It is often argued that a big star’s professional and personal lives should not be mixed. But what if the star is an ahead-of-his-times icon like Raj Kapoor was? And so, even if reams have been written about him ahead of his centenary that falls on December 14, 2024, it is a fascinating study to look at how he ‘used’, cinematically and professionally, his family members and those from his wife, Krishna Raj Kapoor’s side.
Dewan Basheshwar Nath Kapoor / Grandfather Raj Kapoor the filmmaker did not even ‘spare’ his (non-actor) grandfather! In the memorable court case shown in Awara (1951), Dewan Basheshwar Nath Kapoor played the judge in the famous sequence that also brings together Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj as, respectively, the errant father and his vagabond son!
Prithviraj Kapoor / Father Besides Awara, Prithviraj also was Raj’s on-screen father in Kal Aaj Aur Kal. This film, released on July 1, 1971 saw three generations of Kapoors again together, with Randhir Kapoor, Raj’s son, playing the third generation. Interestingly, Babita, who played Randhir’s love, was also his girlfriend in real life and they married on November 6 that year. In both films, there was a dramatic confrontation between father and son over ideologies.
Raj, of course, was also a part of some plays staged by his father’s Prithvi Theatres.
Shammi Kapoor / Brother Raj Kapoor never cast Shammi Kapoor in any of his films as their lead personae were completely different. It was only after Shammi’s second innings began that he cast him in Prem Rog (1982) as a senior character artiste. Raj had no film with Shammi’s first wife, Geeta Bali, under the RK banner, but they co-starred in the 1950 hit, Bawre Nain.
Shashi Kapoor / Brother With Shashi Kapoor, however, the case was different. In both Aag (1948) and Awara (1951), the 1938-born youngest brother of Raj Kapoor played his brother’s childhood and left a mark, especially in the latter film. In 1978, he played the lead (besides lending his voice in a song) in Raj’s dream project, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, which the actor-filmmaker is said to have originally planned in the 1950s with Lata Mangeshkar and himself!
Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor & Ritu Kapoor (now Ritu Nanda) / Children Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor, along with Ritu Kapoor (Raj’s daughter), were brought in to portray three passing children in the rain in the hit song, ‘Pyar hua ikraar hua’, with the significant sentiments expressed by the lovers—‘Tum na rahoge hum na rahenge / Phir bhi rahengi nishaaniyan’. The film was Shree 420 (1955) and Raj and Nargis enacted the duet.
Randhir later made a double debut as actor and director in Kal Aaj Aur Kal, a then-topical generation gap story. Later, Raj cast him in Dharam Karam (1975), his production that Randhir directed. Raj and Randhir, again after Kal Aaj Aur Kal, played father and (separated) son. Randhir next featured in Biwi O Biwi (1981), an Archies-like comedy produced by the banner.
After this, out of economic reasons, Randhir was billed as producer, under the sister concern, RK Films & Studios, for what turned out to be Raj’s swan song as director, Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), which became Raj’s biggest hit ever. And shortly before Raj’s death in 1988, Randhir was to again produce Henna, a part of which was conceived during Raj’s lifetime. Randhir later took over as director of this 1991 hit.
Rishi enacted Raj Kapoor’s adolescence in the magnum opus, Mera Naam Joker (1970). As for a younger son debuting before Randhir, it is said that Randhir then too was too overweight for the part and so Rishi came in, winning the National Award for Best Child Actor!
Rishi then played the lead in Bobby (1973), a ‘small’ film made to offset the losses incurred with Mera Naam Joker and Kal Aaj Aur Kal. The fresh film, Hindi cinema’s first teenage love story, became a blockbuster that remains RK Films biggest-ever hit. Rishi was also chosen as the leading man of the hard-hitting socials, Prem Rog and Henna. In all these women-centric films, Rishi scored high as an actor. For Henna, however, Randhir had been Raj’s first choice, later Rishi, and after Ram Teri Ganga Maili, even youngest son Rajiv Kapoor.
Ritu never acted in any film, keeping up the tradition of the Kapoor women never doing films until Karisma Kapoor broke it, leading to a split, as per buzz, between parents Randhir and Babita, who backed her.
Rajiv Kapoor / Son Rajiv Kapoor was the only son never launched by Raj. But the actor owed the only hit of his 14-film career to his father in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. After that, he was also Raj’s choice for Henna, but following Raj’s demise, Rishi, a top star, was chosen as a business decision.
Vishwa Mehra/ Maternal Uncle Vishwa Mehra, also known as Mamaji, was in many ways the backbone of early RK movies. The production-in-charge of the banner (Aag, Barsaat, Awara) was also instrumental in Raj opting for Shankar-Jaikishan over Ram Ganguly in the landmark Barsaat (1949), when he revealed to his nephew how major was S-J’s role in Ram Ganguly’s music for Raj’s debut as filmmaker, Aag (1948).
Vishwa did the small role in many a RK film (Aag, Barsaat, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Kal Aaj Aur Kal, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Biwi O Biwi, Prem Rog and Ram Teri Ganga Maili) and was best noticed as Bhimu in Jis Desh…, for most of these were walk-on parts.
Premnath, Rajendranath & Narendranath / Brothers-in-law The three brothers of Raj’s wife Krishna all became a part of an RK film when roles suited their persona. Premnath played the key role of Raj’s benefactor in Aag, followed by the role of a womanizer who is Raj’s close friend, in Barsaat, the real breakthrough for the RK banner. Then came a cameo in the song ‘Naiyya meri majhdhaar’ in Awara.
After this hat-trick, Premnath was back only as the golden-hearted fisherman in Bobby during his character actor innings, followed by Dharam Karam as a hoodlum who wants his son to be a decent, law-abiding man.
Rajendra Nath achieved maximum fame as a comic actor and became a part of Mera Naam Joker, Biwi O Biwi and Prem Rog. Of these, the first role was that of a circus surgeon, while the last was part-serious.
Narendranath, the youngest brother, was more known for villainy and did the negative role of Ranjit, son to his real-life brother Premnath, in Dharam Karam!
Monty Nath / Nephew While Raj Kapoor never worked with Premnath’s son Prem Krishen, he got Monty Nath, the younger son, to play small roles tinted with gray in Prem Rog and Ram Teri Ganga Maili.
Prem Chopra / Brother-in-law Krishna’s sister, Uma, wed Prem Chopra, a journalist-turned-actor, who achieved great fame as a villain and later character artiste. Raj cast him as the baddie in Bobby (1973), telling him that people will remember his limited role and his one-liner, “Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra”. Said Prem, “Krishna and my wife are sisters and that’s the only reason Raj Kapoor could persuade me to accept that tiny cameo. But Raj-saab said, ‘If the film is a hit, you will always be remembered.’ How right he was! A million spent on self-promotion would never have given me the mileage and popularity this film gave me, and continues to do so! Till today, almost 50 years after its release, whenever I go to a public function, I am asked to speak the line! And to think that even on the first day of shooting I was pretty disturbed that I had no other dialogue!”
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