Very similar to his cinematic journey, Raj Kapoor’s private life too was marked by hovering highs, devastating lows and an undercurrent of perpetual drama. But, whether or not on display or in actual life, he remained the undisputed “biggest showman”, fascinating all together with his magnetic charisma. Whereas a number of features of his life made intensive headlines, it was his relationships together with his feminine co-stars — notably his extramarital affair with the legendary Nargis — that attracted probably the most consideration. Though neither Kapoor nor Nargis ever publicly acknowledged their romantic involvement, years later, his son Rishi Kapoor confirmed in his autobiography that his father had been concerned with a number of feminine co-stars regardless of being married to his mom, Krishna Malhotra.
In truth, Raj Kapoor himself as soon as spoke in regards to the affair, albeit with out naming Nargis instantly and referring to her solely as “the actress”. He justified his actions by claiming that the ladies in his life knew they weren’t mere substitutes for each other and nor did they understand themselves as secondary to anybody else. His first encounter with Nargis occurred when she was simply 16, whereas he was already a married man with youngsters. Nevertheless, the assembly left such an indelible mark on him that he later recreated and kind of immortalised it in his 1973 blockbuster Bobby, that includes Rishi and Dimple Kapadia within the lead roles.
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“She was very younger. Angelic, completely… What an incredible actress she was. Movies, for me, meant an entire, absolute, devoted devotion and belonging. So, anyone and something that revolved round it, very a lot turned part of my being. And I have to say that (Nargis) contributed so much to what RK (Studio) is,” Kapoor stated in a documentary produced by Prasar Bharti, chronicling his life and legacy.
“Proper from the very starting, from the phrase go, I drew a line. And it’s a really, very straight undeniable fact that my spouse just isn’t my actress and my actress just isn’t my spouse. By my spouse, I imply the mom of my youngsters. So, my residence life, someplace or the opposite, was there. Krishna was the mom of my youngsters. Whereas right here was my actress. She would share, and have that satisfaction of getting contributed to my creativity. That’s her satisfaction,” he said, implying that he by no means meant to marry Nargis and wished to easily keep an affair along with her whereas safeguarding his household as his final precedence.
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He additional elaborated, “Neither did I attempt to put throughout my spouse to be my actress, or my actress to be my spouse. And that’s one massive saving grace which balanced… We saved on working over time, with all of the depth. As a result of, to every his personal, no matter belonged to 1, one had it. One didn’t really feel in any method enjoying second fiddle, no! You might be completely supreme the place you belong. After which, one other factor, the understanding a part of it. Each understood, and no one cheated anyone. The mom of my youngsters wasn’t meant to be my actress, so she didn’t really feel cheated. I didn’t really feel that method. And equally, the actress got here into me being my actress, not the mom of my youngsters.”
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Regardless of her deep love for Kapoor, Nargis finally got here to phrases with the truth that he would by no means go away Krishna. Heartbroken, she moved on and married Sunil Dutt in 1958. Kapoor, nevertheless, noticed this as a betrayal. In line with Madhu Jain’s ebook “The Kapoors: The First Household of Indian Cinema”, Kapoor as soon as informed journalist Suresh Kohli, “The world tells me I let Nargis down. It was she who betrayed me.”
The ebook additionally revealed that Kapoor was shattered by her marriage. “He broke down and cried in entrance of his pals and colleagues when he discovered that she had married Sunil Dutt. Raj Kapoor took it very badly: he would reportedly burn himself with cigarette butts to examine if he was not dreaming, questioning how she might have finished this to him.”
Rishi Kapoor, in his autobiography Khullam Khulla, recalled how his mom quickly moved out of their residence and stayed on the Natraj Lodge on Marine Drive upon discovering Kapoor’s affair with actress Vyjayanthimala. “I used to be very younger when my father had an affair with Nargis Ji, and so was not affected by it. I don’t keep in mind feeling something was amiss at residence both. However I do keep in mind shifting into the Natraj Lodge on Marine Drive with my mother through the time Papa was concerned with Vyjayanthimala,” he wrote.
