The great Indian actor Raj Kapoor, whose biography will be described in this article, was called "Indian Charlie Chaplin." In his country, he was also called the “king of Indian cinema”. During his creative career, he starred in more than 80 films. He is rightfully considered the pioneer of the new era of Indian cinema, in the world he was the "emblem" of his country. The most famous films in which he played were "Mr. 420" and "Tramp". It was from them that he was recognized in all corners of the planet. He performed his roles with masterly skill, while not only playing the role, but also dancing, singing, performing various acrobatic stunts. It is believed that so far Indian cinema does not have a more talented and capacious artist like Raj Kapoor. His biography is similar to the script of the film, it is also interesting and full of events.
Raj Kapoor: biography, photos of different periods of life
He was born in mid-December 1924 in the city of Peshawar, which was considered a British colony. Today, this part of India has departed to Pakistan and is its province. The Raja family was creative: his father, Prithviraja Kapoor, was a producer and director. He was the owner of the Prithvi Theater. The grandfather of the future actor was also a great Indian theater artist. So he became a successor to the already existing acting dynasty.
Carier start
Raj Kapoor, about the biography whose family we will tell you further, loved to spend time with his brothers in the walls of his father’s theater. He knew every corner of the backstage. From the age of six, his father took him as a performer of a particular children's role in various productions. In addition, he helped all the technical workers — lighting, cleaners, painters, decorators — with everything he could. Father liked that his son was so interested in the theater and did not disdain any hard work. Already in his teens, he could give any adult professional artist a head start. Everyone around noticed that the young man has an exceptional temperament and energy, as well as a talent for improvisation, which is very important for a theater artist, where there is no possibility of many takes.
Activities in the cinema
Nevertheless, the most cherished dream of Raj Kapoor, whose biography is devoted to this article, was a movie. He dreamed of being on the set and playing, playing, playing … For the first time he was involved in the film process at the age of 11. The film was called "Revolution." Then there were other films. However, Raj wanted to not only play, but also make films. First, he got a job as an assistant director at the Bombay Talkies film studio. Although in order to become a director, you had to get a higher education, but the Indian cinema star did not want to go to a higher educational institution, and decided to get professional knowledge and skills on the basis of experience, as well as an analysis of the film industry of the West.
1947th
This year was a turning point in the biography of Raj Kapoor. He played immediately in several films, and as a leading actor he earned good money and decided to invest it in creating his own film, which was to be called “Incinerating Passion” (there is another version of the name - “Fire”). The picture was a bit autobiographical, about a beginner theater director. Purely from a technical point of view, he brought a lot of individual moments to Indian cinema, for example, contrasting black-and-white shooting, the play of shadow and light, and from the substantive side - a true and false philosophy of beauty, as well as the theme of the true purpose of the artist and artist. In this picture, he acted not only as a director, but also as a performer of the main role. His partner was the beautiful actress Nargis (subsequently their duet starred in more than 15 films).
Own film company
After successful directorial work, Kapoor became more confident and believed in himself. In 1948, he decided to found the film company RKFilms. Thus, he became the youngest of the directors of Indian cinema. Of course, at the beginning his film company did not have enough money, but his team was ready to work almost for free, believing in its director. Every day the number of fans of both the actor himself and his directorial work grew. Most of them were about love, but they also touched on social problems, for that he was loved by both the lower and upper.
Success
A tremendous success for the actor-director was brought by the film “Tramp”. She was released in 1951. The film began to be shown not only in India, but also around the world. Every day his rating grew, which brought unprecedented glory to its director. This went on for more than a decade. Next was the picture "Mr. 420." The audience especially loved the songs from this picture. The first color film with the participation of Raj Kapoor was shot in 1964. It was called Sangam. Unfortunately, this was his last job as an actor - the performer of the title role. However, Kapoor continued his production and directorial activities. Over his entire career, he managed to film and play in about 80 films. He died at the age of 63 from complications caused by asthma. Six months before that, he had lost consciousness at the award ceremony for “The Best National Cinematographer”, then was transferred to the hospital, but could not recover from the disease. His death marked the end of an era of Indian cinema.
Biography of Raj Kapoor: family, wife and children
His wife was called Krsna. She was always in the shadow of her titled spouse and children. Krishna was a very wise woman, she did not try to stick out herself, but at the same time she was an ally and friend for her husband. She never gave an interview, tried to talk a little about her children, about their fans. For Kapoor, this was the only marriage: they lived with his wife for about 40 years. They had 5 children - two daughters - Rome and Rita and three sons - Rajiv, Risha and Randhir. His sons followed in the footsteps of their grandfather and father and also became filmmakers. In a word, the biography of the family and children of Raj Kapoor was a continuation of his own. And the Kapurov clan is rightfully considered one of the most successful and influential in Bollywood.
Raj and Nargiz
As already noted, the great artist met Nargiz during his first directorial work, “Incinerating Passion” (“Fire”). Of course, passion flared up between them, but he was married and did not want to sever his relationship with his family. The wife of Raj Kapoor, whose biography is almost unknown - she lives only in him and in his shadow - knew about her husband’s passion, but behaved patiently and wisely. There were no reproaches or scenes of jealousy. She understood that her husband is a star, that many women like him. By the way, Nargis herself also never advertised her close relations with Raj, but soon got married and the rumors died down on their own. However, fresh publications began to appear in the press about Kapoor's new weaknesses. Here Krishna no longer wanted to endure, and together with the children she moved out of their common home to the hotel. Having de facto lost his family, Raj settled down, begged his wife to return home, and promised not to defame himself with casual connections anymore.
