When Bobby met Raj

Raj Kapoor’s Bobby,India’s first teenage love story. The film that our parents bunked college to watch. The film that introduced the adorable pair of Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. More than 37 years later,Bobby exudes the same freshness.

Bobby was an instant trend-setter. Kapadia’s wardrobe of short dresses,scarves and that polka-dotted knotted top created a rage. With the film,Raj Kapoor gave the Hindi film actress a new sensuality,that went on to define the cinema of the 70s.

Devastated by the commercial failure of Mera Naam Joker (1970),Raj Kapoor decided to reinvent himself with something light and young. “He loved Archie comics and was very young in his thinking. At the age of 48,he made a film about a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy,” says Rishi Kapoor.

Kapadia was spotted at a party and went on to essay the title role. Incidentally,there was another strong contender for it — Neetu Singh. “I remember Neetu had come to meet my father. Neetu always says that Dimple got the role but she got me,” says Kapoor,who,along with Kapadia,was asked to shed weight for the film. Kapoor was helped by his then Parsi girlfriend. “She used to make beef steak with lettuce for me. I lived on it,” he says. They,however,broke up before the film’s release. “Stardust did a story on the Rishi-Dimple affair and she broke up with me,” he says.

Bobby was a teenybopper love story. When Raj (Kapoor) sees Bobby (Kapadia) for the first time,he turns into a poet (cue Main shayar toh nahin). They then come face-to face when Raj goes looking for his nanny Mrs Braganza (Durga Khote) and Bobby opens the door with flour on her face. Raj Kapoor borrowed that scene from his first meeting with Nargis. The story goes that Nargis was making bhajias when Kapoor knocked on her door. She came running and nervously placed one hand on her forehead,where the flour stuck. “Her exact words were,‘Jaldi boliye,mera tel jal raha hai’,” recounts Kapoor.

The lovers’ elopement on a bike defined teenage rebellion. The bike was Kapoor’s idea. “My sister Ritu’s husband had just taken over Escorts,so we got a cool bike. I specially ordered a pair of black gloves,boots and a leather jacket from England for the scene,” says Kapoor.

Bobby introduced one of the most iconic dialogues in Indian cinema. A sweet little question that Bobby asks Raj,“Mujhse dosti karoge?”,continues to inspire filmmakers. Kunal Kohli made a film out of the line. In Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,Rani Mukerji asks Shah Rukh Khan,“Aye Rahul,mujhse dosti karoge”. Sooraj Barjatya played with the same thread in Maine Pyar Kiya,a full-on tribute to Bobby— class is the core conflict here too and the feuding fathers save each other’s children at the end.

Bobby’s ending was not meant to be such. Kapoor had initially decided to have his leads commit suicide. The last shot was to be the image of Raj and Bobby tied to a church bell. “At the last moment,Raj Kapoor decided to change the ending. Since he had lost money on Mera Naam Joker,he decided to go for a more commercial ending so that the audience would come out feeling happy,” says Kapoor.

Even though the protagonists were from different faiths,Kapoor didn’t let Bobby become a story of a Hindu boy and a Christian girl. Jack Braganza (Prem Nath) lives the good life of a Goan Christian,the religious symbols of his faith can be seen in his house but Kapoor refrained from making that an issue. The focus was on the difference between Pran’s high-society wealth and Prem Nath’s working-class life.

Bobby was the first film to touch the crore-mark in collections,a record later broken by Sholay. Rishi Kapoor became a superstar overnight and he confesses to “walking on air”. The film’s leading lady caused a media circus when she made public her decision to quit movies and marry superstar Rajesh Khanna. Kapadia and Khanna married six months before Bobby’s release. In the song,Mujhe kuch kehna hai,Kapadia has a tiny bump on her belly as she was pregnant with daughter Twinkle at that time.

Bobby remains an iconic film. No wonder Shah Rukh Khan famously said,“Before Bobby,Indian cinema was about men and women,but after Bobby,it became about boys and girls.”

harneet.singh@expressindia.com