Raj Kapoor's RK Banner: A Journey of Cinematic Brilliance and Iconic Films

(Author: Alex Almeida)

RK banner does not need any introduction founded by the great showman Raj Kapoor. In 1948 a twenty four year old Raj Kapoor made his debut as producer and director and established the famous RK banner with his initials.

Aag (1948) was the first film made out of this banner the film was a decent success. But Raj Kapoor was eyeing something big and following year made Barsaat (1949) which turned out to be a massive hit. In 1950 Raj Kapoor managed to purchase the iconic RK Studio in Chembur (Mumbai) after the success Barsaat.The studio remains one of the iconic landmark of the film industry where several hit films had been shot.

Due to the huge success of the film Raj Kapoor decided to use the iconic scene from the movie between him and Nargis as the logo of his banner RK film and RK Studio.

The production banner produced many big hits over the period of 50 years between 1948 to 1998 like Barsaat (1949), Aawara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Sangam (1964), Mera Naam Joker (1970), Bobby (1973), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Prem Rog (1982), Ram Teri Ganga Meli (1985), Heena (1991), Prem Granth (1995), Aa Ab Laut Chale (1998) and few more.

Aawara was the first film to be shot at the RK studio. The studio remained an iconic landmark until it was gutted down in fire in 2017. In 2019 the iconic landmark was acquired by Godrej Group for commercial development. But the iconic logo still remains outside the studio as a tribute to the landmark location.

(Writer of this article: Alex Almeida is a passionate Hindi cinema buff with a deep love for the art of storytelling.)

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