Whenever there is a mention of either Raj Kapoor or Nargis, the other’s name is always taken as well. The duo remains one of the most iconic pairings of the Hindi Film Industry. It is said that Raj Kapoor and Nargis had a long-standing affair. Recently the word that Raj Kapoor burned himself with cigarettes and broke down when his beloved Nargis tied the knot with Sunil Dutt in 1958. As per Madhu Jain’s book, ‘The Kapoors: The First Family of Indian Cinema,’ the ‘Awara’ actor felt betrayed by Nargis’ decision.

The book reveals Raj Kapoor’s conversation with the journalist Suresh Kohli. In the conversation, the ‘showman’ talked about their breakup saying, “The world tells me I let Nargis down. It was she who betrayed me.” Madhu Jain’s work also states, “He broke down and cried in front of his friends and colleagues when he found out that she had married Sunil Dutt. Raj Kapoor took it very badly: he would reportedly burn himself with cigarette butts to check if he was not dreaming, wondering how she could have done this to him.”

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Moreover, Raj Kapoor also developed a drinking habit and it took a toll on his family. His wife Krishna Raj Kapoor revealed to author Bunny Reuben, “Night after night he’d come home drunk… He’d come and collapse almost unconscious in the bathtub weeping bitterly. Night after night. Do you think I thought he was weeping for me? No. Of course not. I knew he was weeping for her.” A ‘friend’ was quoted as saying, “Nargis was his only true love. He never spoke against her publicly. He blamed her brothers for driving a wedge between them.’ In private, he often babbled on about what he termed ‘a great betrayal’.”

While Raj Kapoor had turned Nargis into a betrayer in his mind, the duo was together for several years but he never married her. Reportedly, Nargis wanted to be engaged in matrimony, but Kapoor always rebuffed the idea and kept telling her that he would marry her. Madhu Jain even noted, “So important was the sanctity of marriage for Nargis that she apparently even cornered Morarji Desai, then Home Minister in Bombay and asked him for his advice on how she could legally marry the actor. Kapoor was a Hindu and already married.” However, as the world knows, Nargis then fell in love with Sunil Dutt and they got married.

Raj Kapoor and Nargis starred together in 16 films. Some of the hit titles they did together include ‘Awara,’ ‘Shree 420,’ ‘Aah,’ ‘Chori Chori,’ and ‘Barsaat’ among others.