Posted:
By Subhash K Jha
Posted On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 02:49:09 AM
| There is no bigger fan of the legendary Raj Kapoor than his grandson Ranbir Kapoor. In fact, when Ranbir came into the film industry with Saawariya, he was fully clued into every aspect of Raj Kapoor's cinema and knew virtually all his films back-to-front. In Saawariya, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is himself a die-hard Raj Kapoor aficionado, fashioned Ranbir's entire endearing vagabond-with-heart-of-gold act on Raj Kapoor. Not only was Ranbir's character in Saawariya called Raj, he was also seen to frequent a place called RK Bar where all the romance with the mysterious girl Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) unfolded. Bhansali had even thrown a bit of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anari into Saawariya in the relationship between Ranbir and his Anglo-Indian landlady Zohra Sehgal which echoed Raj Kapoor and Lalita Pawar's relationship in Anari. And now Ranbir's undying passion to keep the RK legacy alive gets another major boost in Raj Kumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani where the central character of the innocent endearing nomad, Prem, has been inspired by Raj Kapoor - the eternal tramp in Awara and Shree 420. Santoshi, also a diehard fan of the senior RK, cast Ranbir in the vagabond's part after he saw Saawariya. Santoshi admitted, "I could see Ranbir in the same mould as Raj saab. Yes, Ranbir's character in Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani is modelled on Raj Kapoor." If rumours are to be believed, Santoshi has even designed a whole song sequence where Ranbir pays homage to the songs and music of Raj Kapoor. Determined to carry Raj Kapoor legacy forward as far as possible, Ranbir's father Rishi had even invited Raj Kumar Hirani to make a film in the Raj Kapoor mould for the RK banner. And that's not the end of it, Ranbir when he turns director, would like to remake at least one of Raj Kapoor's classics in his own way. |
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