"I have struggled a lot for what I have today"---- said Raj Kapoor . Truly he has achieved a lot both for himself and for the Hindi film industry. There is hardly any area of film making that Raj Kapoor has not ventured into . He is at once a producer, a director, an actor, an editor, a musician and a story- teller . There will be nonstop arguements about his exact contribution to the art of cinema, but few can refute that he was the greatest entertainer of all times. His films portrayed the anguish of the common man through gloomy landscapes and sets with sharply contrasted lights. One of the persistent images in his films is that of the vagabond and the mongrel sitting together on the pavement in utter dejection, both thrown out from the highways where the upper class rules.

Raj Kapoor was born on 14th December 1924, in Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province of what is now Pakistan. He was named Ranbirraj Kapoor at birth, and was the eldest of the four children of well-known theater and cinema actor Prithviraj Kapoor ( the head of India`s greatest and largest film family )and his wife Smt. Ramsarni Devi . His younger brothers were the actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial. In 1946, at the age of twenty-two, Raj Kapoor married Krishna Malhotra belonging to Jabalpur . Krishna was Raj Kapoor`s first cousin, being his father`s maternal uncle`s daughter. Her brothers Premnath and Rajindernath were also actors. Raj Kapoor and Krishna had three sons (Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor ) and two daughters (Ritu and Reema ) . Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor have all been connected to the Hindi film industry as actors, directors or producers. Eminent film personalities Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor are the granddaughters of Raj and Krishna Kapoor, being the daughters of their eldest son Randhir Kapoor by his wife Babita . Raj Kapoor died in 1988 at the age of 63 , from complications related to asthma.

Raj Kapoor started his work as general factotum for Bombay Talkies before moving on to assist Kidar Sharma. Here he was made to clean floors and be the clapper boy but Sharma observed the young man`s resolve to succeed .He gave Raj Kapoor his big break as a lead actor in 1947 with Neel Kamal opposite Madhubala. Earlier, at the age of 11, Raj Kapoor had appeared in a film called Inquilab. In 1948, at the age of 23, Raj Kapoor made his directorial debut with Aag, the first film under the RK banner. Aag disputed the traditional conventions of sympathetic characters and straightforward storytelling. It was also one of the first films of Raj Kapoor to explore duality - physical beauty on one hand and inner beauty on the other.

Mehboob`s Andaaz (1949) made Raj a top star and in the same year it was the passionate romance Barsaat which established Raj Kapoor as a merotorious director. Barsaat, a runaway hit, also brought fame to new music directors Shankar - Jaikishen, lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri and the actress Nimmi. The passionate on-screen chemistry between Raj Kapoor and Nargis in Barsaat shot amidst a beautiful and graceful scenario of light and shade created a buzz among the audience. The songs played a crucial role in Lata Mangeshkar`s climb to the top as a playback singer. Raj Kapoor had a great musical aptitude and always ensured that the songs were of the best quality. The 50s saw Raj Kapoor`s greatest work as a Producer-Director besides establishing himself as one of India`s biggest ever film stars along with Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar .

Awaara (1951), the tale of a vagabond was perhaps his greatest triumph . In Awara, Raj Kapoor gave a new meaning to the tramp by making him a representative of the innocent post-independent Indian. This image recurred in Shree 420 (1955) which traces the corruption of an innocent soul who comes to the city to make his living.In fact. many of his other films, Anari (1959) , for example, look at the inexperienced simple hero exploited by a cruel and ruthless society. After Chori Chori (1956) and Jagte Raho (1956), Raj Kapoor continued to explore social issues - Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960)- or complex human relationships - Sangam (1964) . Gradually , in these films, the heroine became more and more the personification of tintillating sexuality.

In 1970, Kapoor made his masterwork Mera Naam Joker (1970) about a clown who makes others smile by hiding his tears, but the film fared very badly at the box office.

Raj Kapoor again soared to the limelights with Bobby(1973) a teenage romance of young lovers fighting parental antagonism that is imitated by Hindi cinema till today.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) was a failure but Prem Rog (1982) based on widow re-marriage and his last film Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) about innocence being sullied were critical and commercial successes. In the latter the female protagonist is a metaphor for India - once untainted but now desecrated by filth and corruption. At the time of his death Raj Kapoor was making Heena, a love story infringing upon the barriers of the Indo-Pak border, which was afterwards completed by his eldest son Randhir. His sons, all primarily actors, have tried to keep the RK Banner alive amidst all odds. Nevertheless, everyone will agree that Raj Kapoor was only one of his kind.

Raj Kapoor was acclaimed worldwide and the numerous awards that he received are a proof of his fame.Let us look at his acheivements in detail:

1956 - Nominated Best Actor for Jagte Raho
1958 - Nominated Best Actor for Phir Subhah Hogi
1959 - Winner Best Actor for Anari
1961 - Winner Best Actor for Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai
1964 - Nominated Best Movie for Sangam
1964 - Winner Best Director for Sangam
1964 - Nominated Best Actor for Sangam
1971 - Nominated Best Movie for Mera Naam Joker
1971 - Winner Best Director for Mera Naam Joker
1973 - Nominated Best Movie for Bobby
1973 - Nominated Best Director for Bobby
1978 - Nominated Best Director for Satyam Shivam Sundaram
1980 - Nominated Best Supporting Actor for Abdullah
1982 - Winner Best Director for Prem Rog
1985 - Winner Best Director for Ram Teri Ganga Maili
1985 - Winner Best Movie for Ram Teri Ganga Maili

National honours and recognitions
Raj Kapoor had been bestowed with a "National Award" for cinematography for contribution to Indian cinema.In 1971, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, India`s third highest national award from the Government of India.In 1987, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India`s highest award for cinematic distinction. On January 8, 2001, he was honoured with the "Best Director of the Millennium" award by Hero Honda-Stardust . In 2002, he was named "Showman of the Millennium" by Star Screen Awards.

International honours and recognitions
Raj Kapoor was nominated for the 1953 Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival for Awaara. A Raj Kapoor Film Festival was held on his 75th Birth Anniversary at the Cultural Centre of Russia on 17th January, 2000. The 55th Cannes International Film Festival, which was held from May 16-26, 2002, included a Raj Kapoor Retrospective as a mark of respect to the showman.

Raj Kapoor always retained a romantic optimism in his films.The conflict of Raj Kapoor`s films always concluded in a scenario where, as he maintains, all is well, everybody is happy and God is great. All happens within the existing social setup. Kapoor`s philosophy was basically based on love, as he himself confirms: "I saw the environment and the social effect it had on people and tried to weave the fabric of the script with the influences of that environment to present it with romanticism and a certain kind of sensitivity of belonging, of humanism and in totality, it worked as love."