A file image of Raj Kapoor

Several decades ago, lived in Kolkata – then Calcutta – A boy called Shishti Nath Kapoor, who studied in a school called Mitra Institution in Bhowwanipore. When his family later moved to Bombay, he not only carried forward the artistic impact left to Calcutta, but also nurtured his early years in the city. The boy grew up to become a great Raj Kapoor.

On Saturday (March 1, 2025), Kolkata will celebrate the Bollywood showman in a show directed by the famous Dastangoi artist Mahmood Farooqui at the Kolkata Center for Creativity. Topic Dastan-e-Raj KapoorAccording to the organizers, promises will surround Prithviraj Kapoor’s Odissi from Peshawar to Calcutta, find out their development from a junior artist to a glowing star, and will delay Raj Kapoor’s personal and professional conflicts and victory.

Dastan-e-Raj Kapoor – Nostalgia, packed with anecdotes and music – is written by Sibetten Shahidi and led by Rana Pratap Senner and Rajesh Kumar. “Raj Kapoor and Kolkata shared a deep connection, shaped each other often by ignoring each other. His early performance for Kolkata’s rich cultural and cinematic scenario, especially his father Prithviraj Kapoor’s association with new theater, played an important role in his artistic development. The performance not only respects his cinematic contribution, but also highlights the role of Kolkata in shaping Indian cinema, “Richa Aggarwal, the chairman of the Kolkata Center for Creativity. Hindu,

“Kolkata was important in Kapoor’s career. His collaboration with Bengali legends such as Salil Chaudhary, Rishikesh Mukherjee, and Sombhu Mitra influenced his story and social consciousness. His film Jagte Mitra co-directed Rho (1956) reflected his deep association with subjects of class struggle-one ethos that compelled with Kolkata’s intellectual and artistic movements. Raj Kapoor never forgot his Kolkata roots: He also donated RA 25,000 to the Mitra institution on his 75th anniversary, nurtured her early years in the city, ”said Ms. Aggarwal.

Mahmood Farooqui is a famous squad artist who revived and innovated by using it as a medium to tell modern stories with his uncle Shamsur Rahman Farooqui. According to Ms. Aggarwal, Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor finds a great way to reach the public through Dastangoi, the big-life story of navigating and making it big in Bollywood.

According to the Bengal film Archive, Prithviraj Kapoor lived in a house at Hazra crossing, where both Raj and Shami Kapoor spent their short years and where Shashi Kapoor was born. ‘Known as’ in the neighborhood’Prithvir Step‘(Prithvi’s son), Raj Kapoor often used to take Tram to new theaters studio to give his father a homemade lunch. He made his debut as a child artist in Debki Kumar Bose InquilabAnd his film Jagte raho (1956) was originally built in Bengali A din ratreCo-directed by Sombu Mitra.