How Srishti Nath Kapoor of Kolkata became Raj Kapoor of Bombay

A file image of Raj Kapoor

Many decades ago, there lived in Kolkata — then Calcutta — a boy called Shrishti Nath Kapoor, who studied in a school called Mitra Institution in Bhowanipore. When his family later moved to Bombay, he not only carried along the artistic influence that Calcutta left on him but also cherished his formative years in the city. The boy grew up to become the legendary Raj Kapoor.

On Saturday (March 1, 2025), Kolkata will celebrate this Showman of Bollywood in a show directed by the renowned Dastangoi performer Mahmood Farooqui at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity. Titled Dastan-e-Raj Kapoor, the promises, according to the organisers, will encapsulate the odyssey of Prithviraj Kapoor from Peshawar through Bombay to Calcutta, tracing his evolution from a junior artist to a shining star, and delve into the personal and professional struggles and triumphs of Raj Kapoor.

Dastan-e-Raj Kapoor — packed with nostalgia, anecdotes and music — is written by Sibtain Shahidi and led by Rana Pratap Senger and Rajesh Kumar. “Raj Kapoor and Kolkata shared a profound connection, shaping each other in ways often ​overlooked. His early exposure to Kolkata’s rich cultural and cinematic landscape, particularly through his father Prithviraj Kapoor’s association with New Theatres, played a crucial role in his artistic development. This performance not only honours his cinematic contributions but also highlights Kolkata’s role in shaping Indian cinema,” Richa Agarwal, chairperson of Kolkata Centre for Creativity told The Hindu.

“Kolkata remained significant throughout Kapoor’s career. His collaborations with Bengali legends like Salil Chowdhury, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Sombhu Mitra influenced his storytelling and social consciousness. His film Jagte Raho (1956), co-directed by Mitra, reflected his deep engagement with themes of class struggle — an ethos that resonated with Kolkata’s intellectual and artistic movements. Raj Kapoor never forgot his Kolkata roots: he even donated ₹25,000 to Mitra Institution on its 75th anniversary, cherishing his formative years in the city,” Ms. Agarwal said.

Mahmood Farooqui is a well-known Dastan performer who, along with his uncle Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, revived and innovated Dastangoi by using it as a medium to tell modern tales. According to Ms. Agarwal, the larger-than-life tale of Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor navigating and making it big in Bollywood finds a brilliant way of reaching the masses through Dastangoi.

According to Bengal Film Archive, Prithviraj Kapoor lived in a house on Hazra Crossing where both Raj and Shammi Kapoor spent their younger years and where Shashi Kapoor was born. Known in the neighbourhood as ‘Prithvir chhele’ (Prithvi’s son), Raj Kapoor would often take the tram to New Theatres studio to deliver homemade lunch to his father. He debuted as a child artist in Debaki Kumar Bose’s Inquilab, and his film Jagte Raho (1956) was originally made in Bengali as Ek Din Ratre, co-directed by Sombhu Mitra.