Raj Kapoor: Used to drink foreign liquor but slept on the ground
NEW DELHI: DEC. 14 – A story about Raj Kapoor is told time and again that when Nehru went to Russia in the fifties, when it came time to speak after Nehru, the Prime Minister of that place, Nikolai Bulganin, during the government banquet, he accompanied his ministers as ‘Awara hoon’. He surprised them by singing.
In 1996, when Raj Kapoor’s son Randhir Kapoor and daughter Ritu Nanda went to China, tears welled up in their eyes when Chinese people started singing ‘Awara Hoon’ on seeing them. He did not know that these two were Raj Kapoor’s son and daughter, but he was honoring Raj Kapoor and India by singing this song. It is also said that ‘Awara’ was Mao Zedong’s favorite film.
Ritu Nanda recounts that when Russian President Boris Yeltsin came to India in 1993 and was told that she wanted to meet him, not only did she agree to it, but she wrote a note on her book, “I ask your father Loved it. He is still in our memories today.”
What was the secret of Raj Kapoor’s popularity? Once when Raj Kapoor came to the BBC’s Bush House office in London, he responded by saying, “This is an anecdote from 1954 when I went to Russia with two of my pictures. One of them was ‘Awara’. This picture marked our first acquaintance with the people of Russia. They knew a little bit of India, but through these pictures, they came closer to India.”
“Awara’s character had some Raj Kapoor’s appearance, but his heart belonged to the people of India, who still beats with the same love. Actually, he did not adopt Raj Kapoor, he adopted the young man of India whose heart used to say this again and again.”
” Not settled, ruined right, I sing songs of happiness but I do not know, but I am a lover of a deserted road, I am a stray!
Prithviraj Kapoor made him strong
His father Prithviraj Kapoor had a big hand in raising Raj Kapoor and making him Raj Kapoor. At the behest of Raj Kapoor, he gave him a job of 1 rupee a month and his job was to sweep the studio.
Raj Kapoor’s daughter Ritu Nanda says, “Raj Kapoor used to go to school by tram-like other children. One day it was raining very heavily. Raj asked his mother if he could go to school by car today? He said I’ll ask your father and tell. When Prithviraj Kapoor heard this, he said that there is a ‘thrill’ in going to school even in this rain while facing the water. Let him experience it too.”
Raj Kapoor was listening to this conversation behind the door. He himself said to his father, “Sir, I will go to school by tram only.”
She says, “When Prithviraj Kapoor saw Raj going to school wet from the balcony, he told his wife Ramsami, one day this boy will have a more fancy car than his father.’
Madhu Jain, who wrote the famous book ‘The Kapoors – The First Family of Indian Cinema’ on the Kapoor family, also tells another similar anecdote.
She says, “Once when Prithviraj Kapoor came out of his house, he saw Raj Kapoor standing. He asked why haven’t you gone to the studio yet? He got into his car and drove away. Had to go to the same place, but his father did not make him sit in his car and Raj Kapoor had to take a bus to go there.”
Raj Kapoor always used to sleep on the ground
Another famous story about Raj Kapoor is that he never slept on the bed, always slept on the ground. This habit of his used to meet the former President of India, Giani Zail Singh.
Ritu Nanda says, “Raj Kapoor used to pull the mattress of the bed of the hotel in which he stayed and lay it on the ground. Because of this he got into trouble many times. The managers warned him that he shouldn’t have done it. But when he did the same thing again, they fined him. He stayed in that hotel for five days and he happily fined daily for dragging the bed mattress to the ground. Gave.”
Nudity worshipers
Raj Kapoor often used to show everything that he himself had gone through in his films. He used to say about himself that he is a worshiper of nudity. For this, he used an Urdu word, ‘Muqaddas Uriyan’ which means sacred nudity and the reason he used to tell that in his childhood he used to take bath with his mother.
His daughter Ritu Nanda narrates an anecdote from his childhood, “When Papa was one and a half or two years old, some women in his village used to sell roasted gram. Once Raj went to get a gram. He was wearing a shirt and nothing was underneath. Seeing that little boy naked, the girl selling gram said that if he lifts his shirt and makes a bowl for it, then she will give them the gram. When Raj did this, the girl laughed badly It’s over.”
She says, “But Raj Kapoor remembered this incident and Chana became a ‘sex object’ in his life. After many years when he made ‘Bobby’, he filmed a scene on Rishi Kapoor and Dimple in which Dimple was in a library. is sitting. Rishi shines the mirror to attract her attention. When Dimple comes out she says, let’s have tea. Rishi tells her, no tea, let’s eat gram. Raj Kapoor asks the villagers to ask for a gram. The incident was brought down on celluloid in its own style.
First meeting with Nargis was screened
Similarly, there is a scene in his film ‘Bobby’ when Rishi Kapoor goes to meet Dimple at her house for the first time.
Ritu Nanda says, “Nargis had become a big star in those days, while Raj Kapoor was only an assistant to Kidar Sharma. He wanted to shoot his film ‘Aag’ in Mahalaxmi Studio. Nargis’s mother Jaddan Bai was there for her film ‘Romeo- ‘Juliet’. Raj Kapoor went to meet her at her house to know about the facilities in the studio.”
She says, “When Raj Kapoor rang the bell, Nargis was frying pakodas. When she opened the door, her hand stained with gram flour inadvertently touched her hair. Raj Kapoor remembered that image of Nargis for her whole life. When he made the film ‘Bobby’, he shot exactly the same scene on Rishi and Dimple.”
But very few people know how Nargis took this meeting.
TJS George writes in his book ‘The Life and Times of Nargis’, “Describing that incident to her closest friend Neelam, Nargis said that a fat, blue-eyed boy had come to our house. She also told Neelam that During the shooting of ‘Aag’, that boy started hitting lines at me.”
When Nargis agreed to work together …
When Nargis agreed to act in Raj Kapoor’s first film Aag, her mother insisted that her name be placed above Kamini Kaushal and Nigaar Sultana in the poster.
On the request of Prithviraj Kapoor, Jaddan Bai agreed to take only ten thousand rupees for her daughter. However, later Nargis’s brother Akhtar Hussain insisted that his sister’s remuneration be increased to forty thousand rupees, which was done.
‘Aag’ was shot in Khandala and Nargis’s suspicious mother Jaddan Bai also accompanied her there. When Raj Kapoor wanted to shoot his film ‘Barsaat’ in Kashmir, Jaddan Bai flatly refused.
Later the film was shot by making Mahabaleshwar as Kashmir. On the other hand, there was a lot of tension in the Kapoor family too about this romance. Prithviraj Kapoor tried to convince his son, but Raj Kapoor had no effect on this. Nargis’s mother passed away on her way to the floor of ‘Awara’. After that there was no one to stop him.
Nargis had completely committed to Raj Kapoor, becoming the film ‘Barsaat’.
Madhu Jain writes, “Nargis started investing her heart, her soul and even her money in Raj Kapoor’s films. When RK Studios ran short of money, Nargis even sold her gold rings. He worked in outside producers’ films like ‘Adalat’, ‘Ghar’, ‘Sansar’ and ‘Lajwanti’ to fill the dwindling treasury of RK Films.
Raj Kapoor later made a famous but senseless statement about her, “My wife is the mother of my children, but Nargis is the mother of my films.”
Read the love letter sent to Nargis
Raj Kapoor had another anecdote with Nargis, when producer-director Shahid Latif, who used to be Ismat Chughtai’s husband at that time, sent a marriage proposal to Nargis.
Madhu Jain writes that once Raj Kapoor himself told, “We were both going to a party. We were getting late. When I went to Nargis, she had a paper in her hand. I asked her what it was.” He said nothing, nothing… and saying this he tore the paper. When we both reached near the car, I told Nargis that I had forgotten my handkerchief. I went back to the room. Then By this time, the maid had put those pieces of paper in the ‘waste paper basket’ by sweeping the room.
She writes, “Next day with a lot of effort I put together each piece of paper and then I came to know that a producer has written a letter to Nargis and sent a marriage proposal. I framed that letter and got the whole scene exactly Filmed in the film Sangam.
When Nargis and Raj Kapoor ‘break up’, Raj took her very badly.
His wife Krishna Kapoor had told Bunny Reuben that ‘for many nights, Raj Kapoor used to return home late at night. He used to drink a lot of alcohol. He used to cry badly while lying in his tub. I knew he was crying for Nargis.
Wine caste system
Raj Kapoor used to have a special relationship with alcohol. Randhir Kapoor says that he always used to drink ‘Johnny Walker’ black label whiskey, which too was bought from London.
Madhu Kapoor tells Rishi Kapoor in his book, “Raj Kapoor used to assert himself a lot on his black label whiskey. He used to take his liquor from home when he used to go to parties. He was also kind in giving liquor. He used to follow the caste system. He himself used to drink black labels bought from London and used to make his very special people drink.
She further writes, “Tanuja was one of them. He used to keep the black label he bought from Dubai for his other friends and eventually the black label bought from Delhi and Mumbai went to his sons. Very bad for Randhir Kapoor. It used to be that Tanuja was getting whiskey bought in London and she was bought in India.
Very hospitable
Raj Kapoor was very hospitable. When he used to feast, his table was full of different types of dishes. But Raj Kapoor himself used to eat very little. His favorite food used to be pav, eggs and some pulses.
For years, he did not eat food during the day and even at night when he used to return very late, he used to eat only fried eggs and slept. He always used to drive in the ambassador car. He also had a Mercedes, but only his wife Krishna used to sit on it.
The May had a stroke while receiving the National Award
In 1988, he was honored with the ‘Dada Saheb Phalke’ award. When he reached the Siri Fort Auditorium to receive the award, he suffered a severe asthma attack. Journalist Pradeep Sardana was present there at that time.
Sardana explains, “When Raj Kapoor’s name was announced, he was not even in a position to stand up. President Venkataraman broke all protocol and came down from the stage himself and honored Raj Kapoor. He was then taken out by some people. Took it away. I also reached out running.”
He says, “He was taken to AIIMS by the President’s ambulance. When the stretcher came, Raj Kapoor refused to lie down on it. He was put in the ambulance. The driver was driving very fast. Once he applied the brakes. So Raj Kapoor fell in front on my shoulders. Raj Kapoor shouted to the driver and said, brother, slow down. Will you kill?’
Let me die
When he reached AIIMS, Raj Kapoor’s health got a little better. Then the famous actor Kamal Haasan reached there to see him. Raj Kapoor talked to him a little, but then his health started deteriorating again.
Sardana further explains, “The doctors decided that he should be taken to the ICU. When he was admitted there, the doctors told me, now you go. You have no work here. As soon as Raj Kapoor heard this, he said, ‘No no no doctor! Let him stay here.’ I stopped there. Then when his health started deteriorating, he felt that something was wrong. He said, ‘I can’t feel comfortable. I think I will not be well now. Let me die.'”
Sardana says, “I did not know at that time that these words of his would become his last words. He went into a coma shortly after that. He remained in this condition for a whole month and on June 2, 1988, at 9 pm He said goodbye to this world.”
