RK Quiz - Answers

Courtesy: ibnlive.in.com

I have learnt my lesson. (grin) No more quizzes for me. Either I am asking the weirdest of questions or the idea of my writing a post for the winners did not hold appeal. Or both. In any case, the people who did respond frankly confessed themselves non-plussed at most of the questions. Ah, well, you live and you learn. 

So, out of the 63 responses I got for the quiz, most of them got the answers wrong, but they loved Raj Kapoor, and enjoyed his movies, and knew some of their answers were wrong. They still wanted to participate, and hoped I would tell them more about him. Thank you so much for reading, and taking the time and effort to write to me. It is always nice to hear from my readers.

The top honours goes to reader Anupama from Bangalore, who tells me that she is all of 14 years old. In her case, she thanks her grandfather for introducing her to Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt, et al. She got 4 answers and two of the bonus questions right, scoring 11 out of a possible 25. Did your grandfather help, Anupama? :)

Fellow-blogger and online friend Harvey sent in his answers yesterday. Actually, he had more questions than answers, but he also made a game effort, and succeeded in answering two questions and one bonus question correctly for a score of 6 out of 25. He also answered Q.7 - his answer was 'Comics', which is partly correct, so he gets a point (out of the possible two). His final score: 7/25. 

I may have given him the points for Q.10 as well, only he first answered 'Mera Naam Joker' and then went on to add, 'But everyone knows that, so perhaps it is Sangam or JDMGBH.' Sorry, Harvey, but no prizes for guessing, especially when you mention three different films with a 'perhaps'. :)

Coolone, a regular reader, who was one of the first to send in the answers to the quiz, answered 5 questions. Only the answers to questions 1 and 4 were correct, and half of the answer to the bonus question on Awara. She scores 5 out of 25. 

Readers Sharad, Abraham and Roshni get an honourable mention - they tried hard, they tell me, and each made the case that I had made the quiz very, very difficult. Funnily enough, they each got one question and part of one bonus question right. The same question and the same bonus question. 

Please email me with your requests for a post of your choice. I'd be glad to write one for each of you. 

So, in the interest of spreading some RK gyan around, and since I have reached the end of my deadline for receiving the answers to the quiz, here are the correct answers:

1. Which film of Raj Kapoor's was originally named Gharonda? Bonus points for answering who the original cast was supposed to be.  

 Ans: Sangam.   

Soon after they acted together in Andaz, Raj Kapoor wanted to begin a film, Gharonda, with the same cast - Dilip Kumar, Nargis and he. Dilip Kumar demurred - he would act provided Raj did not direct the film. Best of friends though they were, Dilip was insecure about his role getting the short shrift if Raj Kapoor was also the director, especially since his role was  secondary. Raj Kapoor eventually made it years later with Vyjayanthimala, and another good friend, Rajendra Kumar.

              
2. Raj Kapoor and Alfred Hitchcock once filmed the same novel.  Which RK film was it? And which novel was it based on?

Ans: Sangam again. It was based on an 1896 novel by Hall Caine called The Manxman. Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 version of the film (it had been filmed earlier - in 1917) was his last romantic film in the silent genre before he switched to the talkies and suspense. 

Raj Kapoor, of course, only adapted the bare bones of the novel, shifting the focus to the friendship between the two men, and definitely adapting the heroine's character to a 'more-palatable-to-Indian-audiences' version. 

3. In many RK films, one came across a character named 'Gopal'. Who was he named after? 

Ans: The real Gopal was Raj Kapoor's driver of many years. Gopal was more than just a driver to Raj Kapoor, he was caretaker and family. So was John, the cook in the RK cottage, and Revathi, his personal assistant. He was also close to the staff of the little restaurants near RK studios. He certainly knew them all personally. 

4. Notwithstanding the fact that he was Prithviraj Kapoor's son, Raj Kapoor was once slapped by one of his directors. Can you name him? Bonus points for answering 'Why?' 

Ans: Kidar Sharma. RK began his career as a clapper boy for the ace director. On the sets of Vishkanya, Kidar Sharma was hurrying to shoot a closeup of the hero as the sun was going down. Young Raj apparently always combed his hair and posed in front of the camera before sounding the clapping board. In his hurry, he caught the hero's beard between the clapper board and it came off. Furious, Kidar Sharma slapped him in front of the whole unit.

However, it was Kidar Sharma who promoted him to assistant director, and launched him as hero in Neel Kamal the very next year.

5. Which film saw the young Raj Kapoor face the cameras for the first time? 

Ans: His father's film Inquilab, in 1935.

6. Awara was originally supposed to be directed by ----? (Bonus points for naming the actors who were to play father and son.)

Courtesy: Cineplot.com

Ans: Mehboob Khan. Writer KA Abbas had originally peddled the story to Mehboob Khan. He also wanted Ashok Kumar as the self-righteous judge and Dilip Kumar as the wayward son. Mehboob Khan and he had a disagreement over the casting; eventually, Abbas withdrew his script from Mehboob Studios and Raj Kapoor stepped in. It is another matter altogether that Abbas still did not get his dream cast.

7. Shammi Kapoor was known to be a voracious reader. Not so elder brother Raj, whose preferred reading was much lighter. What did he like to read? 

Ans: Archie Comics.

Younger brother Shammi, on the other hand, only dated women with whom he could discuss books. (He was a voracious reader, and read even on location.) His wife, Geeta Bali, who was unlettered, loved to hear him read loud to her, and he did so willingly, a chapter a night. Her favourite was Alexander Dumas' Camille. She apparently cried quite a bit as the story progressed.

8. Which was the first RK film to be shot in the then-newly-built RK studios?

 Ans: Awara. Raj Kapoor had begun shooting Awara in another studio; they shot for 13 days when he was told that he had to stop shooting because the studio had been hired by some other production team. The super success of Barsaat had given him the financial means and he decided to build his own studio.

9. Which RK film was the first to have two intervals?

Ans: Sangam. The original film was almost four hours long. Later, Mera Naam Joker would repeat the twin interval format.

10. What was RK's favourite food? (You really have to be a fan to know this one!) 

Ans: Idlies. He also loved Khurjaon, a Peshawari way of making fried eggs by breaking it open over a slice of bread and then frying the whole thing. He would often come back from parties, having pretended to nibble on the rich food, and make Khurjaon in the middle of the night.

Unlike the other Kapoors who, according to Randhir Kapoor, 'live to eat', Raj Kapoor ate very spartanly. While he preferred to stick to pao and eggs with a little dal at the table, he insisted on an overflowing table, and was himself an excellent cook who loved to whip up Yakhni pulao and chicken curry. Actress Simi Garewal narrates how, on location for Mera Naam Joker, he had woken up early  much to the unit's dismay (he never woke up early) and made over 200 omelettes - for the entire cast and crew. One of his most endearing qualities was that he ensured that every crew member, down to the lowliest spot boy, had eaten before he ate himself.

So there you have it; all the things you wanted to know about Raj Kapoor but didn't know whom to ask. :) 

Did I say I wouldn't post another quiz? Hmm... I have a lot of weird trivia floating around in the empty space I call a brain, so perhaps one day, when my last brain cell gives up the ghost and I run out of ideas for a post, I will post another set of questions for my readers to worry over. After all, it's never good to state 'never'!

Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate the festival; I wish good luck, good health and good cheer to everyone. Have fun, drink responsibly if you do at all, drive safely, and here's looking at a great year ahead for everyone.

* Many thanks to 'Shammi Kapoor Unplugged' and Madhu Jain's 'The Kapoors' for some of the tidbits.