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50 free Raj Kapoor trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Raj Kapoor was the Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema, the founder of R. K. Films at 23, and a star so big in the Soviet Union that a Vysotsky song listed him alongside Shiva and yoga. This quiz covers the films: Aag and Barsaat, the Awaara that sold 100 million tickets in Russia and another 100 million in China, Shree 420 and its shoes-are-Japanese anthem, Sangam shot in Europe, the six-year gamble of Mera Naam Joker, and the Bobby that paid its debts. It also covers the man and the dynasty: his birth in Peshawar, his father Prithviraj and Prithvi Theatres, the brothers Shammi and Shashi, the sons Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv, the granddaughters Karisma and Kareena, the marriage at 21 to a 15-year-old cousin, the long affair with Nargis, the composers and writers he made famous, the awards, the asthma that killed him and the memorial farm at Rajbaugh. It suits Hindi film fans, quiz nights and anyone who has hummed 'Mera Joota Hai Japani'. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Raj Kapoor, his major films and his family, and each question shows its supporting sentence after you answer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Raj Kapoor is nicknamed the Indian version of which Hollywood star, whose Tramp inspired him?
Charlie Chaplin
He played the tramp-like innocent in Awaara, Shree 420 and Mera Naam Joker, cheerful and honest whatever the world threw at him.
Q 02In which city was Raj Kapoor born in 1924?
Peshawar
The family later moved to India's film capital; his father was then still touring city to city as a stage and film actor.
Q 03What was Raj Kapoor's name at birth?
Shrishti Nath
His father changed the family's Nath names to Raj; the discarded first name Ranbir was later given to a grandson.
Q 04Which two younger brothers of Raj Kapoor also became major film actors?
Shammi and Shashi
Two other brothers born between Raj and Shammi died in infancy within a fortnight of each other in 1931.
Q 05Raj Kapoor first appeared on screen at what age, in the 1935 film Inquilab?
Ten
His first leading role came in 1947 with Neel Kamal, opposite Madhubala and Begum Para; it flopped.
Q 06What was the name of the production banner Raj Kapoor founded in 1948?
R. K. Films
Its first film was also his directing debut and the first time he and Nargis were paired on screen.
Q 07Which 1948 film marked Raj Kapoor's debut as a director?
Aag
It was only an average earner but critics liked it, and it launched the Kapoor-Nargis pairing.
Q 08Which 1949 Raj Kapoor film became the highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, beating Kismet?
Barsaat
It ran for almost two years at one Kolkata cinema, introduced the actress Nimmi, and its profits let him buy RK Studios in 1950.
Q 09Which composer duo, introduced by Raj Kapoor, scored 20 of his films from 1949 onwards?
Shankar-Jaikishan
Their Awaara soundtrack was the best-selling Hindi film album of the 1950s; Kapoor also introduced the lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.
Q 10Which screenwriter wrote Awaara, Shree 420, Mera Naam Joker and Bobby for Raj Kapoor?
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
He had originally wanted Mehboob Khan to direct Awaara, but they fell out over casting.
Q 11Who played Judge Raghunath, who disowns Raj, in Awaara?
Prithviraj Kapoor
Mehboob Khan had wanted Ashok Kumar as the judge and Dilip Kumar as the son; the writer took his script to Kapoor, who cast his own father instead.
Q 12Roughly how many cinema admissions did Awaara draw in the Soviet Union?
About 100 million
It remains the third-most-watched foreign film there, and sold another 100 million tickets or so in China.
Q 13Which two Raj Kapoor films competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes?
Awaara and Boot Polish
Jagte Raho separately took the Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary.
Q 21Mera Naam Joker is one of only two Hindi films ever to have what?
Two intervals
It runs well over three hours; the only other film with the same feature is Kapoor's own 1964 epic.
Q 22How long did Mera Naam Joker take to make?
Six years
After his 1964 blockbuster it was hugely anticipated, then flopped so badly it left Kapoor in a financial crisis before becoming a cult classic.
Q 23What profession does Raj Kapoor's character Raju follow in Mera Naam Joker?
Circus clown
Three women from his life are invited to his last performance, and the film ends with the words 'Positively Not The End'.
Q 14Who sang 'Awaara Hoon', the song that made Raj Kapoor a star from Turkey to China?
Mukesh
He was Kapoor's usual singing voice, along with Manna Dey; Kishore Kumar sang for him only once, in the 1950 flop Pyar.
Q 15In Shree 420, Raj's country boy travels from Allahabad to which city, on foot?
Bombay
There he is seduced by a crooked businessman's Ponzi scheme promising the poor homes for 100 rupees.
Q 16Which 2016 Hollywood film used the Shree 420 song 'Mera Joota Hai Japani' in its opening sequence?
Deadpool
The song's lyric about Japanese shoes, English trousers, a Russian cap and an Indian heart became a patriotic anthem of newly independent India.
Q 17How many Soviet viewers did Shree 420 draw in 1956, the year's top foreign film there?
35 million
It was imported at an unusually high price and still finished second at the Soviet box office that year.
Q 18For which 1959 comedy did Raj Kapoor win his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor?
Anari
Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed it, with Nutan, Motilal and Lalita Pawar; it was the year's number one at the box office.
Q 19Raj Kapoor's 1960 film Chhalia was based on a story by which Russian novelist?
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Manmohan Desai directed it from White Nights; Kapoor's Soviet fan base made Russian material a natural fit.
Q 20Which 1964 Raj Kapoor film was his first in colour and the first Indian film shot entirely abroad?
Sangam
Shot in London, Paris and Switzerland with Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar, it was the decade's second-biggest hit behind Mughal-E-Azam.
Q 24Which of Raj Kapoor's sons made his screen debut playing the young Raju in Mera Naam Joker?
Rishi
He would headline Bobby three years later and, decades on, his son Ranbir became a star in turn.
Q 25Which actress made her debut opposite Raj Kapoor's son in Bobby (1973)?
Dimple Kapadia
Neetu Singh also auditioned for the part; she later married the film's hero in real life.
Q 26Bobby was thematically inspired by which American comics?
Archie
It launched the Bollywood teenage romance and the rich-boy-poor-girl template that many films copied.
Q 27According to its leading man, why was Bobby really made?
To pay off the debts of Mera Naam Joker
His father wanted a love story but could not afford a superstar like Rajesh Khanna, so he cast his own son.
Q 28Bobby Braganza, the heroine of Bobby, is the daughter of what?
A poor Goan Christian fisherman
The plot turns on the class and religious gap between her family and Raj's rich Hindu businessman father, played by Pran.
Q 29Raj Kapoor's 1978 film Satyam Shivam Sundaram, starring Zeenat Aman, drew accusations of what?
Promoting obscenity
It was still well received and earned him a Filmfare nomination for Best Director.
Q 30Which 1985 film, starring newcomer Mandakini and his son Rajiv, was Raj Kapoor's last as director?
Ram Teri Ganga Maili
With no stars at all it topped the year's box office and won five Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and Best Director.