Raj Kapoor (; born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988), also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor, was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in history of Indian cinema, and has been referred to as The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema and as the Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema.
Born in Peshawar as the son of Prithviraj Kapoor of the Kapoor family, Raj Kapoor starred in and produced many films for which he received multiple accolades, including three National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India. He was inspired by Charlie Chaplin and played characters based on The Tramp in films such as Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955). His performance in Awaara was ranked as one of the "Top-Ten Greatest Performances of All Time in World Cinema" by Time magazine in 2005; both that and his other produced films Awara (1951) Boot Polish (1954) competed for the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1951 and 1955's editions respectively.
His films were global commercial successes in parts of Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa and the Soviet bloc. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 for his contributions to the arts. India's highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, was bestowed to him in 1987 by the Government of India.
Early life and background
Raj Kapoor was born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor on 14 December 1924 at Kapoor Haveli, a large house then owned by his grandfather in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar neighborhood of Peshawar, British India into a Punjabi Hindu family of the Kapoor clan, who belonged to the Dhai Ghar Khatri community. His parents were Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Devi Kapoor (née Mehra). The Kapoor family hailed originally from Samundri, Samundri Tehsil, Lyallpur District, Punjab Province, British India. He was the eldest sibling of six children in the family. He was the grandson of Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor, great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, and great-great-grandson of Dewan Murli Mal Kapoor, and was part of the famous Kapoor family. His brothers were the late actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial. Two other siblings died in infancy. Kapoor's family later on moved from Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province to Bombay, Bombay Presidency for residence and for education. He is the nephew of actor Trilok Kapoor, who is the younger brother of his father Prithviraj Kapoor. His first cousin was actor Subbiraj who was 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 Kapoor's grandson is filmmaker Goldie Behl. His maternal first cousin, Juggal Kishore Mehra, was a singer, whose step-granddaughter, Salma Agha, later became an actress and singer.
As Prithviraj moved from city to city early in his career during the 1930s, the family had to move too. Raj Kapoor attended several different schools like Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun, St Xavier's Collegiate School in Calcutta and Campion School in Bombay.
Career
At the age of ten, he appeared in a Hindi film for the first time, in 1935's Inquilab. Raj Kapoor's big break came with the lead role in Neel Kamal (1947) opposite Madhubala in her first role as a leading lady. In 1948, at the age of twenty-four, he established his own studio, R. K. Films, and became the youngest film director of his time making his directorial debut with Aag starring himself, Nargis, Kamini Kaushal and Premnath. In 1949, he co-starred alongside Dilip Kumar and Nargis in Mehboob Khan's Andaz which was his first big hit as an actor. He had his first success as producer, director and actor in another major blockbuster Barsaat which released later that year.
He went on to produce and star in several hit films made under his R. K. Banner including Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955) and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), the last was directed by Radhu Karmakar, his longtime cinematographer, and which won Filmfare Award for Best Film. These films established his screen image modeled on Charlie Chaplin's most famous screen persona of The Tramp. Outside of his home productions, his other notable films as a leading actor included Sargam (1950), Dastan (1950), Anhonee (1952), Chori Chori (1956), Phir Subah Hogi (1958), Parvarish (1958), Anari (1959) and Chhalia (1960). He also produced the hit social films Boot Polish (1954) and Ab Dilli Door Nahin (1957).