Aag

aka Fire 1948 138’ b&w Hindi d/p Raj Kapoor pc R.K. Films s Inder Raj Anand lyr Behzad Lucknowi, Saraswati Kumar Deepak, Majrooh Sultanpuri c V.N. Reddy m Ram Ganguly lp Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Premnath, Kamini Kaushal, Nigar Sultana, Kamal Kapoor, B.M. Vyas, Vishwa Mekra, Shashi Kapoor, Indumati

Raj Kapoor said he would never forget this film, his directorial debut, ‘because it was the story of youth consumed by the desire for a brighter and more intense life. And all those who flitted like shadows through my own life, giving something, taking something, were in that film.’ The hero is Kewal (Kapoor), a country boy disfigured by a self-inflicted scar on his face who dreams of running a theatre. He is cast out by his father and eventually builds his own theatre where Nimmi (Nargis) becomes a star. Shashi Kapoor plays the part of Raj Kapoor as a young boy. Announcing the baroque imagery of Barsaat (1949) and Awara (1951), Kapoor fills his film with shadows evoking the influence of the Osten/ Wirsching brand of chiaroscuro.

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