Raj Kapoor the legendary film actor of Indian cinema was born on 14th December 1924. Also known as ‘The greatest showman of Indian Cinema’, he was remembered as a distinguished actor, producer, and director of Bollywood industry.

He made his first debut with an appearance in the film Inquilab in 1935, as a child actor, but his acting career began in 1947 with a lead role in Neel Kamal. Later, he also appeared in numerous legendary films of Bollywood such as Andaz, Awaara, Shree 420, and Barsat. This was also the time when he adopted the Chaplin-like persona of the ‘tramp’ in his films.

He has won 3 National Film Awards and 11 Film fare Awards in India. He was a two-time nominee for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films ‘Awaara’ and ‘Boot Polish’. In India, he is best known for his incredible performance in the film "Mera Naam Joker".

In 1971, he was honored with the third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan by the Government of India and also in 1987 he was conferred with Dadasaheb Phalke Award. A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him on 14 December 2001.

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