The stardom and fan following of the Kapoor clan is majorly courtesy Raj Kapoor who was one of the finest actors and directors that Bollywood has seen. Raj Kapoor, to a great extent, was an epitome of cinema, bringing in stories that appealed to the masses, with a pinch of youth added to them. It is no surprise that the ‘Sangam’ stud was popular worldwide, especially in Russia.
India-Russia ties – full of fond memories……..like Raj Kapoor’s movies running to full houses in Moscow & beyond pic.twitter.com/geJ2OyHPEV
Back in the mid-1960’s Raj Kapoor was working on his film Mera Naam Joker and was in talks with Russian circus troupe to be part of the film. The legendary actor was in London and had to be in Moscow, Russia which was then the Soviet Union. The actor landed in Moscow thinking that he had the visa.
“But he didn’t have a visa to come into Moscow. Still, they welcomed Raj Kapoor… There was no welcome committee for him because he landed unannounced. So he got outside and waited for a taxi… By then people started recognizing that Raj Kapoor is in Moscow. His taxi came and he sat in. Suddenly what he saw was that the taxi is not moving forward and instead is going up. The people took the car on their shoulders,” said the late Rishi Kapoor at the event.
In fact, once, Ranbir Kapoor was asked the true meaning of stardom, to which Ranbir had referred to this exact incident. This to him is the true definition of stardom, and we can’t but agree!
Raj Kapoor was the force behind legendary films like Awaara and Sangam which are entertaining after decades of being made. We remember the timeless entertainer who helped shape the Indian cinema.
He was really famous in Soviet Union. In fact with his movies Indian movies became popular in Soviet Union. 64 million tickets were sold on his movie Awaara in first year. This movie were shown in Soviet cinemas several times in different years. Yuriy Gagarin called him Comrade Brodyaga (Awaara).
Line for festival of Indian movies in Soviet Union.
Raj Kapoor with Yuriy Gagarin.
Russian try to give vodka to Raj Kapoor.
We lost the greatest showman in India on 2nd June, 32 years ago But in a certain sense, he will always be around us with his unparalleled contribution to Indian cinema we know and love today.