Biography of Raj Kapoor complete biography for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.
India : The greatest ‘showman’ of Hindi cinema
Born : 1924 Died : 1988
Raj Kapoor cast himself as an eternal tramp in the search of romance and happiness. Son of renowned film and stage artist Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Ranbir Raj (Raj Kapoor) was born on December 14, 1924. Seeing his penchant for films, Prithvi Raj put him under the then-film director Kedar Sharma. The latter recognized his talents and cast him as a hero in his film Neel Kamal (1947). Raj Kapoor never looked back after that. For more than fifteen years, he remained an evergreen hero of Hindi films along with his contemporaries Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand.
Soon, he launched his own R.K. Films banner. Nargis and Raj duo made a popular team and their films drew huge crowds. His films are considered a valuable contribution to cinematic art. Some of them, like Awaara (1951), Shri 420 (1955), Sangam ( 1964 ), and Mera Naam Joker (1970), can never be forgotten. These films enjoyed immense patronage in the Soviet Union, Hungary, Britain, America, and Japan. Many people still hum the tune of Awaara hun in these countries. Raj Kapoor was the only Indian actor-producer who carved a niche for himself across the continents. People of the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries of Eastern Europe still talk about his debut in the celluloid field nostalgically.
Raj Kapoor won many awards during his lifetime. Apart from many Filmfare awards, he won Grand Prix Award (1957), Padma Bhushan (1971), and Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1987). He fell ill soon after getting the last mentioned award, which he received personally in Delhi, despite the doctor’s advice against traveling. Some of his well-known films are Aag (1948), Andaz (1949), Barsaat (1949), Aah (1953), BootPolish (1954), Chori-Chori (1956), Jaagte Raho (1956), Anari (1959), Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahti Hai (1960), Chhalia (1960), Dil hi to Hai (1963), Teesri Kasam (1966), Bobby (1973), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Prem Rog (1982), and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985). His most ambitious venture was Mera Naam Joker in which he expounded his philosophy of life. Films like Awaara, Shri 420, Sangam, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahti Hai, Bobby, Prem Rog, and Ram Teri Ganga Maili earned him the title of Greatest Showman of the Hindi screen because of their sophisticated production and glamorous values.
Married to Krishna Kapoor, Raj Kapoor had three sons: Randhir, Rishi, and Rajeev who are also actors. Raj Kapoor was in close contact with the world personalities like Charlie Chaplin, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, and Nikita Khrushchev. Indians will always be grateful to this guileless person who gave them a dream world of fantasies and romances, for nearly four decades.
