The Kapoor family has played a major role in giving a new dimension to Hindi cinema. The three superstars from the Kapoor family earned Dadasaheb Phalke Awards over the years. Prithviraj Kapoor, his son Raj Kapoor, and his other son Shashi Kapoor were conferred with the prestigious award for their contribution to the entertainment industry in India. But, do you know that the President broke an important protocol when the legendary actor Raj Kapoor landed in Delhi to receive the honour?
In 1988, Raj Kapoor was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. But, when he landed in Delhi on May 2 for the ceremony, he could not even breathe properly and was given an oxygen mask and cylinder. Despite this, the actor made it to the ceremony and was dressed in a crisp white suit. He was joined by his wife Krishna Raj for the event. But the actor could not make it to the stage because of his health condition. This prompted the then President Ramaswamy Venkataraman, who was the eighth President of India, to go to Raj himself.
Raj Kapoor’s daughter Rima Jain spoke to Filmfare about the incident where she shared, “Somewhere, I believe, Papa ordained his death. He was to be conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award on May 2, 1988, in Delhi. He left Mumbai on April 30. There was a dust storm in Delhi. As soon as the door of the plane opened, he was greeted with a violent gust of wind. Being an asthma patient, it affected his lungs. He attended the function with an oxygen cylinder. Through the function he was restless.”
She further noted that the actor kept pressing his wife’s hand hard to show his discomfort and couldn’t get up when his name was announced. Following the situation, the president asked others to put Raj Kapoor in the ambulance and take him to the hospital where several ministers dropped in to check on him. After a few weeks, the actor died on June 2, 1988.
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