth mentioning songs from his films. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was his most active partner in film making along with Mukesh, Shailendra & SJK.
I met Kapoor at R. K. Studios and showed him two of my write-ups relating to “Jis Desh Main Ganga Behti Hai” and “Ram Teri Ganga Maili” in 1985. On my return to Chandigarh, I received a letter from him followed by another one (see in the post).
