'Anybody who works in this industry is slightly eccentric.'
'Once, he took pav, put butter and put a jalebi in between.'
'I asked what he was doing.'
'"Why, is it written somewhere that I can't eat it like this?"'
'Then he dipped the pav in tomato ketchup and ate.'
Rahul Rawail, known for directing films like Love Story, Betaab and Arjun, began his career assisting Raj Kapoor.
Rawail was planning to go to Canada to study atomic physics, but one day, he landed on the sets of Mera Naam Joker and caught the showbiz bug.
Raj Kapoor "is by far the only film-maker who had a 360 degree knowledge of the process of film-making. He lived cinema. He found stories and told them in his own unique way," Rahul Rawail tells Patcy N/Rediff.com
Tell us about your first meeting with Raj Kapoor.
I knew Rajsaab because of my father (Director H S Rawail, known for films like Mere Mehboob, Mehboob Ki Mehendi). I also knew him because Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) was my childhood friend.
So I knew him before I started assisting him.
I remember I met him on the sets of Mera Naam Joker.
Chintu called me up and said he (Raj Kapoor) was starting the shoot of the circus chapter that day and there would be a lot of Russian girls in skimpy clothes.
I said it would be a good time to go and see.
I had seen shoots before but when I entered the set, I saw a man who was like a conductor of an orchestra.
He was controlling 500 people and multi-tasking.
He knew exactly what he wanted.
It was mesmerising.
I loved the way he was in control of everything.
I loved the way his thoughts were not fixed.
Whatever he had decided, he would adapt it with what was happening.
I don't think anybody has the bandwidth to do that.
What prank did he play on you?
Once, Rajsaab asked me to go up from where the trapeze guys take off. He said somebody has to be on top with the artist.
I was terrified, but I couldn't say no.
I was sure I was going to die!
I kept asking the boys if I fall, how do I fall? Is there a technique to falling?
That's when he started laughing, and I knew he had played a prank on me.
My experiences were fantastic with him.
I failed my exams in college, so Rajsaab came to talk to the principal.
He wanted him to pass me, but the principal said no.
Rajsaab came out and told me, 'I'm glad he said no because you're going to learn much, much more.'
In your book Raj Kapoor: The Master At Work you call him a genius director. And you also call him eccentric.
Anybody who works in this industry is slightly eccentric.
And then all geniuses are also eccentric.
He was like that.
Once, when he was eating, he took pav, put butter on that and put a jalebi in between.
I asked what he was doing.
He said, 'Why, is it written somewhere that I can't eat it like this?'
Then he said there's a better way to do that, and he dipped the pav in tomato ketchup and ate.
Rajsaab was like that.
Mera Naam Joker failed at the box office. Do you remember his mindset at the time?
He was very upset, obviously.
He had put whatever he had in that one film.
But he never let his guard down.
He came back with Bobby with a non-star cast film.
He made it exactly the way he made his other films.
What was he like on the Bobby sets with Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia?
He said I'm making a teenage love story.
Our financial CFO at RK, Mr Raman, suggested we make it with Dharmendra and Hema Malini.
Rajsaab started laughing.
He asked, 'How can I make a teenage love story with Dharmendra and Hema Malini?'
I will make this with Chintu and a new girl.
What was it like on the sets when he was working?
Special treatment was given to assistant directors, especially me.
For any fault of anybody on the set, he would be screaming at me.
It was his way of telling the other guy, listen, you screwed up.
But he would not tell them.
He would never upset his actors.
Initially, I would get upset; I was just 16.
But the next time he did it, I started understanding him.
I think I developed a very close rapport with him.
I used to ask him a lot of questions, and he would go out of his way to explain to me.
How did he handle his stars? How did he explain the scenes?
He would enact everything.
He would show the actors where he wanted their hands to move.
How did he envision his heroines as a director?
He always had a thing for the female character.
Female characters were very strong in his films.
Even though he made Bobby with his son, the film was name after the heroine. Her character was very strong.
What was his equation with his sons?
Rishi Kapoor was very frightened of him, but Randhir Kapoor was not frightened at all.
Rajsaab was like a father figure to his brothers, Shammi and Shashi.
Would he lose his cool on set?
He lost his cool most of the time.
But the faster he lost his cool, the faster he made up for it.
What is the one thing you learnt from him that you follow even today?
Visual thinking. That is the most important thing.
You must think visually.
Did you assist him on Satyam Shivam Sundaram?
I did parts of Satyam Shivam Sundaram.
Even after I became a director, I would go on his sets.
I also did Prem Rog because I believe that one never learns completely.
How did he react when you told him that you will start directing?
He was very happy.
He advised me not to get disheartened in case things go wrong.
On the day of the mahurat of my first film Gunehgaar (1980), he came.
What was Raj Kapoor like outside of work?
He spent his time talking about cinema.
He did not like to gossip; he only spoke about cinema.
He had his own theatre and would watch films there.
Raj Kapoor was a foodie and your book mentions it too.
On the set, there would be everything, from chicken, mutton, fish and prawns.
The same food was eaten by everybody, he never bought his own dabba.
But he would have his own cook on sets.
Every evening, he would go at 6 pm to this place in Chembur (north east Mumbai), where he would eat paani puri.
Then he would have dosa in another shop, uttapam at a third shop, coffee at a fourth shop.
Where were you when you heard the news of his death?
I was at the Centaur Hotel; there was a party there.
There were no mobile phones at that time. During the party, B K Chawla, who was the general manager, said, 'I've just heard that Mr Raj Kapoor passed away.'
I came home immediately and then I was on the phone with Chintu.
The phone went on till early morning because arrangements for his funeral in Bombay had to be made. I was coordinating that.
Rakesh Maria was the additional commissioner of police at that time. I was speaking to Rakesh about the whole thing and he coordinated it.
Which is your favourite Raj Kapoor film and why?
I have a couple of them.
His earlier films like Awara and Shree 420.
I loved his Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai.
I liked Bobby.
Mera Naam Joker was an all-time classic.
Prem Rog and Ram Teri Ganga Maili were very good.
All film-makers of that time were conscious about having some kind of social angle in their films.
Whether it was Mehboobsaab (Mehboob Khan) or Guru Duttji or Goldiesaab (Vijay Anand), all of them had some kind of a message.
If you had to introduce Raj Kapoor to today's generation, what would you say?
I would say that he is by far the only film-maker who had a 360 degree knowledge of the process of film-making.
He lived cinema.
His visual interpretation of cinema was unprecedented.
He found stories and told them in his own unique way.
