Apr

10

Meeting Raj Kapoor at the barbershop

April 10, 2007 posted by indiatime |

Raj KapoorThis afternoon, I met Raj kapoor at a haircut place, on a busy street, in a corner of the United States. Not him exactly, but his fond memories. I didn’t see the usual chinese barber, and was a bit reluctant to go in seeing some new barberic faces. I am one of those ordinary people who take tremendous comfort in the little bits of consistencies and constants in a life full of variables.

So I dared myself, pushed the door, and went in anyways. ‘Afternoon, Sir, how are you…’, said the old lady. She was about sixty, dressed somewhat elegantly for her profession, and seemed to have no problem recognising me as an Indian.

For the next 20 minutes, Irina, the lady barber, a Russian immigrant who moved to the USA about 20 years ago, talked breathlessly about Raj Kapoor, his films, his songs, and particularly his masterpiece - Awaara. She adored Raj Kapoor, she said, and as a child, had watched, each and every one of his movies. All the famous songs were translated in Russian as well, and she even sang a few Russian ‘Awaara Hoon’ lines for me! His movies, she told me, were part of some of her best childhood memories. Her dream was to see the great man in person, but her parents wouldn’t let her visit India alone. Her eyes teared up when she mentioned that she remembered the day Raj Kapoor passed away and how her Ukranian family had cried all night and sang his songs around their fireplace.

In a time when there was no internet, no globalization, and when the world was not yet as small as is now, Raj Kapoor still managed to bridge the cultural divides, and touch the hearts of millions of people thousands of miles away. I don’t know whether he was the greatest showman of Indian cinema or not. But seeing an old Russian woman tearing up over the memories of an Indian filmmaker she had adored in her childhood, I realize today, that Raj Kapoor had pulled off a miracle of a cinematic career, by being just a good, loving, and a decent human being.


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8 Comments so far

  1. naren on April 10, 2007 9:25 am

    I can relate to this. My colleague from China used to hum ‘Awaara hoon’. One time at a world music concert in NY, there was a Russian band sharing green room with us and the vocalist promptly sang for us Awara Hoon. In East Village in NY, another Russian woman we met on the street sang melodies and lyrics of at least 5-6 songs of RK. Raj Kapoor was in fact felicitated by Russian Govt. in his lifetime for his movies like Awara and Shree 420 that spoke against the pretentious Rich and made a case for the common man. This message,Russian Govt. at the time found akin to their own communist philosophy. That’s why he was so popular in Russia and China.

  2. nosheen on April 13, 2007 2:48 pm

    Mr Raj Kapoor was really an outstanding actor we can never forget him and nonone can fulfill his seat ok
    Luv uuuuuuuuuuuuu Mr Raj

  3. desi on November 15, 2007 1:59 pm

    Well… u know what? In 60s/70s, hollywood movies were not really welcome in Russia. Indian movies with socialist themes, were promoted by the govt. there, as it matched their own govt. policies…

    No wonder the face became recognizable.

    The same feat will be difficult to repeat now.

    Its not just movies boys! There’s more to it.

  4. pawan on March 6, 2008 1:22 pm

    i too have that experience brother,, i went for haircut in long island ,newyork n she is from former soviet
    i told her not to make too short cut,, she replied , is raj kapoor style ok for you,, i know russian ,, i asked her in russian ” do you know raj kapoor”
    she spoke on raj kapoor for almost 20 min without a break,, she is singing all the songs , telling dialogues,,, later i heard his name from my iranian professor and many soviet friends

  5. sylani sinh on October 24, 2008 3:27 pm

    i am a big fan of raj kapoorji. a nice article.

  6. anurag on February 16, 2009 9:21 pm

    i like the raj kapoorr’s movie…..

    i like the songs which was sang by rafi ……

  7. K.V.RAO on December 7, 2009 1:45 pm

    True and fact. Nobody else than Raj Kapoor has impressed so much with his films and particularly the songs from his film. As rightly said that many of his songs were rendered in russaian and Russaians adome him. If you think of him, even after his passing away in 1988, one who admire him, gets tears in his eyes. He is an all time lover boy.

  8. prathap on February 11, 2010 11:36 am

    histroy of barber shop in india

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