Raj Kapoor iconised the common man in his films and turned cinema into a watchdog of the poor. The concern of the common man was the undercurrent of his Shri 420.

With his ankle-length trousers, patched overcoat and bowler hat in Awaara and Shri 420, Raj Kapoor imbued his character of Raju, the tramp, with such authenticity that he tugged at the heartstrings of the whole nation. The masses fell in love with the tramp as they could identify with him easily.

For Raj Kapoor, films were not only a business or means of entertainment. Rather, he viewed them as a medium through which he had a social commitment to fulfil. Most of his films invariably conveyed a message about values and human relationships. Raj Kapoor brought burning social issues into focus through his films.

In Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai, Raj Kapoor conveyed the Gandhian message of love for humanity to the ferocious bandits operating in the ravines of Jabalpur through the character of a bard, Raju, who persuades them to abjure violence and join the mainstream of society by surrendering before law.

He put women on a pedestal by highlighting their problems and predicament in some women-oriented films. In Prem Rog, he took up the subject of widow rehabilitation. In Sangam, when Radha (Vyjanthimala) sings, ‘Yeh dharti hai insaano ki, kuchch aur nahi insaan hain hum’, she pleads that women should not be considered as sex objects alone and seeks understanding and acceptannce of her past romance from her possessive husband. In Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Raj Kapoor defined the true concept of beauty, which men think is only skin deep.

The image of a clown became inextricably associated with Raj Kapoor after Mera Nam Joker, and even superceded his earlier much-loved tramp image. After this masterpiece bombed at the box ofice, Raj Kapoor, was disillusioned.

Just when critics felt that he had lost his Midas touch and was a spent force, came the superhit, Bobby, which was a collective venture of three non-so-young men — K. A. Abbas, V. P. Sathe and Raj Kapoor. The film reflected the demands of fast-changing society, where obedient children did not exist, and made out a case for breaking class barriers.

Raj Kapoor was a great lover of music, which was as much in his blood as was acting and film-making. True, Shankar-Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal or Ravinder Jain gave music in his films, but it was Raj Kapoor who gave direction to that music. One had to be present at RK recordings to discern how Raj Kapoor changed the entire tone and tenor of a tune by the time the final score was okayed. When Lata Mangeshkar remarked that all the music in RK movies was given by Raj Kapoor, she was speaking of the wholesale changes Raj Kapoor carried out in any tune Shankar-Jaikishan or Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed before she came to sing it. If we compare the music of RK films made after his demise with that of the films made when he was alive, his assertion, ‘Take me away and what is left of RK music?", sounds true’.

Raj Kapoor was a rare film-maker whose films appealed both to the head and the heart. The audiences were bowled over by his unconventional approach and the wide range of his films. He made films with an intensity that few film-makers of his time could match.

His statuure as a film-maker can be judged from the fact that, in an unprecedented gesture, then President R. Venkataraman stepped down from the dais to present the Dada Saheb Phalke Award to Raj Kapoor when he could not climb up on account of ill-health on May 2, 1988. When his condition deteriorated during the ceremony, he was rushed to AIIMS in the Presidential ambulance. His end came on June 2, 1988.

To this day, Raj Kapoor, the actor, is remembered for his familiar pleading voice, a half-smile and a hand raised in half-salute, walking with Japanese shoes, wearing frayed English patloons, and his made-in-India heart filled with love and unbridled optimism.