Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Holi in the RK Studio.





























Holi in the RK Studio.

During the lifetime of Showman Raj Kapoor, holi was celebrated in RK Studio. It used to be a very prestigious affair. Other than members of the Kapoor family including Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor and others, celebrities from the film industry used to play holi in the studio.

The event marked the strengthening of relationship of members of the bollywood film industry. The celebration included directors like Manmohan Desai, actors like Dilip Kumar, singers like Mukesh, composers like Shankar Jaikishan, to name a few. The enthusiasm was there even during the 80s, when most of the celebrities who were contemporaries of Raj Kapoor became old.

Raj Kapoor himself stopped it in the late 80s as he started having physical discomfort while playing holi. He had asthma and the contact of colours basically aggravated the disease. The prestigious celebration of holi stopped after 1988, after the death of Raj Kapoor.

After that time, a number of other celebrities started the tradition of inviting the film industry to play holi. But the pomp and grandiuer that was there in RK Studio could not be replicated.

Holi forms an important festival for Indians and bollywood films had devoted a lot of space for holi. It was shown in films like Paraya Dhan, Sholay, Silsila, to name a few. The songs related to holi like “holi re holi” sung by Manna Dey, “holi ke rang” sung by Kishore Kumar, or “rang barse” sung by Big B had not lost their appeal even after 30 years of the release of the films.

Modern producers and directors can also portray the festival of colours in modern films in their innovative style as holi is one of the most popular festivals of the country.

No comments: