Remembering Raj Kapoor, the greatest showman of Indian cinema, on his 31st death anniversary. (02/06)

Remembering Raj Kapoor, the greatest showman of Indian cinema, on his 31st death anniversary. (02/06)

Raj Kapoor Receiving Dadasaheb Phalke

On May 2, 1988, Raj Kapoor Ji conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Just after receiving the award he collapsed in the auditorium and exactly after a month June 2, 1988, he passed away.

“In his last days, Saini, the man in charge of the ICU, asked Raj 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.”