RK @ 100

Today is 100th birth anniversary of the amazing ‘Showman of Indian Cinema’, Raj Kapoor.

I am now in my mid 40’s. The stars I grew up with are Khans and Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff etc.

My father grew up in Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan era (late 60’s, early 70’s).

Raj Kapoor is from my grandfather’s generation. Dilip-Raj-Dev trio left the arena more than 55 years ago. And yet I feel that the greatest film person (as a whole) ever in India’s cinema history is Raj Kapoor!

And I am not saying this just because it’s his centenary today. I really mean it. There have been many greats in Indian cinema. Many individuals were probably much better than Raj Kapoor in their individual departments. However, nobody was as versatile, multi-faceted, multi-talented as Raj Kapoor was.

He was a producer and director at the age of 24! He started his own movie production company at that age. He was an actor, a screenplay writer, a great lover of music and could play multiple musical instruments. I wouldn’t rate him high as an actor (maybe 6 out of 10), but he was decent and played roles that suited his personality and charisma. In that sense he was very smart and intelligent.

When I was 12 or 13, I wrote a book written by his long-time cameraman Radhu Karmakar which introduced me to his filmography and music. My father was a huge movie lover and an ardent fan of that Golden era of Hindi film music (50’s and 60’s). So I was already familiar with great songs from RK films. However, when I started reading about RK and understood the process of movie making, I started appreciating and admiring RK more. The contribution he has had in every department of his films were mind boggling.

When I grew up more I started understanding more mature and nuanced aspects ofnhis films – his bold experiments with sensual themes, sexuality etc.

A lot of his later films could be perceived as vulgar, exploiting female sensuality (Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Mera Naam Joker and Satyam Shivam Sundaram come to mind, but there were many instances in other films too). However I feel that those were not blatantly vulgar and demeaning, but he was projecting his deep personal point ot view on those topics. Maybe he was out of sync with the society that he lived in. He would have been much more appreciated and celebrated in France or Europe.

Here is a nice piece I found from an old interviee snippet which gives insight on his penchant for beauty and female sexuality. It was so bold for him to talk about such things 40 year ago.

There is much more I can write about RK and his legacy. However it will require multiplr posts and I may do it over a period of time.

For now, if you want to celebrate his films, there is an opportunity for next two days. There is a carnival/festival of his cinema for next 2-3 days at various multiplexes. Do check out!

Last, but not the least – his love story with Nargis and his other anecdotes, legends, stories about his movie-making and life in general make him such a graceful and magnanimous film maker!