THE RELENTLESS ROMANTIC

RAJ KAPOOR

(1924—1988)

Our first crossover filmmaker, the Greatest Showman of Indian cinema

There is a story Raj Kapoor loved sharing with reporters. In the early 1950s, Jawaharlal Nehru made an official visit to the Soviet Union where he met with Joseph Stalin. On returning to Delhi, Nehru hosted a party at his residence where Prithviraj Kapoor, then a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, was among the guests. When Nehru saw him, he walked up and said, “I believe your son (Raj Kapoor) has made a film. I met Stalin in Moscow and he told me about it. What is this film?”

The film Stalin mentioned was Awara (1951), which caught the fancy of viewers not just in the Soviet Union but also across eastern Europe, the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Mexico and other Latin American countries. The film was nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes with the title of Le Vagabond.

The film became a runaway hit abroad (and of course in India) and was also known by various other titles—The Vagabond, El Vagabundo (Mexico), Awara—Der Vagabund von Bombay (Germany) and simply Avare (Turkey). It was this success, especially with the title song, Awara hoon, that many generations of east Europeans would hum if not sing, that Stalin was alluding to.

Today, filmmakers and producers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Karan Johar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra rightfully boast about the international successes of their films such as Devdas, My Name is Khan, Three Idiots and PK. But by all counts, Raj Kapoor was India’s first crossover filmmaker who brought attention to Indian cinema even before critics and art film lovers in the US and Europe discovered Satyajit Ray.