India marks 100 years of Raj Kapoor, the ‘first showman of Bollywood’

Raj Kapoor in a still from ‘Awara’ (1951), a crime drama directed by Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. (Film Heritage Foundation)
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Updated 14 December 2024
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India marks 100 years of Raj Kapoor, the ‘first showman of Bollywood’

  • Retrospective of Kapoor’s films held in 40 Indian cities on Dec. 13-15
  • He starred in more than 60 films, directing more than a dozen of them

NEW DELHI: India marked on Saturday the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor, remembering the legendary actor and director, whose enduring legacy continues to shape and inspire Indian cinema.

Considered one of India’s greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers, Kapoor is fondly known as the “first showman of Bollywood” and the “greatest showman of Indian cinema.”

He was born on Dec. 14, 1924, in Peshawar, now Pakistan, from where his family later moved to Mumbai.

The son of actor Prithviraj Kapoor, he debuted alongside his father at the age of 10 in “Inquilab,” a Hindi film about an earthquake in Bihar. He went on to star in more than 60 films, directing more than a dozen of them.

Nearly four decades after his death in 1988, Kapoor remains one of India’s most-loved icons. His birthday anniversary is celebrated with a retrospective of 10 of his iconic films screened in 40 cities across India this weekend.

Marking Kapoor’s birthday on Saturday morning, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the “visionary filmmaker, actor and the eternal showman” in a series of social media posts, saying he “was not just a filmmaker but a cultural ambassador who took Indian cinema to the global stage.”

One of Kapoor’s most famous films, “Awara” (1951), was the first Indian movie to reach the global stage. Known overseas as “The Vagabond,” it became an overnight sensation in South Asia, and soon found box-office success also in East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

“Even today Awara is a film that is etched in my mind,” fellow film star Amitabh Bachchan wrote on X in celebration of Kapoor’s birthday. “You are amazed by his fantastical imagination.”

The film blends social themes with the genres of crime, romantic comedy and musical melodrama, featuring a character based on “the Little Tramp,” a role Kapoor also explored in other films, earning him another nickname: the “Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema.”

For many Indians, the characters in his films were ones they could relate to.

“What strikes you is how poor people are portrayed there. They are shown as someone who is trying to survive in a world dominated by rich people and industrialists and businessmen. The main character is an outsider in the world of rich people and still manages to make inroads in their lives through his character and innocence. This appeals to me,” said Ghanshyam Datt Varma, a teacher in Chittorgarh who runs a Raj Kapoor fan page on Facebook.

“I started my life as a commoner, someone at the margin of society, and through my hard work I became a schoolteacher, despite all the hurdles. I feel the character in Raj Kapoor’s films, like ‘Sangam,’ ‘Mera Naam Joker,’ and so ... He was really a showman, a film personality who portrayed people of India and their struggle so beautifully.”

The film’s theme song, “Awara Hoon,” is still celebrated globally and has been rated among the greatest Bollywood songs of all time many times.

“I grew up watching his films and singing the songs of his films,” said Rahul Prakash, a lawyer from Patna.

Kapoor is for him a “legend-like hero who taught not one but many generations the ultimate meaning of love. A visionary director who gave birth to characters that were imaginary but also realistic,” he said.

“The way he portrayed the character of a common man on the silver screen — in such a simple and natural way — is immortal.”

Kapoor’s films were commercial successes not only in South Asia but also in the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa and in the Soviet bloc.

“Raj Kapoor was not only a Bollywood personality but an international personality. He promoted India’s soft power through his films. His films were very popular in Russia because of the theme he chose and the pomp and gaiety he showed,” Rana Siddiqui Zaman, film critic, told Arab News.

“He is also one of the first directors to give roles to Pakistani artists. In the film ‘Heena,’ the main female character is from Pakistan. There is no other filmmaker in the industry who drove international filmmakers to call the Mumbai film industry ‘Bollywood.’”


Indian PM Modi to meet Trump on US trip this week

Updated 16 sec ago
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Indian PM Modi to meet Trump on US trip this week

  • Two leaders enjoyed cordial relations during Trump’s first term as president
  • The US is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade worth more than $118 billion

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump this week, as New Delhi seeks closer ties with Washington in various fields, including technology, defense and trade.

Modi will be among the first foreign leaders to meet Trump at the White House during his second term. Before flying to the US, he will make a stop in France to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and to attend the AI Action Summit.

“I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump,” Modi said in a statement before his departure on Monday.

“Although this will be our first meeting following his historic electoral victory and inauguration in January, I have a very warm recollection of working together in his first term in building a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between India and the US.”

The two leaders shared cordial relations during Trump’s first term as president.

In 2019, Trump joined Modi at a “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston, Texas that drew about 50,000 people and was billed as one of the largest receptions for a foreign leader in the US.

When Trump made his first visit to India in February 2020, Modi hosted him in his home state of Gujarat, where the “Namaste Trump” welcome event was attended by about 100,000 people.

“This visit will be an opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen our partnership, including in the areas of technology, trade, defence, energy, and supply chain resilience,” Modi said.

India considers the US as one of its “strongest international partnerships” in recent years, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Friday.

The US is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade worth more than $118 billion in 2023-2024 and India posting a trade surplus of $32 billion.

Modi’s visit comes just days after US authorities deported 104 Indians in shackles on a military plane, a much-publicized transfer that sparked outrage among legislators and citizens in the South Asian nation.


Sri Lankan president makes first Middle East trip for World Governments Summit

Updated 10 February 2025
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Sri Lankan president makes first Middle East trip for World Governments Summit

  • President will be accompanied by foreign minister
  • Visit is Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s third international presidential trip after India and China

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new president embarked on his first Middle East trip on Monday to participate in the World Governments Summit 2025 in Dubai.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured the top job in September, taking over the leadership of a country reeling from the 2022 economic crisis — the worst since its independence in 1948 — and the austerity measures imposed under a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund.

He has so far made two foreign trips: to India in December, where he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar; and to China, where he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During the Dubai trip, Dissanayake will address the annual summit that brings together leaders, policymakers, and experts from around the world to discuss global governance, public policy, and the future of governments.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, he is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the UAE leadership and witness the signing of several agreements.

“Sri Lanka is set to enter into agreements on fuel and gas purchases, power and energy projects and trade and investment ... Setting up of a joint commission between Sri Lanka and UAE will be another highlight of the visit,” Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said in a statement to Arab News.

“Government-to-government projects are to be entered into and memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed. Negotiations on the import of fuel and gas advantageous to Sri Lanka will be among the priorities.”

Other agreements that the Sri Lankan government are going to pursue include job opportunities for its expat workers, promotion of tourism and education.

“Sri Lanka is looking forward to promote the export of tea and gems while attracting tourists from UAE. Besides the bilateral meeting with the president of the UAE, meetings will also be held with the business community,” the ministry said.

“Sri Lanka is looking forward to increase investments from the UAE.”

More than 350,000 Sri Lankans live and work in Dubai. The president is expected to have a meeting with the diaspora as well.


Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Updated 10 February 2025
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Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

  • Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Monday it was waiting for more details on USpresident Donald Trump’s plan to buy the Gaza Strip, an idea which has sparked condemnation from many countries.
Trump said on Sunday he was committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East.
Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza.
“It’s worth waiting for some details here if we’re talking about a coherent plan of action. We are talking about almost 1.2 million Palestinians who live there, and this is probably the main issue,” Peskov told a conference call.
“These are the people who were promised a two-state solution to the Middle East problem by the relevant Security Council resolutions, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of questions like that. We don’t know the details yet,
so we have to be patient,” said Peskov.


Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets

Updated 10 February 2025
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Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets

  • Just 10 of nearly 200 countries required under the Paris Agreement to deliver fresh climate plans by February 10 did so on time
  • Under the climate accord, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035

PARIS: Nearly all nations missed a UN deadline Monday to submit new targets for slashing carbon emissions, including major economies under pressure to show leadership following the US retreat on climate change.
Just 10 of nearly 200 countries required under the Paris Agreement to deliver fresh climate plans by February 10 did so on time, according to a UN database tracking the submissions.
Under the climate accord, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035, and a detailed blueprint for how to achieve this.
Global emissions have been rising but need to almost halve by the end of the decade to limit global warming to levels agreed under the Paris deal.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell has called this latest round of national pledges “the most important policy documents of this century.”
Yet just a handful of major polluters handed in upgraded targets on time, with China, India and the European Union the biggest names on a lengthy absentee list.
Most G20 economies were missing in action with the United States, Britain and Brazil — which is hosting this year’s UN climate summit — the only exceptions.
The US pledge is largely symbolic, made before President Donald Trump ordered Washington out of the Paris deal.
There is no penalty for submitting late targets, formally titled nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
They are not legally binding but act as an accountability measure to ensure governments are taking the threat of climate change seriously.
Last week, Stiell said submissions would be needed by September so they could be properly assessed before the UN COP30 climate conference in November.
A spokeswoman for the EU said the 27-nation bloc intended to submit its revised targets “well ahead” of the summit in Belem.
Analysts say China, the world’s biggest polluter and also its largest investor in renewable energy, is also expected to unveil its much-anticipated climate plan in the second half of the year.
The UAE, Ecuador, Saint Lucia, New Zealand, Andorra, Switzerland and Uruguay rounded out the list of countries that made Monday’s cut-off.
The sluggish response will not ease fears of a possible backslide on climate action as leaders juggle Trump’s return and other competing priorities from budget and security crises to electoral pressure.
Ebony Holland from the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development said the US retreat was “clearly a setback” but there were many reasons for the tepid turnout.
“It’s clear there are some broad geopolitical shifts underway that are proving to be a challenge when it comes to international cooperation, especially on big issues like climate change,” she said.


Police in India pull the plug on British singer Ed Sheeran’s impromptu street concert

Updated 10 February 2025
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Police in India pull the plug on British singer Ed Sheeran’s impromptu street concert

  • Sheeran was singing and playing his guitar on pavement in center of Bengaluru ahead of Sunday concert
  • Police say event organizers had refused permission for street performance on one of city’s busiest streets

A street performance by Ed Sheeran in India’s tech capital of Bengaluru was stopped abruptly by police on Sunday, outraging fans and prompting the British singer to issue a clarification.

Sheeran, dressed in a white t-shirt and shorts was seen singing and playing his guitar on a pavement in the center of Bengaluru ahead of his concert on Sunday night.

Local channels showed a policeman walking up to Sheeran as he was singing the hit single “Shape of You” and unplugging the microphone, as onlookers jeered. Sheeran left soon after.

Police said event organizers had refused permission for the street performance, which was on one of the city’s busiest streets.

“I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place,” Bengaluru police official Shekar T Tekkannanavar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Sheeran, who began his career as a busker in the UK, said later on his Instagram account that he did have permission to perform.

“It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though,” he wrote.

Sheeran is in India for a series of concerts, and performed in front of thousands of people at an open ground in the city later that night, accompanied by Indian singer Shilpa Rao.