The Way Raj Kapoor Went About Making "Bobby", After He Was Almost Wiped Out

Ali Peter John

The unexpected debacle of his magnum opus, "Mera Naam Joker" which was said  to be largely inspired by his own life had shattered Raj Kapoor and the consequences were leading him to surrender and give up to the dark forces of depression, what with his large studio being mortgaged and his being neck-deep in heavy debts. The only thing that was alive and kicking in him was his undying passion to keep making films under any circumstances. All he knew was that he had to stand up and fight back again...

It was while he was in this state of mind that he first thought about his dependable writer, K.A Abbas who had made him a cult figure with films like "Shri 420", "Awaara" and even the jinxed "Mera Naam Joker". He and his manager, Harish Bibra drove down to the office of Abbas in Juhu and he fell at the feet of Abbas and asked him to save him and RK Studios from sinking. Abbas did not like the way he behaved, but being a writer with a heart and knowing Raj closely, he gave him a patient hearing and when Raj told him he needed a new subject to start a love story again, Abbas agreed more out of getting him out of the depressed state he was in, but he still asked Raj to give him three days and he would give him a summary of the story he would have in mind by then. Raj kept looking at him with tears and hope in his eyes.

Three days later, Abbas had what was to be the script of "Bobby" ready for Raj. It was the story of a rich man's son from an aristocratic Hindu family and a rich Christian family belonging to the fisherman's community of Goa, their falling in love and the great clash between the two fathers which play havoc with the young lovers. Raj loved the idea and promised Abbas that he would make a film that would not only help him and RK to bounce back, but be a film that would be remembered for generations to come.

A lot had changed at RK. His music director, Shankar-Jaikishan had split after the death of Jaikishan or even before that. His favorite lyricists, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri were also not working together any longer after the untimely death of Shailendra exactly on the day Raj was celebrating his birthday and the team never worked together again. Raj was however not the one who would give up easily. He got the new team of composers, Laxmikant-Pyarelal to score the music and lyricists like Vitthalbhai Patel, Pandit Vishveshwar Sharma and Anand Bakshi to write the lyrics and when he saw that he had a young hero like his son , Rishi Kapoor, he found a new singer in Shailendra Singh to sing all the songs for Rishi in the film, but there was no change when it came to Lata Mangeshkar who was asked to sing all the songs for the 16 year old beautiful Dimple Kapadia who was the daughter of his Industrialist friend, Chunibhai Kapadia who he was launching as his sons leading lady. Raj who had a great ear for music made it a point to see that "Bobby" had every kind of music and so he had Goan music, he had Western music like the Waltz, he had sufi music like the song ,"Beshaque mandir, masjid todo par pyaar bhara dil mat todo" sung by Narendra Chanchal.

He knew that he couldn't afford to pay huge prices to other actors and stars and so asked some of his best friends to work in all the important character roles and among those who agreed willingly and even without asking how much the would pay them were the two veterans Pran and Premnath, Durga Khote, Soniya Sahni who was till then known as I.S Johar's heroine in "Johar Mehmood In Goa" and who had done the first ever full fledged kissing scene with Johar in the film, Aroona Irani who had just one dance in the film and a Christian actor called Sabu Rebello who Raj had seen playing Jesus Christ in a play in the compound of a Church in Andheri and was so impressed that he offered him the role of the man who brings up the little Dimple in her bungalow.

There was a scene in which Raj wanted a well-known villain to play a one minute role and had spent sleepless nights in finding one. Till he had a brain wave and thought about his own brother-in-law, Prem Chopra, who was riding high as a young villain those days. He sent for Prem and Raj was still such a powerful filmmaker that no one could say no to him. Prem met Raj as an actor and not as his brother-in-law and Raj explained to him his role in the film.

Prem was a very anxious and disturbed actor after he heard Raj, the showman out and was in two minds about whether he should accept the offer or not when he was getting roles that were on par with the roles of some of the heroes. He was almost going to turn down the role when he thought of consulting his brother-in-law Premnath who was shooting for the film (Premnath was the brother of the sisters, Krishna, the wife of Raj and Uma, the wife of Prem) and he had worked as the parallel hero with Raj in "Barsaat". He heard Prem Chopra out and as a part of his advise as his senior, he told Prem not to turn down the offer because it was made by Raj who was a genius and it was difficult to know what he had in mind when he created a character. He also told Prem that the one minute role Raj was offering him could change the course of his career and Prem finally agreed to do that one minute role in which he had to only stop the young couple, Rishi and Dimple on the run and menacingly speak the line, "Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra".

That one line created a sensation when the film was released and to this day when Prem is 84 and goes to shows all over the world, the only thing he is asked to do by popular demand is to repeat that one line, "Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra". In one off his cuff lines Prem often says, "I sometimes think, I have gained more popularity, fame and money because of that one line than many films I have done in my long career. It speaks volumes for the genius of the great showman."

The film, needless to say was one of the biggest hits of Raj Kapoor's career and also one of the biggest hits of the industry and its biggest contribution was its giving the industry two big stars in Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Raj Kapoor, Bobby