RK Studio fire: Bollywood loses gems like Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker mask, Nargis' Awaara costume

Hours after a Level 2 fire broke out on the sets of reality show Super Dancer Season 2 at the historic RK Studios in Chembur, Mumbai, veteran actor Rishi Kapoor mourned the loss of precious memorabilia of RK Films. However, there was more speculation than facts regarding all the historic memoirs that have been gutted. [caption id=“attachment_4056201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Raj Kapoor in a still from Mera Naam Joker. YouTube[/caption] Now, Mumbai Mirror reports that memorabilia ranging from the legendary Raj Kapoor costumes to those of all the RK Films heroines to sets where iconic songs and scenes of RK Films, have been lost as they were stored near Stage 1 where the set caught fire. “There were costumes from every RK film, from Awaara to Chalen. Most of the stuff was kept neatly in trunks and some of it was even labelled. The costumes worn by every RK heroine, from Nargis to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is lost. The jewellery worn by Padmini in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai was also stored here with a lot of love. There were spears, sabers, artifacts, furniture and other regalia used for the various shoots. The Mera Naam Joker mask and clothes… Dabboo (Randhir Kapoor) and I couldn’t believe what hit us. This is probably why they say that one should never put all eggs in one basket. But for us, this was our father’s legacy, and it was a treasure trove,” Rishi says, as per the same report. Besides these, the stage which got completely destroyed because of the fire has provided the setting to a large number of films produced under the banner. Classic songs like ‘Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua’ from Raj’s 1951 film Awaara and ‘Om Shanti Om’, featuring Rishi on a revolving stage, from Subhash Ghai’s 1980 thriller Karz were also shot there. Rishi’s Karz co-star Simi Garewal also expressed her shock at the news of the RK Studio fire. The Hindu quotes her as saying, “Stage 1 is where I shot with Raj Kapoor for my documentary Living Legend Raj Kapoor for Channel 4, UK. I recall him asking, while standing there at Stage 1, what is a studio? Is it granite, cement, bricks or walls? ‘What is important is not the studio but what is made there by the people,’ he said. That statement has kept flashing back to me since this news came up.” The same report, however, states that the negative prints of all RK Films are safely housed in another building within the studio premises. Thus, they escaped the wrath of the fire.