Raj Kapoor was truly India’s greatest showman

Raj Kapoor would have turned 100 in December, 2024. Earlier this year, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Festival des 3 Continents, and the recently concluded International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa paid tribute to Raj Kapoor with screenings and discussions.

Amitabh Bachchan, ambassador of the Film Heritage Foundation says,"Raj Kapoor was truly India’s greatest showman. His life was a celebration.Raj Kapoor was an artist who lived for cinema. Even today Awara is a film that is etched in my mind. Made at a time of newly independent India, the film was socialistic, reflecting the mood of the times. Talking about Rajji’s incredible showmanship, the way he envisioned the dream sequence in the film had never been seen before. You are amazed by his fantastical imagination that visualized the surreal setting, the ethereal Nargisji emerging through thick clouds of smoke, Rajji surrounded by demonic figures and burning fires – there is a powerful, mystical symbolism in the dream sequence, and that is my favourite."