{"id":1795,"date":"2015-05-29T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=1795"},"modified":"2019-05-29T07:13:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T01:43:18","slug":"prithviraj-kapoor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/prithviraj-kapoor\/","title":{"rendered":"Prithviraj Kapoor – The Icon of Hindi Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"

All pictures used in this article are courtesy SMM Ausaja and Osianama.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Prithviraj<\/a>

A photographic still of a Studio Portrait of Prithviraj Kapoor, 1956, hand signed in Hindi with \u201cpyar bhara aashirwad\u201d. Pic courtesy: Osianama.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Excellence followed Prithviraj Kapoor all through his life \u2013 he created plays no one could equal, and created some revered showbiz characters that became performing benchmarks \u2013 most notably being those in Sohrab Modi\u2019s\u00a0Sikandar<\/em>\u00a0and K Asif\u2019s Mughal-e-Azam<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Prithviraj Kapoor\u2019s contribution to cinema and theatre catapulted his status to legendary proportions in the industry, gave the First Family eminence to his immensely gifted lineage, and created two revered icons of Indian showbiz \u2013 R K Films and Prithvi Theatres.<\/p>\n

A father figure to an industry, Prithviraj was born in Peshawar on November 3, 1906, in a prosperous and respected family. His grandfather Dewan Saheb Keshomal Kapoor was the \u2018Tehsildar\u2019 of Samundri a town in Lyallpur district of Punjab. His father Shri Basheshar Nath Kapoor was a police officer who had a transferable job, so Prithviraj\u2019s early years were spent with his grandfather. His mother passed away when he was only three, father remarried and Prithviraj consequently had four stepbrothers \u2013 Trilok, Amar, Vishi and Ram. The bond with a disciplinarian grandfather taught him values and culture which he followed all his life – equality of humans, secularism, respect to elders et al formed the core of his early influences. For example, touching the feet of an old servant of the house was mandatory.<\/p>\n

Prithviraj\u2019s early schooling happened at Anglo-Vernacular District Board Middle School at Samundri. At eight he first appeared on stage as Laxman in a play on Ramayana, and also played Harishchandra in another. He later joined Khalsa High School at Lyallpur to complete 9th and 10th. F C Tandon, father of well-known director Lekh Tandon, was one of his earliest friends at school. Besides acting, athletics, Kabaddi, and wrestling also formed an integral part of his extra-curricular interests.<\/p>\n

Prithviraj cleared his Matriculation Exams with a first class, and went on to join Islamia College in Arts where he made a name for himself in Dramatics becoming the Secretary of College Amateur Dramatics Club. At 17, Prithvi married Rama and their eldest son Ranbir Raj Kapoor was born on December 14, 1924, when Prithvi was still in college!<\/p>\n

His heart and soul belonged to theatre<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Prithviraj<\/a>

Prithviraj (Kapoor), Baburao Pendharkar, Prem Adib in Vikramaditya.1945
Directed by Vijay Bhatt (Watercolour, pastels and Ink on cardboard \/ ART)
Pic courtesy: Osianama.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Completing BA with a second division in 1927, Prithviraj joined Law College Lahore. It was a disastrous move as his heart and soul belonged to theatre. Consequently he failed to clear his first year as a law student. The same year he decided to take up acting as a career, despite family opposition. In the era of silent films, the two bustling towns for movie making were Calcutta and Bombay. Prithviraj reached Calcutta to join Film League, a club active in fetching film assignments. When things did not turn out the way he had expected, and the disappointed struggler turned towards Bombay.<\/p>\n

\"Prithviraj<\/a>

Prithviraj Kapoor In a silent film 1929 (Pic courtesy: SMM Ausaja)<\/p><\/div>\n

Prithviraj reached Bombay on September 29, 1929, and managed to meet Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Studios on 2nd<\/sup> October. The meeting bore fruit and he joined the illustrious company as an \u201cextra\u201d, the first film assignment being\u00a0Challenge<\/em>\u00a0or Do Dhari Talwar<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(most films had two names in those days) directed by B P Misra.<\/p>\n

Prithviraj also appeared in\u00a0Wedding Night<\/em>\u00a0or Vasal ki Raat<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>directed by P V Altekar. However, \u201cextra\u201d roles could not hold him for long and soon Prithviraj got the main role as the protagonist in B P Misra\u2019s\u00a0Cinema Girl<\/em>\u00a0opposite Ermeline, a big star of silent cinema of those days. The film was a big hit and Prithviraj and Ermeline repeated the success with B P Misra\u2019s\u00a0Children of the Storm<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Toofan<\/em>\u00a0(1930) produced by Sagar Film Company.<\/p>\n

Motion Picture technology was revolutionized by sound and Prithviraj was part of the cast of India\u2019s first talkie\u00a0Alam Ara <\/em>directed by Ardeshir Irani himself. Soon Prithviraj also joined British actor Grant Anderson\u2019s theatre company to stage various plays including Shakespearean classics. With this troupe Prithviraj staged plays all over the country, before settling in Calcutta for six years.<\/p>\n

Grant Anderson\u2019s theatre group ran in losses but the illustrious New Theatres Studios picked up Prithviraj Kapoor for several films \u2013 the most famous ones being Nitin Bose\u2019s\u00a0Raj Rani Meera, <\/em>1933, opposite Durga Khote (the first mythological to win an award abroad),\u00a0Inquilaab<\/em>, 1934, Vidyapati<\/em>, 1937 (directed by Debaki Bose),\u00a0Manzil<\/em>, 1938 (in which he appeared in his famous negative role) and\u00a0Dushman<\/em>, 1939 (where he shared screen space with the legendary K L Saigal).<\/p>\n

\"Vikramaditya

Prithviraj Kapoor in Vikramaditya<\/em> 1945 (Pic courtesy: Photographic Still, Osianama)<\/p><\/div>\n

Returning as a Star<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1939 he returned to Bombay as a renowned star to join Chandulal Shah\u2019s Ranjit Studios. His stock rose with several hits like Ranjit\u2019s Pagal<\/em> directed by A R Kardar, till he reached his career high playing with Minerva Movietone\u2019s\u00a0Sikandar<\/em>\u00a0directed by Sohrab Modi. No star in the span of more than six decades has been able to match Prithviraj\u2019s charm, grace and screen presence that he gave to Modi\u2019s epic.\u00a0Sikandar<\/em>\u00a0remains a milestone in Hindi cinema. The handsome Prithviraj almost looked like the famed Greek legend Alexander The Great as he is depicted in the books, besides giving a stellar performance.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

No star in the span of more than six decades has been able to match Prithviraj\u2019s charm, grace and screen presence that he gave to Sohrab Modi\u2019s epic Sikandar. (A rare hand-painted poster of Sikandar) Pic courtesy: SMM Ausaja<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1941, when V Shantaram was planning\u00a0Shakuntala<\/em>, Prithviraj approached the celebrated director for a role. Shantaram didn\u2019t show much interest in casting Prithvi as Dushyant. Years later, Prithviraj staged\u00a0Shakuntala<\/em>\u00a0and sent a special invite to Shantaram. The play ended with thunderous applause and accolades to Prithviraj who played Dushyant. This was an artiste\u2019s angst conveyed to another through a creative route. There was regret and guilt in Shantaram\u2019s expressions as he faced Prithviraj after the play! Prithviraj was later seen in Rajkamal\u2019s\u00a0Dahej<\/em>\u00a0in one of his career best roles!!<\/p>\n

Films and theatre remained his twin passions till Prithviraj decided to form his own theatre company. Prithvi Theatres was founded on 15th<\/sup> January, 1944 in Bombay, beginning a theatre renaissance in Bombay.\u00a0Deewar<\/em>\u00a0on partition,\u00a0Pathan<\/em>\u00a0on secularism, Ghaddar<\/em> on the plight of post-partition Muslim refugees,\u00a0Ahutee<\/em>\u00a0on a girl abducted during riots, Kalakar<\/em> on a village girl marrying a metro-based artiste, Paisa<\/em>, a play on the ills of wealth, Kisan<\/em> on the plight of farmers facing ruthless moneylenders \u2013 all path breaking scripts deftly enacted and directed.<\/p>\n

Along with scaling the peaks of creativity in theatre, Prithviraj continued his film career on a stable footing in the forties and fifties with films like K Asif\u2019s\u00a0Phool<\/em>\u00a0(1945),\u00a0Shree Krisna Arjun Yudh<\/em>\u00a0(1946), V Shantaram\u2019s\u00a0Dahej<\/em>\u00a0(1950),\u00a0Awara<\/em>\u00a0(1952) and\u00a0Mughal-e-Azam<\/em>\u00a0(1960) making waves.<\/p>\n

\"Prithviraj<\/a>

Prithviraj Kapoor’s one of the most remembered attempts at comedy was in grandson Randhir Kapoor\u2019s Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971). Pic courtesy: SMM Ausaja<\/p><\/div>\n

His eldest son Raj Kapoor made his debut as a lead in 1947 with Kedar Sharma\u2019s\u00a0Neel Kamal<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and subsequently established R K Studios with his directorial debut\u00a0Aag<\/em>\u00a0(1948). Prithviraj excelled in RK\u2019s Awara<\/em> in 1951. Two years later, Prithviraj\u2019s Shammi Kapoor made a splash with Mahesh Kaul\u2019s Jeewan Jyoti <\/em>while his youngest son Shashi Kapoor appeared as a lead in\u00a0Char Diwari <\/em>opposite Nanda in 1961 \u2013 a year after his father\u2019s celebrated performance in K Asif\u2019s magnificent epic\u00a0Mughal-e-Azam<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Shahenshah Akbar and Shezaade Salim face-off in K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam<\/em> (Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar deliver power packed performances in this all time classic)<\/span><\/p>\n