Raj Kapoor

Ranbir Raj Kapoor (born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), known to the world as Raj Kapoor, was a Hindi cinema actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential figures in Indian film history, often called The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema and The Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema. Kapoor was born in Peshawar, the eldest son of Prithviraj Kapoor of the Kapoor family. He starred in and produced numerous films, earning three National Film Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards in India.

Deeply inspired by Charlie Chaplin, he often played characters based on The Tramp in films like Awāra (1951), Shree 420 (1955), and Mera Naam Joker (1970). In 2005, Time magazine ranked his performance in Awāra among the "Top-Ten Greatest Performances of All Time in World Cinema." Both Awāra (1951) and Boot Polish (1954) competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His movies were global commercial hits across Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Soviet bloc.

The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1988. Raj Kapoor was born Shrishti Nath Kapoor on 14 December 1924 at Kapoor Haveli in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar neighborhood of Peshawar, in British India's North-West Frontier Province. He came from a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family with an Arya Samaji upbringing. His parents were Prithviraj Kapoor (3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) and Ramsarni Devi Kapoor (née Mehra) (25 December 1908 – 14 June 1972).

According to his son Rishi Kapoor's autobiography, Prithviraj changed the family surname from Nath to Raj, making Prithvi Nath Kapoor into Prithviraj Kapoor. Raj himself was named Shrishti Nath Kapoor at birth, later changed to Ranbir Raj Kapoor, and then simply Raj Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor named his own son Ranbir Kapoor after his father. The Kapoor family originally came from Samundri, a town in the Lyallpur District of British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan).

Raj was the eldest of six children. He was the grandson of Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor, great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, and great-great-grandson of Dewan Murli Mal Kapoor. His brothers were actors Shammi Kapoor (21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) and Shashi Kapoor (18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017). He had a sister, Urmila Sial (30 December 1933 – 25 July 2001).

Two other siblings between Raj and Shammi—Devinder (Devi) and Ravinder (Nandi)—died in infancy in 1931, within two weeks of each other; Devi from double pneumonia and Nandi after accidentally swallowing rat poison while playing. The family later moved from Peshawar to Bombay for residence and education. Because Prithviraj moved from city to city in the 1930s, Raj attended several schools, including Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun, St Xavier's Collegiate School in Calcutta, and Campion School in Bombay.

Extended family

Raj Kapoor was the nephew of actor Trilok Kapoor, his father's younger brother. His first cousin was director Vijay Kapoor, Trilok's son, and actor Subbiraj, his father's sister's son. His father's cousin was film producer Surinder Kapoor, whose children are producer Boney Kapoor and actors Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor. His father's maternal first cousins were actors Kamal Kapoor, Ravindra Kapoor, and Nandkishore Kapoor; Kamal's grandson is filmmaker Goldie Behl.

Debut and struggle (1947–1948)

His maternal first cousin, Juggal Kishore Mehra, was a singer, whose step-granddaughter, Salma Agha, later became an actress and singer. Raj Kapoor first appeared in a Hindi film at age ten, in the 1935 film Inquilab. Some early success came with the lead role in Kidar Sharma's 1947 romantic drama Neel Kamal, opposite Begum Para and Madhubala. The film was not a hit, nor were his other 1947 releases: Dil Ki Rani and Chittor Vijay (both opposite Madhubala) and Jail Yatra (opposite Kamini Kaushal).

In 1948, he founded his own banner, R. K. Films, and made his directional debut with the musical drama Aag, starring alongside Nargis, Premnath, Kamini Kaushal, and Nigar Sultana. The film was an average grosser but received positive reviews. Aag also marked the first on-screen pairing of Kapoor and Nargis as a romantic couple. Several 1949 films shaped Kapoor's career.

Superstardom and international success (1949–1964)

Sunehre Din flopped commercially, but Parivartan was a commercial success. His third release that year, Mehboob Khan's romantic drama Andaz (starring Dilip Kumar and Nargis), was a major box-office hit. This was followed by Barsaat, which he directed and produced.

Barsaat became the highest-grossing Indian film of all time, breaking the record of Kismet, and ran at Kolkata's Paradise Cinema for nearly two years. The huge success of Andaz and Barsaat established Kapoor as one of the leading male stars of the era, alongside Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. The following year, he starred in Sargam opposite Rehana and Dastan opposite Suraiya. Kapoor also acted in...