We mostly met Papa late at night, at whatever late hour he chose to come home. There was a point in time, when I was a young boy, when his arrival was anything but pleasant. Those midnight moments haunted me for a long time, although I steadfastly refused to share my feelings with anyone, until now.
My father would not only come home very late, but also very drunk. He would rave and rant loudly in his stupor. Our house in Deonar was huge, but haphazardly planned. It didnβt have too many rooms, despite its size. There were one or two rooms upstairs and a couple on the ground floor. At night, my mother and all the children would sleep in a common room. From the moment my father staggered home, I would hide under my razai, shivering but alert, my eyes wide open, straining to hear what he was saying or doing. It was only when I heard his voice growing faint, as he moved towards his room, that I would relax and breathe easy.
Every day I would wonder what mood or condition he would turn up in at night, dreading the thought of him being drunk and picking a fight with my mother. For a very long time I remained terrified of my father, and I am convinced that this fear sprang from those early drunken scenes. Although I was just a little boy then, I made a promise to myself that, when I grew up, I would never drink and frighten my kids like that.
As I grew older, I began to understand and accept that my father was an exceptionally creative and eccentric man. Some nights, after drinking, he would go to a buffalo shed to hear the bhaiyas sing. Often, he joined in and even played the drum or the harmonium with them. During Dussehra he would go to Shivaji Park to listen to Bangla songs.
My fatherβs behaviour became easier to deal with as we grew older and moved into our own rooms, but somewhere deep inside, the fear remained. Although I like my drink too, I have kept my promise of never frightening my children in a drunken rage, at least not intentionally. I have never had my fatherβs capacity for liquor anyway β I simply cannot drink all night. My norm has always been to drink, eat and fall asleep.
Randhir was in town last week to inaugurate The Showman Show, organised by Zee Cinema, an exhibition of props used in films under the RK Films banner. t2 caught up with him en route to the exhibition venue.
How has the family reacted to Vyjayanthimala Baliβs comment in her autobiography that Raj Kapoor used link-ups with heroines to promote films?
You canβt spread such slander about a man who is not there to speak for himself. She didnβt have the balls to open her flap when RK was around. Contrary to what she has claimed, the truth is she hooked on to him. I was 15 then, Rishi was 11. I was old enough to know what was going on. That is why we kept our dignity in silence all these years. She used him then and she is doing the same thing now to promote her book which would not sell 10 copies without this (controversy). Tell me, who in this generation has heard of Vyjayanthimala? They only know Raj Kapoor.
Did you know her well?
Of course. She is an idiot. She is doing all this big talk but what is she herself? She married a married man and broke a family. Dr Bali had children.
On to more amicable matters. Your nephew has arrived with Sawaariya...
Yes, Ranbir is the new rocket from the Kapoor family. I pray that he hits bullβs-eye and proves to be a worthy grandson and a worthy son to Raj Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor.
What about your own daughters? God has been kind to us that all our children are doing good work. We have all chosen to entertain people through our craft. But it is said that you were opposed to Karisma entering films?
That is all rubbish made up by the press. We have all married actresses β Shashi Uncle married Jennifer Kendal, Shammi Uncle married Geeta Bali, I married Babita, Rishi married Neetuβ¦ Jis mein khaate hain uss mein kaise thook sakte hain? Jennifer did 36 Chowringhee Lane after marriage, Geeta Bali did Jailor and Rano (unreleased).
Then where did this talk of Kapoor daughters not being allowed to enter films start from?
My mother was not an actress, and my two sisters were like her. So people thought the daughters do not act. When Karisma came to me and said, βDad, I want to act,β I said βFine, go ahead.β Finito. And if you look at it, before Karisma, Sanjana (Shashi Kapoorβs daughter) had done Hero Hiralal. Because the film flopped, no one made a noise about it. Today, you do not determine your childrenβs future. We are not in pre-historic times when the man would go out with a plough and the wife would sit at home
... keep reading on reddit β‘
In 1962 when Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor ruled Bollywood an epic showdown between the two maestros happened on a cricket field and not on the silver screen. Both superstars got together more than a decade after their superhit "Andaz" for a friendly charity cricket match to raise money for the Cine Workers Relief Fund.
The match featured the talents of Dilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Shammi Kapoor, Pran, Agha, Vijay Kumar, Joy Mukherjee, Nirupa Roy, Prem Nath, Jeevan, Nimmi, Abhi Bhattacharya and Ram Kamlani on Dilip Kumar's team and scored 156 All out. Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Johnny Walker, Nanda, Asha Parekh, Jabeen Jalil, Jaikishan, Jairaj, Shobha Khote, Mehmood, Shakila, Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar and Mukri were on RK's team which won with the score of 157. There were several other stars like Raj Kumar, Om Prakash, Leela Naidu and others who played their roles keeping the fans entertained. The fun of the star studded event can be seen in a short film available on youtube for cinephiles.
βAgeless as Asia, Exciting as Europeβ screamed the billboards as Raj Kapoorβs magnum opus love triangle, βSangamβ hit the screens in 1964. Starring Raj Kapoor, Vyjayanthimala, and Rajendra Kumar, the film created hysteria with its all-star cast, beautiful European locations, and rumored love affair between the leading duo.
The childhood friendship between Radha, Sunder, and Gopal gets knotty when both boys grow up and fall in love with Radha. Radha straddles her βpurityβ dressed in Kapoorβs favorite βwhiteβ but isnβt afraid to don a swimsuit and sheer sarees.
Sangam was the first Indian film shot in Europe. It was shot in London and Venice along with France and Switzerland. In the film, the protagonists go on a European honeymoon, visiting the Swiss Alps around Grindelwald and Interlaken while dealing with the tension of a love triangle.
Romance, heartbreak, war, sacrifice, marriage and a mysterious love letter later, what ensues is melodrama with the finest build-up to a pulsating crescendo, where only death can resolve the unending turmoil. Oscillating between friendship and envy, Raj Kapoor made one of the most multi-layered and complex drama movie with its messily intermingled strands of love and hurt.
The Shanker-Jaikishan duo ensured that each song was a superhit: Dost dost na raha pyaar pyaar na raha, Har dil jo pyaar karega, Bol radha bol sangam hoga ke nahin, O Mehbooba, I love you, and Main kya karoon Ram mujhe buddha mil gaya.
At 4 hours long with two intervals, Sangam, with its fine performances, bright colors, glamor, breathtaking European locales, and popular songs, became a blockbuster and remains the platinum standard of romance in the annals of Hindi cinema. And Raj Kapoorβs finest romantic film.
https://preview.redd.it/ke880dd3nfk71.jpg?width=1146&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=488cf2d8e9c42e28913472ab51e9a23f7afa5cc7
What do you say?
