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Raj Kapoor |
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 Indian Cinema of the 1950s and 60s saw the birth of a lovable tramp that was anguished by the iniquitous, inequitable world order, but it’s his indomitable spirit that dominated and eventually dispelled the disparities. The able actor in Raj Kapoor embodied that lovable tramp making him the undisputable King of Hearts of the Hindi Film audience, and even today, decades after his demise, his name brings along with it fond memories of a time long lost or in some cases never seen. Son of the respected Prithiviraj Kapoor , Raj Kapoor could have had everything easy and followed his fathers footsteps blindly but the ambitious artist in him aspired for immortality. He experimented with roles and started directing films even before establishing himself properly as an actor. His films didn’t conform to the typical style of filmmaking of those time, they talked about issues that most filmmakers would happily brush under the carpet. |
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| In Awara (1952), a petty thief, questions the capitalist society that is only too happy to accord respectability to corrupt powerful individuals at the expense of the impoverished working class. In the delightful Shri 420, the tramp talks about the dehumanization of modern world and chooses to abandon Bombay’s glittering skyline to be with them who are behind the glare. His tattered shoes, patched trousers and pocketful of dreams, bore testimony to his penury but also made him an affable representative of the lesser fortunate. Raj Kapoor's affable tramp was indeed political animal but he was not exactly a rebel because he did not hold political-economic systems responsible for this. His rebellion was somehow gentle and conveniently controllable, for Raj Kapoor the filmmaker didn’t aspire for Nihilism. The Tramp might have been poor, but he embodied the hope and aspiration of a new vibrant nation so he was suitably happy and full of buoyant life. Kapoor films most definitely showcased him as an actor and a social reformer but they become doubly important when we realize that he probably was the first filmmaker in Indian Cinema to make Cinema of reform with subjectivity.
His Characters were not perfect individuals but flawed ones who achieved nobility through the course of the film. Indeed Raj Kapoor early films narrate the story of a nation, which is grappling with its entire problem with innocence, and will.
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