Raj Kapoor, The Master Showman Options

[swarapriya]

Raj Kapoor - The Master Showman

Raj Kapoor was only 11 years old when he made his acting debut. The film was “Inquilab” starring Durga Khote and his father Prithviraj Kapoor in the principal roles. This was in 1935. However, he did not act in another movie for the next eight years. But in 1943 he appeared in a couple of movies. He was in “Gauri” which starred actress Shammi and Prithviraj Kapoor. His second movie in 1943 was “Hamari Baat” where he had another small role. This movie starred Devika Rani, Suraiya, and Jairaj in the lead. After a gap of three years, in 1946, he appeared in another small role in “Valmiki”, this was when he was 22 years old. This movie starred Shanta Apte and his father Prithviraj in the principal roles. (Prithviraj played “the title role of “Valmiki” whereas Raj played “Narada” in the movie!)

During much of this time he worked under Kidar Sharma as a clapper boy. Later he also worked for Devika Rani who was controller of production for Bombay Talkies. He was exposed to musicians and singers of that period and learnt the importance of what good music is all about. This keen sense for music and songs played a major role in Raj’s future as a filmmaker. During this time he also worked as one of the junior assistants to director Amiya Chakrabarty (“Patita”, “Dekh Kabira Roya”, “Kath Putli” etc.). This is where he had a chance to play a bit role in 1943 in “Hamari Baat”. He got frustrated with lack of active participation in movies and decided to join his father’s Prithvi Theaters. He finally had an opportunity to hone his skills in multiple areas including acting.

Not until next year, 1947, Raj got his biggest break. Raj, who was chubby as a boy and while growing up too, working at Prithvi Theaters slimmed down. With blue eyes and all he grew to be a handsome man. Kidar Sharma, under whom Raj Kapoor worked as a clapper boy before, decided to cast him in the leading role opposite beautiful Madhubala. For Madhubala, who already acted in several movies starting as a child artiste, this was the first time she was playing the role of a heroine. Name of the movie was “Neel Kamal”. This movie was not commercially successful.

After Kidar Sharma signed young Raj Kapoor as his leading man, several other producers came forward to sign him in their movies. Beside “Neel Kamal”, Raj Kapoor made three other movies in 1947. These were “Chittor Vijay”, “Dil Ki Rani”, and “Jail Yatra”.

In 1948, when he was only 24, Raj Kapoor decided to turn a producer and director on borrowed money and with spirited enthusiasm. His first film as a producer and director was “Aag” in which he also starred. It had three leading ladies; Nargis, Kamini Kaushal, and Nigar Sultana. Even though this movie was a commercial flop, now there was no turning back for Raj Kapoor. But this was the beginning of great many pictures of Raj Kapoor to follow that made history and left an indelible mark in moviegoer’s minds.

“Aag” was the first of 16 movies Raj Kapoor costarred with Nargis that ended with “Jagte Raho”. This winning pair was internationally recognized because Raj’s pictures were every popular in many foreign countries, especially Russia.

The very next year was a banner year in Raj Kapoor’s young life. He starred in Mehboob Khan’s “Andaaz” with Nargis and Dilip Kumar. The movie was a huge hit and he ran away with most of the laurels. But this was the year he also produced, directed, and acted in the trailblazing “Barsaat”. This movie which was shot mostly outdoors introduced actress Nimmi, lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri, and music director duo Shankar & Jaikishan. The leading lady again was Nargis. “Barsaat” was a runaway success beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Shankar & Jaikishan composed music for 20 movies in which Raj Kapoor starred. Mukesh sang most of his songs. Raj Kapoor directed 10 movies, all for his banner. During his lifetime, he produced 17 movies. His sons kept the banner alive by continuing to produce movies under the same banner. He wrote the story for one movie (“Ram Teri Ganga Maili”). Raj was the editor for five of his movies (“Sangam”, “Mera Naam Joker”, “Bobby”, “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”, “Prem Rog”, and “Ram Teri Ganga Maili”). He was a co-writer of screenplays for four movies (“Aag”, “Barsaat”, “Awara”, and “Shri 420”).

Raj was nominated for Filmfare award 18 times, six times as best actor, once as best supporting actor, six times as best director, and five times for best picture. He won best actor award two times (back to back in 1959 and 1960), four times best director award, and twice for best picture. He was honored with Padma Bhushan in 1971 and was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987. His “Jagte Raho” won the Grand Prix award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1957.

His last appearance for a TV show (“Kim”) in 1984. His last appearance as a full-fledged actor was in 1982 (“Vakil Babu”). He acted in nearly 70 movies.

Actor Anil Kapoor is reportedly in the process of making a movie on Raj Kapoor’s life. Anil himself is planning to act as Raj in the movie. There are also plans by Raj Kapoor’s three sons, Randhir, Rishi, and Rajeev to make a movie on their father’s life.

Raj Kapoor was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He had good looks and talent to go along with it that left a mark in each of his movies. He knew what people wanted and always made movies to entertain them. In most of his early movies, he played a common man bent on becoming a social change agent. Gifted in many ways, Raj Kapoor’s keen musical mind left a legacy of some important body of work in films and a string of beautiful songs for rest of us to remember for generations to come.

Except for his early years, over the years I procured original CDs of most of Raj Kapoor’s movies. In the next few months I would like to share songs from these albums with our Forum members.

[swarapriya]

Do Jasoos (1975)

There are seven songs in this album. Three of these were sung by Mukesh and Rafi together. Here are the songs from this album ...

[swarapriya]

Khaan Dost (1976)

It seems like there are only four songs in this movie. I am uploading three of them. The missing song is shown in red italics in the table below. Requesting members to share the song if they can. Here are the songs ...

[Sangeet]

Mera Desh Mera Dharam (1973)

This movie starred Raj Kapoor and Dara Singh. It was produced and directed by Dara Singh himself. Unfortunately I don't have a single song from this album. If any one of the members have them, please share with rest of us. Thanks.

Here you go FILM VERSIONS

[Sangeet]

Khaan Dost (1976)

It seems like there are only four songs in this movie. I am uploading three of them. The missing song is shown in red italics in the table below. Requesting members to share the song if they can. Here are the songs ...

I think song #3 and #4 are the same.

[swarapriya]

Mera Desh Mera Dharam (1973)

Thank you very much for uploading these songs Sangeet ji. Cheers. -Swarapriya

[swarapriya]

Khaan Dost (1976)

It seems like there are only four songs in this movie. I am uploading three of them. The missing song is shown in red italics in the table below. Requesting members to share the song if they can. Here are the songs ...

I think song #3 and #4 are the same.

I have to listen to them more closely. Perhaps they are the same. Thanks.

[manny]

Thankyou, Swarapriya.

[swarapriya]

Thankyou, Swarapriya.

You're welcome, Manny.

[suhana_safar]

Ek Dil Sau Afsane (1963)

Shankar & Jaikishan do it again. As usually is the case of their movies. there are some beautiful songs in this movie. All solos by Mukesh are great. The song by lata, "Door Ke Chandaa", is a really sweet one. Rafi gets to sing a song for Raj in this movie. His duet with Lata "Tum Hi Tum Ho" is a standout of this album. Here is a description of the songs and the songs themselves ...

swarapriya

can u re upload "tum hi tum ho" - thanks...SS....(super thread)

cheers'
ss

[swarapriya]

swarapriya

can u re upload "tum hi tum ho" - thanks...SS....(super thread)

cheers'
ss

Here you go ...

Song: Tum Hi Tum Ho Mere Jeevan Mein
Film: Ek Dil Sau Afsane
Year: 1963
Music: Shankar & Jaikishan
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar & Mohd. Rafi
Lyrics: Shailendra
Duration: 3 min 39 secs
Bit rate: 192 Kb/S
Source: CD

[suhana_safar]

swarapriya

can u re upload "tum hi tum ho" - thanks...SS....(super thread)

cheers'
ss

Here you go ...

Song: Tum Hi Tum Ho Mere Jeevan Mein
Film: Ek Dil Sau Afsane
Year: 1963
Music: Shankar & Jaikishan
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar & Mohd. Rafi
Lyrics: Shailendra
Duration: 3 min 39 secs
Bit rate: 192 Kb/S
Source: CD


you are a champ. I will tell you later about the songs Rafisaab has sung for raaj kapoor later and how each song is a gem. Also I will tell you how Raaj Kapoor revered Rafisaab. Infact his father was a hard core fan of Rfaisaab and its noted after hearing the song Babu ji ki amar kahani, prithviraj was all in tears.

Rafisaab was a close friend of the kapoor family

cheers
ss

Cheers

[swarapriya]

Chandi Sona (1977)

Here is another R.D. creation in which Raj Kapoor appears. Because of the length of the songs, I have back-to-back two posts. Here is the first one ...

[swarapriya]

Songs of "Chandi Sona (1977)" Continued ...

Here are the rest of the songs from this fine album. Apparently there is a solo version of the song "Aap Sa Koi" that Kishore sang. The duet with Asha was uploaded in my first post. But the solo is missing. This is shown in red italics below. If someone has it , kindly share with us. Now for the songs ...

[swarapriya]

Naukri (1978)

Here are songs from this album ...

[swarapriya]

Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978)

This was a much hyped movie before it was released. So many people thought it will be another artistic triumph for Raj Kapoor. But all the good intentions of a noble plot were gone astray because Raj was more interested in exposing Zeenat's anatomy than develop the story deftly.

Interestingly many thought this story represented Lataji's own life in some respects. The parallel here is that Lata who is not considered to be pretty but has such mesmerizingly sweet voice. But many many years before this, B. Vithala Chary, a film producer and director from south made a movie that was almost similar in theme. He made this movie in 1954 in both Kannada and Telugu. The name of the Telugu version was called "Kanya Daanam". The plot revolves around a lady who is ugly to look at and how her parents manage to get her married by trickery with dire consequences only to come to a closure in the end amicably. Not that different from Raj's own movie.

But one thing is sure. This movie has some of the most outstanding music ever composed by Laxmikant & Pyarelal. And the title song sung by Lataji is a stunner. It echoes deeply through the chambers of your heart making such an indelible impression on the listener. But even other songs in this movies are not that bad. For their magnificently creative work, Laxmikant & Pyarelal got the best music director award for that year. This one was definitely worth recognizing and richly deserved.

Because of the number of songs and their length, I am uploading these in two posts. I am still missing three songs. These are marked in red italics in the table below.

One final note. I am also including a 30 second snippet from Randhir Kapoor, Raj's son. This one appears in the album "Legends: Raj Kapoor - The Showman (CD5)". Interestingly son refers to his dad as "Mr. Raj Kapoor" and on the top of it talks in English!

Now for a description of the songs and the songs in the first post ...