Prithviraj Kapoor Death Anniversary: Prithviraj Was Engrossed In The Hearts Of People By Becoming Shahjahan.
Prithviraj Kapoor, the veteran actor of Indian cinema, is not dependent on any introduction. Through his strong acting, he has given cinema a new height. At a very young age, he had entered the world of acting, but initially he had to face many difficulties. Prithviraj's father Basheshwarnath was a police officer by profession. When the actor reached college, one of his professors advised him to join theatre. After this Prithviraj played a few plays in Peshawar and went to Bombay after borrowing money from a relative.
After coming to Bombay, he joined the Imperial Film Company, after which he started working in silent films. Prithviraj did not get the fee for his first film Bedhari Talwar, but seeing the art inside him, he was cast in the second film Cinema Girl and he got 70 rupees for this film. After this, Prithviraj's career started to rise and when the first talkie film Alam Ara was made, he got a chance to play the role of a villain in this film.
After this, Prithviraj started Prithvi Theatre in 1944 by investing the money earned from films. After every play, Prithviraj himself used to stand at the gate with a bag to collect money. After this, films started dominating the play in the theater and Prithvi faced financial problems, due to which the theatre had to be closed. Prithvi Theatre started again with the help of son Shashi Kapoor and daughter-in-law, but this time films started releasing here.
After this film maker Asif was making Mughal-e-Azam and in this film he wanted to cast Prithviraj Kapoor somehow. He gave a blank check to the actor and told him to pay whatever amount he wanted, after which what Prithviraj did was quite surprising. Yes, he took only one rupee as his fee for the film. Mughal-e-Azam managed to entertain the audience in the theatres and his acting in this film was highly praised.
Talking about Prithviraj Kapoor's personal life, at the age of just 17, the actor got married to Ramsarani Mehra, three years younger than him. They had three children Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. Apart from these, he had two more children, but two of his children died before the birth of Shammi Kapoor. After this they had a daughter, Urmila Siyal.
Following the path shown by Prithviraj Kapoor, sons Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi also earned a lot of name in the industry. After this, on May 29, 1972, cinema's veteran actor Prithvi said goodbye to the world while fighting a serious illness like cancer. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1968 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971 for his contribution to films.