In 1928, a strapping young man made his way into the office of the top Bombay film company boss, getting past the stern Pathan guard at the gate by engaging him in his native Pashto, and managed to wangle a job as an unpaid extra. Prithviraj Kapoor held the job for all of 10 days, and on the eleventh, was signed as the hero of their next film.
How he landed the top job in his second week itself scarcely seems unbelievable -- and is a testament to his undeniable charm and confidence. Shooting for a new film was set to begin but the hero was playing truant. A miffed director took the heroine to the area where the extras were sitting and asked her to choose her leading man from them. She straightaway pointed to him.
This is how Prithviraj Kapoor began his remarkable journey as a consummate performer on stage, screen, and personal life and the progenitor of the Hindi film industry's first family -- still flourishing in its fourth generation. As part of the latter, he is possibly the only Indian actor who has appeared in two films featuring three generations of a family - with his father Basheshwarnath Kapoor and sons Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor in Awaara and his son Raj Kapoor and grandson Randhir Kapoor in Kal Aaj aur Kal.
Hailing from a Punjabi Khatri family long engaged in government service, Kapoor was born in Lyallpur and educated in Peshawar, where he graduated from the renowned Edwardes College and studied Law for a year, before deciding that it was not for him, and decided on a film career instead. He came to Bombay in 1928 with money borrowed from his father's sister and was soon pitchforked to become a leading actor - of the silent era.
Kapoor showcased his prowess as he shuttled from films - becoming the villain in the first Indian talkie Alam Ara in 1931 - to theatre, where his title role in Pathan and as Shylock (from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice) were among his top performances. It was Sohrab Modi's Sikandar, where his Grecian looks made him perfect for the role of the legendary conqueror and his skills enabled him to hold his own against equally bombastic Modi playing Raja Porus, that brought him to the limelight in 1941. Coincidentally, Kapoor would go on to play Porus himself - nearly a quarter century later - in Sikander-e-Azam in 1965.
Though Kapoor is most known for his role as Emperor Akbar in the 1960 classic Mughal-e-Azam, there were many other roles of kings, historical or mythological, he played with his panache. He played Rama (twice) -- as well as Raja Dashrath and Ravana too, both Arjuna and Karna, Kings Vikramaditya and Harishchandra, his 12th century Chauhan namesake, Rana Kumbh, Emperor Shah Jahan, and Raja Mansingh, among others. In the mid-1950s, Prithviraj Kapoor cut down on film work after his sons took over the acting mantle.
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Prithviraj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan's father Harivansh Rai Bachchan were close friends. The legenadry actor would visit the writer's house whenever he would come to perform with his theatre group in Allahabad. When Prithviraj Kapoor and Harivash Rai Bachchan would be in the same city, the actor would gather his theatre group and call upon the writer to recite poetry for all of them after every performance.
Considered as one of the founding fathers of Hindi cinema, Kapoor was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1969 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from 1952 to 1960. Prithviraj Kapoor died of cancer in 1972. Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan are now taking forward his legacy. (With inputs from IANS)
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