Raj Kapoor Age, Wife, Family, Children, Death, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Raj Kapoor

• Did Raj Kapoor smoke?: Yes
  

  Raj Kapoor Smoking

• Did Raj Kapoor drink alcohol?: Yes
  

  Raj Kapoor drinking alcohol with singer Mukesh

• He won 11 Filmfare trophies, 3 National Awards, ‘Padma Bhushan,’ ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Honours’ and ‘Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.’
  

  Raj Kapoor With Vyjayanthimala And Lyricist Shailendra

• His super hit movies are Awaara (1951), Anhonee (1952), Aah (1953), Shree 420 (1955), Jagte Raho (1956), Chori Chori (1956), Anari (1959), Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Chhalia (1960) and Dil Hi To Hai (1963).

• To start a career as an actor, his father Prithviraj Kapoor came to Bombay in 1930 and to do stage performances, he with the group of 80 persons used to travel to different places across India.

• His brother Devi died in 1931 due to pneumonia and Nandi died in 1931 due to the swallowing of poison (rat pills) strewn in the garden.

• He started his career as a clap-boy for a famous Hindi movie director Kidar Sharma.
  

  Raj Kapoor in younger days

• Once he pulled Kidar Sharma’s fake beard accidentally and got a slap from him.

• At the age of 10, he made his film debut as a child artist in the drama film ‘Inquilab’ (1935).

• During the initial days of his career, he wanted to become a music director.

• In 1948, at the age of twenty-four, Raj started RK Films, and became a film director with the movie ‘Aag.’ 
  

  Raj Kapoor With Nargis

• His parents arranged his marriage with Krishna who is the daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor’s maternal uncle.

• Krishna’s sister is Prem Chopra‘s wife and her brothers Narendra Nath, Rajendra Nath and Prem Nath became actors later.

• According to his wife Krishna, he used to drink daily and accustomed to weep in the bathtub for his girlfriend.

• After marriage, when Nargis with her husband Sunil Datt met Krishna in a party, Nargis said sorry to Krishna for her past relationships with Raj Kapoor.

• When Vyjayanthimala came in his life, at that moment Krishna left his home and used to live in Natraj Hotel with her children, later she moved to her father’s house.

• His son Rishi Kapoor revealed Raj’s affairs with different actresses in his autobiography ‘Khullam Khulla.’

• His first son Randhir is married to actress Babita and the second one Rishi is married to actress Neetu Singh. Famous Bollywood stars Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor are his granddaughters (daughters of Randhir Kapoor and Babita). The prominent actor Ranbir is his grandson (son of Rishi and Neetu Singh).
  

  Raj Kapoor With His Family

• Ranbir was his favourite grandchild. Once Ranbir demanded him a suit while he was going to Russia and from there he brought two bags of suits in all possible colours for him.

• His daughter Ritu Nanda’s son Nikhil Nanda got married to Shweta who is the daughter of famous actor Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.

• He had a very good relationship with Dilip Kumar and even led his baraat (marriage procession) along with his father Prithviraj and famous actor Dev Anand.
  

  Raj Kapoor with Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar

• Filmmaker Vijay Anand tried to direct a film with the leading stars Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, and Dev Anand but it couldn’t be completed due to dates hassles and some other reasons.

• He is famous in different countries such as China, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, Turkey, The Soviet Union and many other parts of the world.

• A scene of the movie ‘Bobby,’ in which Rishi Kapoor meets Dimple Kapadia in her house was inspired by the real-life meeting of Raj and actress Nargis.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s Superhit Movie ‘Bobby’

• He worked closely with the music director Shankar-Jaikishan in almost twenty films.
  

  Raj Kapoor With Mohammed Rafi And Shankar Jaikishen

• Legendary singers Manna Dey and Mukesh gave voice to his songs. At the moment of Mukesh’s death, he said that he lost his voice.
  

  Raj Kapoor With Singer Mukesh

• For his famous movies Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954), he was chosen a nominee (two times) for the grand prize of ‘Palme d’Or’ at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Also, his performance in Awaara was listed among the top 10 greatest performances of all time by Time magazine.

• For his film Jagte Raho in 1956, he got the Crystal Globe award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic).

• His first coloured film was Sangam (1964).
  

  Raj Kapoor’s First Coloured Film ‘Sangam’

• He became a member of the jury at the fourth Moscow International Film Festival in 1965.

• His films Around the World (1966) and Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968) were box office flops.

• ‘Mera Naam Joker’ (1970) was the movie that he directed, produced as well as starred in. But, it was proved a disaster at the box office and put him in the financial crises. Later, it got successful as a classic cult.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s Favourite Movie ‘Mera Naam Joker’ (1970)

• In 1971, he produced the movie ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal,’ in which he worked himself with his father Prithviraj Kapoor, his son Randhir and actress Babita.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s Classic Movie ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’

• His movie ‘Mera Naam Joker’ is one of the best iconic films in India and it is the first Hindi movie which is four and a half hours long with two intervals. It was also the debut film of his son Rishi Kapoor.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s Classic Cult ‘Mera Naam Joker’

• During the making of Satyam Shivam Sundaram, when Raj Kapoor was searching for a suitable actress; then Zeenat Aman reached his office in the dress of a village girl, and he selected her immediately after getting impressed by her dedication.
  

  Raj Kapoor and Zeenat Aman

• When he was suffering from bad health, his friend and director Hrishikesh Mukherjee made the movie ‘Anand’ in his honour.

• Because of his consistency at the box-office, he was often called “the Clark Gable of the Indian film industry.”

• In 1987, when he was invited to receive the ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’ at the Sirifort Auditorium, he agreed to go there in spite of his bad health and when his name was announced to get the honour, he felt a strong chest pain, seeing this, R. Venkataraman (former Indian President) walked down the stage for him. His condition got worse and he had to be rushed to the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) immediately.
  

  Raj Kapoor Receiving ‘Dada Saheb Phalke Award’

• After a month of struggling for life on an artificial respiratory system, at the age of 63, he passed away due to multiple organ failures and cardiac arrest.

• During the time of his bad health, he was making the movie ‘Henna,’ which was completed by his sons Rishi and Randhir after his death.      

• On 14 December 2001, Indian Postal Services released a stamp in his honour.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s Postal Stamp

• He won the title “Best Director of the Millennium” by Stardust Awards.

• In 2002, he was given the name “Showman of the Millennium” by Star Screen Awards.

• In March 2012, his brass statue was placed at Walk of the Stars at Bandra Bandstand, Mumbai.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s Brass Statue

• His movies Shree 420, Aag, and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai have patriotic themes and his famous song ‘Mera joota hai Japani’ gives the feeling of patriotism and is so popular that it is still featured in many films.      

• He brought Shankar Jaikishan (music directors), Shailendra (lyricist) and Hasrat Jaipuri (lyricist) in the film industry.

• He gave a career break to the actresses Dimple Kapadia, Mandakini, Nimmi and also his sons Rishi, Randhir, and Rajiv.

• He explained the unrevealed facts about his films in an interview.

• In 2018, the Pakistani Government decided to convert his ancestral house in the Qissa Khwani Bazar, Peshawar into a museum.
  

  Raj Kapoor’s ancestral house in Peshawar