What were Raj Saheb’s last words? Dadasaheb Phalke came to Delhi to receive the award and suffered a fatal stroke.

Pradeep Sardana
When Raj Kapoor was born in Peshawar a hundred years ago on 14 December 1924, hardly anyone would have thought that the child would become so famous all over the world. The world will celebrate his/her birth centenary with great pomp. It is also interesting that Raj Kapoor got immense popularity from cinema. Although working in cinema was not considered good at that time, but blue-eyed Raj Kapoor, with his/her extraordinary talent, lit up the entire blue sky in such a way that the actors working in films started being called stars. Not only the coming generations, but the previous generations also got enlightened by the name of the same Raj Kapoor. A recent example of this is the famous meeting of the Kapoor family with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the first time when a Prime Minister of the country met all the members of one family of the film world with such intimacy and respect. Also, the Kapoor family was overwhelmed when Modi mentioned Raj Kapoor’s ‘soft power’, his/her films and his/her contributions.

Prithviraj Kapoor laid the foundation of the Kapoor family in films in 1927. But the elder son Raj brought fame as the biggest family of the film industry. Not only did Raj Kapoor himself enter films, he/she also brought his/her brothers Shammi-Shashi, sons Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv into the industry. he/she even got his/her grandfather Basheshwarnath Kapoor and father Prithviraj to work together in his/her film ‘Awara’. Later Karisma, Kareena and Ranbir Kapoor carried forward this tradition.

The reason for Raj Kapoor’s immense fame is that he/she made his/her mark not only as an actor but also as a producer-director. Raj Kapoor acted in about 60 films. Produced 18 films under his/her RK banner. he/she acted in only 6 films made under his/her own direction. But with only 10 films made under his/her direction, he/she became the filmmaker of the century.

Raj started his/her acting career inspired by his/her father. he/she was the guru of Raj Kapoor. Although the age difference between father and son was only 18 years. At the age of 5, Raj acted in a play ‘The Toy Cart’ and got the first prize for it. From then onwards he/she felt that acting was his/her life. Therefore, without paying much attention to studies, he/she got busy working in theater and films.

When Raj, when he/she grew up a little, acted in a school play, he/she did something that the director grabbed him/her by the neck and said, you are an ass, never come here again. A few years later, to learn, Raj became an assistant to filmmaker Kedar Sharma and there he/she pressed the clap so hard before the shot that the actor’s beard got stuck in it. On this Kedar slapped him/her hard. When Raj made his/her first film ‘Aag’ in 1948, it flopped badly. However, destiny had other plans.

The big thing was that Raj created such a history by becoming a producer-director on his/her own strength at the age of just 24, the echo of which is heard till today. The success he/she got with ‘Barsaat’ in 1949 indicated that Indian cinema had found a messiah. In 1951, ‘Awara’ earned him/her the title of Great Showman. Due to ‘Awara’, Raj became the first film personality in the country whose popularity reached abroad. Even in Russia till today he/she is considered a megastar.

If we look at the qualities of Raj Kapoor’s films, the story, acting and music were also very beautiful. In his/her childhood, the image of a woman wearing a white saree was so ingrained in his/her mind that he/she made all his/her heroines wear white sarees. Raj was paired with many heroines, but Nargis remained supreme in it. Raj did 16 films with her.

Karisma Kapoor fulfilled her daughter’s duty by supporting her father Randhir, Alia Bhatt ran as soon as she saw her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Raj Kapoor made grand films like Shree 420, Sangam, Mera Naam Joker, Bobby, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Prem Rog and Ram Teri Ganga Maili. At the same time, he/she also gave artistic films on various problems like Boot Polish, Jagate Raho, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahati Hai and Ab Dilli Door Nahi.

While Raj Kapoor’s films were very successful commercially, he/she also won Filmfare and National Film Awards. When Raj Kapoor came to Delhi on 2 May 1988 to receive the pinnacle award of Indian cinema, ‘Dada Saheb Phalke’, he/she suffered a catastrophic asthma attack during the ceremony itself. Call it a coincidence that despite his/her large family, at that last moment, I was the only one with his/her wife Krishna Kapoor. It was I who took him/her from Siri Fort to AIIMS in the Rashtrapati Bhavan ambulance. Where I stayed with him/her continuously. When his/her health deteriorated at night, I was on one side of his/her bed in the ICU and Krishna ji was on the other side. Raj Kapoor went into coma while having the last conversation of his/her personal life with me. his/her last words to me were – ‘I can’t rest. I won’t be able to recover now, let me die.’ After this he/she became silent forever. he/she died on June 2 after remaining unconscious for a month. Today Raj Kapoor is not among us physically. But through his/her films and memoirs he/she will remain among us for centuries.