Nuggets from Raj...

Did you know?
Raj Kapoor’s father, the legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor had predicted that his wife Ramsarni Kapoor would give birth to a boy. He wrote the name Ranbir Raj (Raj’s original name) on a slip of paper and put it under Ramsarni’s pillow.

The fourth daughter of Raisaheb Kartar Nath Malhotra, (inspector general of police of Rewa state), Krishna was barely 16 when she married Raj Kapoor.

Raj had first seen Krishna in a plain white cotton sari and that started the recurring image of the Woman in White, so important in his life. His leading ladies Nargis, Padmini, Vyjayanthimala, willingly accepted the mould.

Raj always slept on the floor. In London at Hilton, he was ticked off for pulling the mattress down and was fined for that. He paid the fine everyday till he left the hotel.

He was very fond of comics, particularly Archie and Sad Sack.

In spite of acute breathing problems aggravated by high altitudes, he was determined to shoot Ram Teri Ganga Maili at Gangotri in the Himalayas. Raj shot at the ice cave of Gaumukh, above the Gangotri glacier at an altitude of 4100 metres. He had to be carried there by doliwalas.

His passion for cinema was matched only by his enthusiasm for cricket. He even lead film star teams in fund raising matches.

Keeping fowls was one of his hobbies. Part of his daily routine was to feed them calling out ‘Aa aa aa’ (he used the same tone jokingly to call his grandchildren). He would give names to each of the birds. Even after he died one of his hens continued to come and lay eggs on his bed for quite sometime.

A typical Raj Kapoorean day began after 2 pm when he woke up. He would come to the studio around 3 am in the afternoon. He worked in his cottage. The cottage was the nerve centre of Raj Kapoor’s professional and personal life. On it walls hung images of all the gods, and religions of the world.

He never took a drink while he had his make-up on. He used an expensive perfume Je Reviens (I shall return) by Woth.

On a day off, he’d travel to Pune in the Deccan Queen. He knew all the dining car attendants by their names.  He’d converse in Konkani with them and would love to eat fish fillets and chips.

At his farm in Loni, he would spend an entire day discussing agriculture and horticulture with the farmers and their head Patil and go off to Pochas to buy seeds and saplings for his farm.

In Raj Kapoor’s words

“In my films, bathing scenes recur often. Women in general occupy most of my early memories and they appear in my films like ghosts that refuse to be buried...

“There is a saying that human beings come into this world and go out of it naked. As for me I live in it naked. I have nothing to hide everything to reveal…

“Everybody in our family is fond of food… While sending me to school, my mother would pack an omlette and chapati for me. But my taste buds were always looking for new flavours. My allowance was only two annas a day… So I would stop my credit at one shop and open an account at another. Once the credit got beyond my means, I would sell a book or two…

“Do you know how Kalidasa has described the ideal wife? As one who can be her husband’s friend, philosopher and guide…As one who can mother him when he is hurt and who can nurse him when he is ill. Krishna has been all these to me…Not every man is fortunate enough to have  a wife like Krishna but then, not every woman is fortunate enough to have Raj Kapoor for a husband…

“Women have always meant a lot in my life but Nargis meant more than anybody else. I used to always tell her, ‘Krishna is my wife; she is the mother of my children. I want you to be the mother of my films. And that’s precisely what she was…

“Whenever I die take me to my studio, for it’s possible that amidst the glitter of all the lights I may get up again and shout ‘Action, Action!’
(Text and pictures courtesy Raj Kapoor Speaks by Ritu Nanda and Follywood Flashback by Bunny Reuben)