Shashi Ranjan, a seasoned actor and director, has all the time held a deep admiration for the legendary Raj Kapoor, whose affect on Indian cinema is unmatched. Ranjan’s first encounter with the showman of Indian cinema, nevertheless, was a defining second in his life. In dialog with ETimes, Ranjan fondly recalled the heat and hospitality of the man who had already formed a lot of his cinematic desires.
Reminiscing his first assembly with the icon, Ranjan shared, “When I first joined FTIIthe very first film personality I met was Raj Kapoor. It was a tradition for him to invite the new batch of acting students, and just six to eight days after joining, we got a message that Raj Ji had invited us to dinner at the Blue Diamond hotel. We were all so excited because he had made Bobby, and we were starry-eyed. We dressed up and went to meet him in his suite. Raj Ji was one of the greatest hosts. There was a buffet with food and drinks, but none of us had the courage to drink in front of him. He was so warm and welcoming, and he looked at all of us, boys and girls, and said, “Anyone can develop into a Rishi Kapoor or a Dimple Kapadia. You all are good.” That moment was truly historical for me. Coming from Haryana and joining film school, meeting Raj Kapoor for dinner felt like a dream come true.”
Elaborating additional, he added, “Over the years, Raj Kapoor has been a huge influence on me as a cinema lover, and I’m no exception. At FTII, we had the opportunity to watch his films like Jagte Raho, Awara, Shree 420, and more. His music was extraordinary, and directors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali were influenced by it. Kapoor introduced his heroines.”
But maybe what set Raj Kapoor aside was his skill to convey deep social messages by way of leisure. “During the socialist era in India, films like Awara, Shree 420, Jagte Raho, and Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai addressed significant social issues. Bobby was a love story with a backdrop of class and caste conflict. The girl was a poor Christian. , and the boy was a rich Hindu in such a way that the audience never felt entertained while absorbing important themes,” Shashi. explained.
Reflecting on Kapoor’s legacy, Ranjan said, “I imagine it isn’t about carrying on beneath the similar banner, however about the work the Kapoor relations have performed. The work of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt is an extension of that legacy. They are two of the actual superstars of the nation, excelling each commercially and with their performances. So, I’m assured that Ranbir shall be concerned in producing. the legacy lives on by way of the work, and it continues to be of the highest high quality. I’ve had the privilege of figuring out Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor very properly, and I’ve been near the. household, and their ardour for cinema reveals of their work. However, the new era just isn’t all the time conscious of the work that these greats have performed.”
