The Biography of Famous Personalities of India will tell you about the controversies, the dark sides of a person that you may have never heard of.
Raj Kapoor’s Early Life, Family, Personal life and Film Career
Early Life and Family Background
A woman always has her man, but the man unconsciously leans on his roots, his heritage. He feels like an orphan without his parents.
Born Ranbir Raj Kapoor on 14 December 1924 at the Kapoor Haveli near Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar, into a Punjabi Hindu family to thespian Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Devi Kapoor. Prithviraj was the son of Dewan Basheshwar Nath Kapoor and grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor. Prithviraj had three sons and one daughter.
Kapoors later on moved from Peshawar into present-day India for residence and for education. As Prithviraj Kapoor moved from city to city early in his career during the 1930s, the family had to move too. The constant move meant Raj Kapoor attended several different schools in cities like Dehradun, Calcutta and Mumbai. Prithviraj acted both in films and theatre,
Raj Kapoor had failed in his matriculation examination. Drawn towards cinema, he started working as an assistant on the sets of Dilip Kumar’s first film, Bombay Talkies’ Jwar Bhata.
Raj Kapoor’s younger brothers are the actors late Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. He also had a sister by name Urmila Sial.
Shammi Kapoor used to refer to himself as the first Kapoor born on Indian soil. He was born in 1931 and forayed into films in 1952. He had moderate success till 1961, when Junglee released and turned him into a sensation.
The youngest of Prithviraj’s ciildren, Shashi Kapoor was born in Calcutta. His childhood was spent in the backstage of Prithvi Theatre, the travelling theatre group that used to tour eight months every year all over India. He started off as a child artiste in RK films like Aog and Awara. He made his lead debut in 1961 with Dharmputra.
Famous film personalities Boney Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor are also somewhat related to the Kapoor family as they are the sons of Prithviraj Kapoor’s cousin Surinder Kapoor.
Personal Life
Remembering the old days sometimes is very good For health.
In 1946, at 22, Raj Kapoor married Krishna Malhotra belonging to Jabalpur, in a traditional family-arranged wedding. Krishna was a distant relative, his father’s maternal uncle’s daughter.
In the June edition of the year 1946 of Film India which was a cine-magazine, the news of this epic marriage was revealed along with a caption of “versatile son of Prithviraj Kapoor ended his career of wild oats”.
Their marriage was a arranged marriage and after marriage Kapoors wanted Krishna Malhotra to become a daughter-in-law, wife and mother in a traditional mould and she proved herself to be that.
Rajendra Nath, Prem Nath and Narendra Nath are Krishna’s brothers who later became film actors while her sister Uma was married to Prem Chopra who is a famous film villain.
Raj Kapoor and Krishna’s eldest son Randhir Kapoor was born in 1947, followed by their elder daughter Ritu the year after, in 1948. The second son, Rishi Kapoor was born in 1952, and second daughter Reema in 1956. Their youngest son, Rajiv Kapoor was born in 1962. Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor have all been associated with Bollywood as actors, directors or producers.
Raj Kapoor is also known to have had a longtime romantic relationship with the renowned actress Nargis during the 1950s. The couple starred in several films together, including Awara and Shree 420. He is also alleged to have had an affair with Vyjayantimala, his co-star in Sangam.
His grand daughters are Bollywood actress, Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the daughters of his eldest son Randhir Kapoor by his wife Babita.
In Ranbir Kapoor, the son of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, his family has found another Kapoor scion to join the ranks of the Hindi Film Industry.
Raj Kapoor Family Tree
Film Career
If you cry, cry on a Friend’s shoulder. If you die, go on a Friend’s shoulder.
Raj Kapoor began his career as a clapper boy assisting Kedar Sharma at a film studio. At age eleven, he appeared in films for the first time, in the 1935 film Inquilab. After acting in several other films for the next 12 years, Raj Kapoor’s big break came with the lead role in Neel Kamal (1947) opposite Madhubala who too was in her first role as a leading lady in the film.
In 1948, at the age of twenty-four, he established his own studio, RK 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 alongside Nargis and Dilip Kumar in Mehboob Khan’s classic blockbuster Andaz which was his first major success as an actor.
He went on to produce, direct and star in many box office hits such as Barsaat (1949), Awora (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Chori Chori (1956) and Jis Desh Men Gango Behti Hai (1960). These films established his screen image as The Tramp modeled on Charlie Chaplin’s most famous screen persona.
In 1964 he produced, directed and starred in Sangam which was his first film in colour. This was his last major success as a leading actor. He moved onto directing and starring in his ambitious 1970 fiim, Mera Naam Joker, which took more than six years to complete. The film was said to be loosely based on his own life. When released in 1970, it was however a box office disaster putting him into a financial crisis. Despite this setback, the film was much later acknowledged as a misunderstood classic and Raj Kapoor himself regarded this film as his favourite.
Raj Kapoor bounced back in 1971 when he co-starred with his eldest son Randhir Kapoor in Randhir’s acting and directorial debut Kal Aaj Aur Kal which also starred Raj’s father Prithviraj Kapoor as well as Randhir’s wife to be Babita. From then on he acted in films as a character actor and focused on producing and directing films.
He 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 later half of the 1970s and early 1980s he produced and directed films which focused on the female protagonists: 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 acting role was a cameo appearance in a 1984 released British made-for-television film titled Kim.
Raj Kapoor continued to make films of varying critical and popular success up until his death in 1988, and apparently considered Mera Naam Joker his personal favourite. He is still a well-known name not only in India, but in the Middle East, SE Asia, and Eastern Europe. His descendants have attempted to continue the RK Films banner.