Raj Kapoor an actor, producer and director of Indian cinema is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of Hindi cinema. Raj Kapoor made his debut in Bollywood at the age of ten in 1935’s Inquilab.
He has entertained the audience with some amazing films like Awaara, Shree 420, Chori Chori, Anari, Boot Polish, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Sapnon Ka Saudagar and more. Besides being an amazing actor, the founder of RK films and the inspiration of Bollywood was a die-hard romantic.
One can never forget his epic saga with one of his co-stars Nargis. Raj Kapoor had famously said that his wife was the mother of his children but Nargis was the mother of his movies. Raj Kapoor met Nargis when she was a star, a veteran of eight films in 1945. She was 20, Raj was 22 and new to the celluloid world. In 1948 the two were paired together in Aag. After being paired up in many films, they grew close together. Nargis was totally committed to Raj Kapoor, she put her heart, soul and even her money into his films.
Raj Kapoor also loved Nargis very much but he was already married and had children but despite this Raj Kapoor had told Nargis many times that he would marry her. Nargis was madly in love with Raj and longed to become Mrs Raj Kapoor. After 9 years of a long relationship, Nargis started to feel that Raj is not paying attention to her. She started feeling alienated in his movies and was unhappy with the roles he was giving her.
In the year 1955 in Shree 420, Nargis was discontented with her non-glamorous role. Hence in anger, she signed Mother India in the year 1957 without telling Raj Kapoor. This hurt him badly. During the shoot of Mother India, the set caught fire and Nargis’ co-star Sunil Dutt saved the actress. He was so burnt while saving her that he was even admitted to the hospital. After this incident, Nargis and Sunil fell in love with each other.
The two got married to each other in the year 1958. Raj Kapoor was devastated on hearing Nargis’ marriage to Sunil Dutt. His wife Krishna Kapoor had said: “Night after night he would come home drunk and collapse in the bathtub weeping.” Raj Kapoor always felt that Nargis had cheated him.
In an interview given in 1986, Raj Kapoor had said that Nargis had cheated him by signing Mother India and he never forgave her. Even after Nargis bid adieu to the world, at her funeral, Raj Kapoor stood with the outsiders. While everyone called him to come closer to her lying corpse, the actor refused to do so.
Nargis died in 1981 of pancreatic cancer, only three days before her son Sanjay Dutt made his debut in Hindi films with the film Rocky. In 1982, the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation was established in her memory. The award for Best Feature Film on National Integration in the Annual Film Awards ceremony is called the Nargis Dutt Award in her honour.
Raj Kapoor suffered from asthma in his later years; he died of complications related to the disease in 1988 at the age of 63. He collapsed at the event where he was to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and was taken to a hospital for treatment. He was hospitalised for about a month before he succumbed to complications arising from his asthma.
