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It’s a pity that Randhir Kapoor got trapped in the image of a happy-go-lucky awaraa-nalayak version of his father Raj Kapoor. There was so much more to him than the rumbustious ho-ho-ho blustering bumpkin’s image that he was stuck with. Part of the blame for not breaking out of that stereotype must go to Daboo, alias Randhir Kapoor. He loved to be perceived as a typical Kapoor: overweight foodie with a snappy sense of humour who didn’t care for the hit-or-flop cycle of the box-office. But Randhir had the chops, and he had the hits. Take a look.

1. Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971):

This was quite a family affair: that is to say, Randhir’s family his grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor and father Raj Kapoor, played their real-life roles while his fiancé Babita played his girlfriend. This was Randhir’s debut as an actor and director, and he was promising.

In this special feature for Valentine’s Day Subhash K Jha reveals who he thinks are the 10 most romantic on-screen couples of all time.

1. Raj Kapoor-Nargis: They did a number of notable films together, the most celebrated among them being Awara. The sizzling chemistry between them set the screen on fire. While later in the history of Bollywood coupling, real-life jodis got bland and boring, Raj-Nargis continued to enthrall audiences until the bitter end…Their bitter end when they called off their relationship. Nargis’s last shot with Raj Kapoor was in Jagte Raho, where in the song ‘Jaago mohan pyare’, she poured water into the parched Kapoor’s mouth.

2. Dilip Kumar-Madhubala: Their real-life chemistry spilled into Mughal-e-Azam, creating the most amazing chemistry. Though they did other films together, including the very thought-provoking Amar, their togetherness continues to be celebrated through this all-time classic.

Raj Kapoor Held A Huge Box Office Record For 10,959 Days Straight! (Photo Credit – YouTube)

The showman of Indian Cinema who made us believe—Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan, Iske Siwa Jaana Kahaan—the great Raj Kapoor was born exactly 100 years ago. As the Kapoors celebrate his 100th birth anniversary, we decided to take a quick recap on an insane achievement of his career.

He was the greatest – Shashi Kapoor & Shammi Kapoor’s brother, Randhir, Rishi, and Rajiv Kapoor’s father, Babita and Neetu Kapoor’s father-in-law, Karisma, Kareena, Ranbir, Riddhima Kapoor, Adar & Armaan Jain’s grandfather, Taimur, Jeh, Navya Naveli Nanda & Agastya Nanda’s great-grandfather! The legacy he left was imbibed by the youngsters of the Kapoor – Nanda family.

Raj Kapoor’s First Step In Cinema

Raj Kapoor holds an impeccable box office record that was unbeatable for 20 long years. He made his debut in 1943 with a film called Gauri, which...

Fall festival season picked up this last week with Venice and Telluride, and now Toronto is just around the corner, from 5-15 September 2024. This year, we’re seeing an exciting number of festival-favorite auteurs return, including Jia Zhang-ke (“Caught with the Wind”), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Cloud”), Mohammad Rassoulof (“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”), and Hong Sang-soo (“By the Stream”). For those who are in Toronto and are interested in the older classics, TIFF Classics offers some delectable 4k restorations of South Asian and Iranian selects this year, including Raj Kapoor‘s classic “Awara” (1951) and Sohrab Shahid Saless‘ “Time of Maturity” (1976).

In addition to these, genre films seem to make up a healthy number of Asian selections this year. Korean blockbuster star Hyun-bin returns in Woo Min-ho’s latest historical spy movie, “Harbin,” and Tumpbal Tampubolon‘s “Crocodile Tears” promises a “slow-burning suspense thriller.” Three of the infamously-campy Midnight Madness screenings...

International auteurs Miguel Gomes, Wang Bing and Roberto Minervini will be part of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Wavelengths program, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.

The festival will present the North American premieres of “Grand Tour,” a period piece for which Gomes won the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Minervini’s “The Damned,” a Civil War-era drama that screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section; and two films by Chinese documentarian Wang Bing, “Youth (Hard Times)” and “Youth (Homecoming).”

The Wavelengths section, which is devoted to daring cinema and contemporary art, will also include “exergue – on documenta 14,” a 14-hour documentary by Greek director Dimitris Athiridis that will be presented over three separate screenings.

Wavelengths is divided into different sections – one consisting of 11 feature films, another with a special presentation of Egyptian director Wael Shawky’s “Drama 1882” and another showcasing 13 different short and medium-length films grouped into thematic programs.

The youngest of Bollywood’s famous Kapoor brothers, he did not have their one defining and enduring cinematic image – Raj’s naive "tramp" identity in the Charlie Chaplin tradition or Shammi’s Elvis-like jiving, rebellious "playboy" persona, but went to surpass both in sheer diversity of his acting.

With his copybook good looks, rakish smile, infectious charm, toothy grin and languid drawl, or the air of earnestness, playing romantic roles, be they of businessmen, police inspectors, college students, et al came naturally to him, but Shashi Kapoor went on to play more ‘common man’ roles, decadent princes, aging poets and even angels with the same charm and intensity.

Born on March 18, 1938 in the then Calcutta to Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarn ‘Rama’ Devi, Balbir Raj ‘Shashi’ Kapoor was destined to walk in his family’s footsteps on the silver screen.

Though he first appeared on screen as a child artiste in...