Raj Kapoor

Raj Kapoor
Rāj Kapūr, December 14, 1924 - June 2, 1988) was a legendary Indian actor, producer and director of Bollywood movies. He is part of the famous Kapoor family and is the son of Prithviraj Kapoor, and Rama Kapoor, grandson of Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor.
Raj Kapoor began his career as a clapper boy assisting Kidar Sharma. At age eleven, he appeared in films for the first time, in the 1935 film Inquilab. Raj Kapoor's big break, however, came when he played the hero's role in Neel Kamal (1947) by Kidar Sharma. 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. His first movie as a producer, director and star was the 1948 film Aag which was also the first of his many films with actress Nargis. However the film failed to do well at the box office. In 1949 he once again starred with Nargis alongside Dilip Kumar in Mehboob Khan's classic blockbuster Andaz which was his first major success as an actor.

He went onto produce, direct and star in many box office hits such as Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Chori Chori (1956) and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960). These films established his image as an underdog character modeled on Charlie Chaplin's most famous character The Tramp. In 1964 he produced, directed and starred in Sangam which was his first film in colour. Raj then moved onto his ambitious 1970 film, Mera Naam Joker (My name is Joker), which took more than six years to complete. The film was said to be loosely based on his own life. When released it was a box office failure putting him into a financial crisis. Despite this setback, the film was much later acknowledged as a misunderstood classic and Raj himself regarded this film as his favourite.

He later bounced back when he produced and co-starred with his eldest son Randhir Kapoor in Randhir's acting and directorial debut Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) which also starred Raj's father Prithviraj Kapoor as well as Randhir's wife to be Babita.

Raj then launched his second eldest son Rishi Kapoor's career when he produced and directed Bobby (1973) which was not only a huge box office success but also introduced actress Dimple Kapadia, later a very popular actress, and was the first of a new generation of teen romances. Dimple wore bikinis in the film which was quite unique for Indian films then. In the latter half of the 1970s and early 1980s Raj acted in fewer films and focused more on producing and directing films which focused on the female protagonists in Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) with Zeenat Aman, Prem Rog (1982) with Padmini Kolhapure and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) which introduced Mandakini.

Raj Kapoor's last major film appearance was in Vakil Babu (1982). His last ever acting role was a cameo appearance in a 1984 released British made-for-television film titled Kim.

Raj Kapoor suffered from asthma in his later years; he died of complications related to asthma in 1988 at sixty-three 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.
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