During a conversation with director Rahul Rawail at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa to celebrate Kapoor’s 100th birth anniversary, Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor spoke about his grandfather, the pioneering Indian film director Raj. He shared his personal memories and professional insights about Kapoor.
“My memories with him are very personal,” Ms. Kapoor said, remembering her grandfather, who passed away when she was six years old. “He used to take us to his room and he used to hide caramel toffee in the fridge. I asked them to line up and say “Salaam” and sing “Awaala Hoon.” [from “Awaara,” 1951]”
While talking about Raj Kapoor’s filmmaking, the young Kapoor mentioned his grandfather’s ability to tackle various social themes throughout his career. “If you look at ‘Awaara’, it was based on casteism. ‘Shree 420’ [1955] We talked about greed and the underprivileged. In his later films, he made powerful films that reflected India’s moral values. ”
Kapoor highlighted his grandfather’s creative resilience, especially after the commercial failure of “Mera Naam Joker” (1970). “He lost so much money. His house was mortgaged. But he had the courage to make a movie with new people. [“Bobby,” 1973]. For a 50-year-old man to make a film for young people means he really stayed with the times. ”
During this conversation, plans for a restoration project for Raj Kapoor’s films were revealed. “What is NFDC? [National Film Development Corporation of India],NFAI [National Film Archive of India]my uncle Kunal Kapoor and the Film Heritage Foundation, we have restored 10 films so far,” Mr. Kapoor said, adding that he will be organizing the project from December 13 to 15 to exhibit the restored works. announced a nationwide film festival scheduled for 2019.
Kapoor, whose films include “Animal,” “Barfi,” and “Wake Up Sid,” said it would be difficult to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, but eventually expressed an interest in directing. “My grandfather was directing, acting, producing, writing and editing films at the age of 24. I am 42 years old now and I still don’t have the courage to direct a film. I am working on a film called ‘Jagga Jasoos’. , which also didn’t do well at the box office, but this is definitely something I have burning ambitions for. I’m waiting for the story to come, because a director should only make a movie if there’s a story they want to tell, not just to make a movie. ”
