{"id":1812,"date":"2015-06-01T08:33:22","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T08:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2024-12-13T16:28:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T10:58:19","slug":"nargis-and-raj-kapoor-redefining-dreams-aspirations-and-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/nargis-and-raj-kapoor-redefining-dreams-aspirations-and-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"Nargis and Raj Kapoor – Redefining Dreams, Aspirations and Romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pictures used in this article are courtesy SMM Ausaja and Pakanati Lakshmi Priya<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nargis, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in Andaz<\/p><\/div>\n

They came, we saw and they conquered.<\/p>\n

Together they catapulted the mainstream Hindi film with its typically Indian cultural milieu and social context into international limelight. There was no need to chop off the songs and dances like Indian filmmakers usually do before taking their films overseas.<\/p>\n

Reason? The songs had become a rage abroad as well, irrespective of the fact that the audiences there did not understand the Hindi language. And in India, they were topping the charts anyway.<\/p>\n

\"Raj<\/a>

Nargis and Raj Kapoor had a symbiotic relationship.<\/p><\/div>\n

This magic was Nargis-Raj Kapoor, the iconic on-screen couple who caught the imagination of the audience, cutting across age-barriers, language barriers and political boundaries. While their reel-life pairing electrified the silver screen their real-life romance was also making headlines.<\/p>\n

Says film historian and renowned archivist of vintage film memorabilia and VP of Osianama, SMM Ausaja, \u201cNargis and Raj Kapoor had a symbiotic relationship. While Raj Kapoor had the backing of Prithviraj Kapoor, a well-established infrastructure, stature and repute in the film industry and a sharp vision for making films that would work at the box-office and also create an impact beyond commercial success, Nargis was the star, a bigger star than RK in terms of box-office popularity. Hence, when the twain met, they together created films that left a deeper impact than most films of that era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nargis, born of a professional singer mother, Jaddan Bai (a Muslim from Punjab who grew up in Allahabad) and Mohan Babu (a Mahyal Brahmin from Punjab who converted to Islam to marry Jaddan Bai), learned to appreciate the value of education from her early years. She did her schooling in Queen Mary\u2019s, one of Bombay\u2019s well known private schools. Although she did not pursue higher studies after passing school (Cambridge Certificate), she had by then acquired the persona of a vivacious, well-groomed, almost western, partly tomboyish teenager with a mind of her own.<\/p>\n

Says Peeyush Sharma, the prolific Canada-based writer on cinema who was also the founder-secretary of Vintage Hindi Film Music Lovers’ Association in Bangalore in mid 80s,\u00a0\u201cHer mother Jaddan Bai was producing and directing films and providing musical score as well. In this upbringing even though Nargis dreamt of becoming a doctor, which was her father Mohan Babu\u2019s wish too, she landed into films thanks to her mother, Mehboob Khan and then Raj Kapoor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Nargis started her career as a six-year-old child artist in the 1935\u00a0Talashe Haq<\/em>, it was Mehboob Khan\u2019s Taqdeer<\/em> in 1943 which presented the 14-year-old Nargis opposite the then superstar Motilal, in a dream debut for any newcomer. Mehboob Khan\u2019s next period drama Humayun <\/em>1945 was another feather in Nargis\u2019 cap.<\/p>\n

Recalls Peeyush Sharma, \u201cI remember watching Humayun <\/em>on the big screen at a festival. The film belonged to Ashok Kumar but again Nargis made an impact. She was raw and fresh and looked so and had it all over her acting. By the time Raj came into her life, she had already become an accomplished artist and in comparison Raj was raw. Thus her name attached to his films spelt success for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nargis\"

Nargis commanded awe with her persona of a well-groomed, partly western, vivacious young woman with a mind of her own.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nargis came into films at a time when despite political and economic turmoil and in the midst of the surging waves of anticipation of Independence, the film industry was witnessing an unprecedented flood of talent and innovation. Running parallel with the revolution on the political front was a revolution in the creative arena. The bold and irrepressible Indian People\u2019s Theatre Association, Prithvi Theatre and Uday Shankar\u2019s Kalpana Dance Troupe were creating new milestones in the performing arts with an eclectic mix of talented people.<\/p>\n

It was the best of times for cinema in India with the illustrious New Theatres Studios (Calcutta), Gemini Studios (Madras), Bombay Talkies, Prabhat Studios and Ranjit Movietone (Hindi film industry) were all in healthy competition to produce films that showcased the best of the talent available.<\/p>\n

TJS George in his biography of Nargis, titled Nargis, <\/em>describes Raj Kapoor the scion of the powerful Prithviraj Kapoor family as, \u201cborn rich with a celluloid spoon in his mouth.\u201d Studies did not interest Raj Kapoor and he was itching to plunge headlong into films which forced Prithviraj Kapoor to make him an assistant to producer-director Kidar Sharma.<\/p>\n

The world of cinema had begun celebrating India\u2019s independence in its own way with path-breaking films. The bold Bhuli Nai<\/em> (1948) and Parivartan<\/em> (1949) turned the spotlight towards Bengali cinema while S S Vasan\u2019s magnum opus Chandralekha<\/em> (1948) brought to fore South India\u2019s great potential for large canvas musical costume dramas.<\/p>\n

\"Nargis<\/a>

Nargis and Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat on Filmindia \u00a0Magazine’s cover in November, 1948<\/p><\/div>\n

It was 1948 when Raj Kapoor decided to break out on his own with Aag<\/em>. He dreamt of being an actor, producer, director and studio owner and to make a difference to the film industry. \u201cRaj Kapoor\u2019s strength as a leader of men came to the fore when he organized his own company R K Films. It was not a \u201cbig studio\u201d in the manner of Prabhat and Bombay Talkies. But no studio with the exception of New Theatres and Gemini managed to gather as impressive group of gifted people and hold it together for as long as R K Films did. The leading lights of the company \u2013 K A Abbas, Shailendra, Mukesh, Shankar-Jaikishen, M R Achrekar, Radhu Karmakar \u2013 were all men of extraordinary talent. Together they created a mystique and an inventive powerhouse that almost took the R K imprint into the realm of mythology,\u201d writes TJS George.<\/p>\n

Says Sundeep Pahwa, who as a young boy saw and heard the stories of film industry from close quarters as his father produced and acted (introduced\u00a0as Basant Kumar) in the film Bahu<\/em>, 1955, the first directorial venture of Shakti Samanta<\/a>, \u201cI recollect reading in Filmfare<\/em>, Raj Kapoor and Lettita, a Christian girl were studying at Gloria Convent, Byculla, Bombay in the 40s. They met later once again when she was working in the industry under the screen name Neelam. She was very close to Akhtar Hussain, Nargis\u2019 elder brother, thus became very close to Nargis too. She became a key witness to the legendary Raj Kapoor-Nargis relationship.”<\/p>\n

“RK wanted to sign Nargis for Aag<\/em>. Jaddan Bai was not keen for her daughter to work in a three-heroine subject with Kamini Kaushal and Nigar Sultana sharing screen space with her.\u00a0Raj Kapoor told Jaddan Bai that he would give the top billing to Nargis. Her brothers convinced their mother to let \u2018Baby\u2019 do the film (Nargis was fondly called \u2018Baby\u2019 by her friends and family). Ultimately she did get top billing in Aag,<\/em>\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\"Barsaat\"<\/a>

Barsaat (1949), rewrote the way romance would be portrayed on screen from now on.<\/p><\/div>\n

Their first meeting was when Raj Kapoor dropped in at Jaddan Bai\u2019s home in Marine Drive to enquire about the facilities at Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi area where Jaddan Bai was shooting Romeo and Juliet.<\/em> Nargis was frying bhajias<\/em> in the kitchen and her nephew went to call her. A little nervous at the sight of cherubic young Kapoor, she ended up smudging dough across her forehead \u2013 a sweet memory for Raj Kapoor who picturised it much later as the first meeting of the teenaged pair in Bobby<\/em> (1973) but made the teen sensation Dimple Kapadia open the door to a cherubic Rishi Kapoor.<\/p>\n

Says SMM Ausaja, \u201cRaj Kapoor knew Nargis was the bigger star attraction. She would pull in the crowds. If you look at the first release posters of Barsaat <\/em>(1949) and Aah<\/em> (1953), you will be amazed to find the posters completely focused on Nargis. RK does not figure in the posters at all although he was the producer and producers typically designed their first release posters to draw in maximum crowds and raise curiosity levels. These posters are clear indication that Nargis was the main draw in that era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nargis<\/a>

Nargis and Raj Kapoor had caught the fascination of the youth in a way no other screen couple had done before.<\/p><\/div>\n

In fact Nargis\u2019 star status got further cemented in 1948, when two of her films became big draws at the box office Mela<\/em> (opposite Dilip Kumar) and Aag <\/em>(opposite Raj Kapoor). She already had five years of experience as a star while Raj Kapoor was just starting out. In the films she had done, the male lead was a matinee idol. Aag,<\/em> true to its name, ignited the screen. Even though Nargis came into the frame only in the 9th<\/sup> reel, the massive publicity build up featuring her had created a lot of buzz and anticipation.<\/p>\n

Says Sundeep Pahwa, \u201cRaj Kapoor worked a lot on Nargis\u2019 appearance in Aag.<\/em>\u00a0She got her hair shortened and got special makeup done on her face,\u00a0which gave her a dramatic\u00a0new look. Aa<\/em>g was released at Opera House Bombay and ran for 10 weeks over there which was quite a bit for a new banner film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aag <\/em>signaled the beginning of what would become one of the most impactful screen pairing of all time for Hindi cinema. Barsaat <\/em>followed a year later, rewriting the way romance would be portrayed on screen from now on. The accepted norm of portraying love on-screen so far had been steeped in tragedy \u2013 usually love meant coy exchanges of glances, songs that involved entwining around trees or wallowing in viraha<\/em>, shedding tears, suffering silently or plunging into depression the Devdas way. Barsaat<\/em> completely overturned this hide-and-seek style of love, ushering in a passionate expression of intimacy through gestures, expressions and dialogues.<\/p>\n

\"Barsaat\"<\/a>

Raj Kapoor used the famous still to modernize the R K Films logo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Says Ausaja, \u201cBarsaat<\/em> is the most significant film of the duo \u2013 the runaway success at the box-office, their famed on-screen chemistry had such an impact that Raj Kapoor used the famous still to modernize the R K Films logo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writes TJS George, \u201cAll the world could see that Nargis and Raj Kapoor were not just play-acting before the cameras. The romance they projected on the screen became so convincingly evocative because it reflected their real life emotions. The spark between them had been ignited, despite the best efforts of Jaddan Bai and Akhtar Hussain, before the shooting of Aag <\/em>was over. By the time Barsaat <\/em>was mounted in 1948, the romance was in full spate.\u201d\u00a0That Raj Kapoor was married and was already a father made things more complicated. The Kapoor family, including the patriarch Prithviraj Kapoor did not take kindly to his\u00a0relationship with Nargis.<\/p>\n

Raj Kapoor and Nargis had caught the fascination of the youth in a way no other screen couple had done before. Young men and women imitated their style, attitude and dress sense and hummed their songs. Their films had great music which was a plus, easy-to-hum songs that were not deeply classical and an X-factor that appealed to the young generation which was nurturing dreams and aspirations of growth and empowerment in the post-independence India.<\/p>\n

Mujhe kisi se pyar ho gaya<\/strong><\/em> (Barsaat, 1949)<\/p>\n