Google Doodle celebrates legendary filmmaker and Showman Raj Kapoor’s 90th birth anniversary

Today marks the late actor’s 90th birth anniversary and not only the film fraternity, but also the search engine Google is taking pride in paying a tribute to the legend. Google has a specially designed doodle dedicated to Raj Kapoor today.

The doodle depicts Raj Kapoor in his most iconic and remembered role as Raj in the 1955 movie ‘Shree 420’. The background of the doodle picturizes the popular song from the same movie ‘Pyaar Huya Ikraar Huya Hai…’ with Raj Kapoor standing under the umbrella with co-star Nargis.

Better known as the “Showman”, Raj Kapoor is often hailed by the film historians as one of the greatest filmmakers India has ever produced. Appreciated by the critics and audiences in equal measures, Raj Kapoor was always considered a filmmaker who could think ahead of time and his movies like ‘Shree 420’, ‘Prem Rog’, ‘Satyam Shivan Sundaram’, ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’ and ‘Mera Naam Joker’ among others bear a testimony to this fact.

The winner of two National Film Awards and nine Filmfare Awards in India, and a two-time nominee for the Palme d’Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films ‘Awaara’ (1951) and ‘Boot Polish’ (1954), Raj Kapoor is nowadays seen being emulated by many young actors of today, including his grand son and heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir has many times himself admitted to have been trying ape his grand dad, for that is the ultimate tribute he can pay to the legendary actor.

Raj Kapoor also happens to be the founder of one of the most accomplished and succesful film companies of Indian Cinema – RK Films and the head of the ‘RK’ trend in the Kapoor family, wherein all the members of the family were christened in a way so that the initial form ‘RK’. He also is the one of the linch pins of the Kapoor geneology which rules the Indian Film Industry till today.

Raj Kapoor suffered from asthma in his later years; he died of complications related to asthma in 1988 at the age of 63. He collapsed at the event where he was to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.