Addicted to red light areas, Raj Kapoor demanded a ‘khoobsurat’ heroine for first film, suggested 13-year-old Madhubala: ‘Woh bachchi nahi hai’

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The next day, a young Raj obediently showed up to work as Kidar Sharma’s ‘third assistant’. After a few days, the director noticed that every time he was required to do a clap, Raj Kapoor would comb his hair and use the camera’s lens as a mirror. He let it go a few times, but after several warnings, the youngster did it again. “My Punjabi blood was boiling; I called him over, and slapped him across the face. It became red with the imprint of my palm,” he said, adding that he felt immensely guilty immediately, and couldn’t sleep that night. “I thought that he would storm off in a rage, and remind me who his father was, but he didn’t say a word. He smiled and walked away,” Kidar Sharma recalled.

The next day, he called Raj to his office, and said that he shouldn’t have hit him. Instead, he said, he had discovered that Raj’s talent didn’t lie in direction, but acting. He said, “I handed him Rs 5,000 and signed him as the hero of my film Neel Kamal. The boy saw the money and began crying. I said, ‘When I slapped you, you didn’t cry, but when I gave you money, you’re weeping’. And he said, ‘Don’t you know, kindness hurts most? Why are you being so generous with me? I am useless, I will ruin your film and you, don’t make me your hero’. I hugged him, and reassured him that he was just the right person for the job.”

Instantly, Raj Kapoor asked with a whisper, ‘Ek baat poochun? Heroine kaunsi leke denge (Who will be my heroine)?’ I told him we could get whoever he wanted, and he said that the heroine should be beautiful. I said, ‘We both have the same thinking’. He suggested the daughter of a Pathaan named Madhubala. He said, ‘Woh bachchi-wachchi kuch nahi hai, dekhne mein badi khoobsurat hai, wohi le dijiye (She’s no child, she’s very beautiful, I want her).’ Her father was summoned, and he was in disbelief. She was only 13 years old when I cast her.”

Minoo Katrak, Raj Kapoor, Prithviraj Kapoor, Madhubala, Shammi Kapoor, Krishna Raj Kapoor and Aspi Irani at the muhurat shot of film Main Aur Woh. (Express Archive)

Over the years, Kidar Sharma was involved in introducing several major talents in the film industry. Besides Raj Kapoor and Madhubala, he also launched Geeta Bali, Mala Sinha, musician Roshan, and more. In an episode of the television show Ek Mulaqat, he had recounted the same story with slightly different details. He said, “Prithvi used to respect me a lot. I noticed that he was very downbeat one day, almost on the verge of tears. As a friend, I told him with folded hands, ‘I don’t know what the problem is, but if I can be of help, please tell me’. He told me, ‘Raj is being disturbed by his adolescence. Instead of concentrating on his studies, he frequents red light areas and meets women’. I told him not to worry about it any more, and that I would get him back in line.”

This was Kidar Sharma’s last interview. He died only a few months later, at the age of 89. To Prasar Bharti, he said that his career took a turn for the worse in the 1960s, and that he began taking up odd jobs after quitting films. It took host Shashi Ranjan months to just track him down for the Ek Mulaqat interview. Raj Kapoor went on to become ‘The Showman’, known for his lavish, indulgent movies that often brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. Madhubala was one of the greatest stars of her era, having appeared in several classics. Neel Kamal, Kidar Sharma’s film, was released in 1947.