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The entire Kapoor family has come together to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of the Showman of Indian Cinema – Raj Kapoor. The man who revolutionized Indian Cinema and romanticized the beauty of storytelling, bringing stellar stories on screen from Barsaat to Bobby.
The Last Award
The showman of Indian Cinema who made us learn that life is all a stage and a circus. We all felt when he stood on stage and sang, “Ek din mit jaayega maati ke mol, jag mein reh jayenge pyaare bol.” The superstar fetched his last award on May 2, 1988, as he was in Delhi to receive the Dada Saheb Phalke Award.
Ritu Nanda, in one of her interviews with Filmfare, recalled the day, “There was a dust storm in Delhi. As soon as the door of the plane opened, he was greeted with a violent gust of wind. Being an asthma patient, it affected his lungs. He attended the function with an oxygen cylinder. Through the function, he was restless.”
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When Raj Kapoor was called for the award, he struggled to get up from his chair. He was immediately put on a ventilator. From there, it was a month-long struggle to live. And he fought like a warrior.
The Last Joke
A report by AtMigration published in 1988, re-published by India Today in 2013, mentions his last humorous conversation with the hospital staff before he slipped into a coma. The report by Pankaj Pachauri said, “In his last days, Saini, the man in charge of the ICU, asked Kapoor in jest whether he would include him in his next film in a crowd sequence. Kapoor shook his head. Saini cajoled him: “Not even as an extra?” Kapoor then called him nearer and whispered: “Hero, Hero.” It was perhaps the last wisecrack from the man who was ‘Joker’ to countless millions.”
For more throwbacks, stay tuned to Koimoi.
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