Ranbir Kapoor is a dead ringer for grandpa Raj Kapoor as he arrives with wife Alia Bhatt at RK Film Festival. Watch

The RK Film Festival, commemorating Raj Kapoor's greatest films, begins in Mumbai on Friday, December 13.

Published on: Dec 13, 2024, 20:03:16 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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This year marks Raj Kapoor's 100th birth anniversary, and to mark the occasion, a film festival celebrating some of RK's biggest films is being organised in Mumbai this week. At the opening night of RK@100 celebrations, Raj Kapoor's grandson, Ranbir Kapoor, graced the red carpet with his wife, Alia Bhatt. Many fans noted just how strong the family resemblance was as the junior RK looked a dead ringer to his late grandfather. (Also read: Ranbir Kapoor says ‘family ki hawa tight thi’ before meeting PM Modi; watch how he made them all crack up with his jokes)

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt on the red carpet of the RK Film Festival

Ranbir channels Raj Kapoor

Ranbir arrived at the event in black Indo-western attire, but what caught the fans' attention was his pencil moustache, very similar to the facial hair Raj Kapoor kept during his heyday in the 1950s and '60s. Alia accompanied him, dressed in a beautiful printed saree. Again, fans noted that her style was also reminiscent of some of the co-stars of Raj Kapoor, particularly Nargis. "Looks like they recreated Raj Kapoor and Nargis," wrote one fan on Instagram. The two famously worked together in Barsaat and Awara, the first major hits of Raj Kapoor's career as a director.

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The RK Film Festival

Raj Kapoor’s cinematic legacy is being celebrated on the big screen, with PVR INOX Limited and the Film Heritage Foundation organising the RK Film Festival to celebrate the actor-filmmaker’s 100th birth anniversary.

This three-day retrospective, beginning Friday, will showcase ten films by Raj Kapoor, including Aag, Barsaat, Awaara, Shree 420, Jagte Raho, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, Mera Naam Joker, Bobby, and Ram Teri Ganga Maili. These movies will be screened in select PVR INOX theatres in 40 cities.

“I hope the new generation (will) watch his films and see how great they were, and get inspired,” Raj Kapoor's son, actor Randhir Kapoor told PTI, adding that the Kapoor clan will gather again on December 14 for a celebration.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More