On Raj Kapoor’s death anniversary, revisit his little-known wedding to Krishna Malhotra in Rewa, MP, and how the city remains tied to the Kapoor family.

As India remembers the “Showman” of Hindi cinema Raj Kapoor on his death anniversary today, few recall that the legendary actor-filmmaker’s wedding procession did not wind through Mumbai’s streets but arrived in a modest town in Madhya Pradesh’s Vindhya region.

It was May 1946. Raj Kapoor, then a rising star, married Krishna Malhotra in Rewa – a city more famous for its white tigers than film industry weddings. The ceremony took place at a government bungalow belonging to Krishna’s father, Karta Nath Malhotra, who served as Inspector General of Police in the Vindhya region.

The event remained a quiet but significant chapter in the Kapoor family’s history, often overshadowed by the actor’s larger-than-life screen persona.

Wedding at the IG’s bungalow

According to historical accounts, Malhotra was posted in Rewa at the time of the wedding. The government bungalow, where the couple exchanged vows, became the unlikely venue for what would later be remembered as one of Bollywood’s most enduring marriages.

The ceremony was a low-key affair by industry standards, but locally it created quite a stir. “In those days, a wedding of this scale was unheard of in Rewa,” says a local resident familiar with the city’s oral history. Sources confirm that the bungalow still stands, though it has undergone renovations over the decades.

Krishna Malhotra, who later became known as Krishna Raj Kapoor, remained Rewa’s connection to the Kapoor dynasty for the rest of her life.

Auditorium named after Krishna Raj Kapoor

Decades later, Rewa chose to honour that bond. The city constructed the ‘Krishna Raj Kapoor Auditorium’ – a facility now used for cultural programmes, government events and industrial gatherings. It stands as a physical reminder of the family’s link to central India.

When Rishi Kapoor passed away in 2020, national media revisited Rewa’s historical association with the Kapoors. The auditorium became a gathering point for local tributes. For Rewa’s residents, the building is more than just infrastructure; it is a symbol of an unlikely but cherished connection to Bollywood royalty.

A daughter named after Rewa

Locals have long circulated another fascinating detail. It is believed that Raj Kapoor and Krishna named their daughter Reema Jain after the city of Rewa. The story, passed down through generations, reflects the couple’s deep affection for the town where their married life began.

Whether entirely accurate or embellished by time, the anecdote survives in Rewa’s collective memory. Ask any elderly resident, and they will narrate it with pride – a small-town claim to a piece of cinema history.

Rewa’s pride beyond white tigers

Rewa is globally known for the introduction of white tigers and its royal heritage. But the Raj Kapoor wedding chapter adds a different flavour to its identity – one that intersects with the golden era of Hindi cinema.

Raj Kapoor, through films like Awara, Shree 420, Barsaat, Sangam and Mera Naam Joker, gave voice to the common man’s struggles while taking Indian cinema to international audiences. His songs remain hugely popular in Russia and other countries even today.

That such a towering figure chose Rewa for one of the most personal milestones of his life continues to be a matter of pride for the city. On his death anniversary, as film buffs pay tribute to the showman, Rewa quietly remembers the baraat that came to its streets nearly eight decades ago.

Cinema’s greatest legends and icons come together in a rare visual celebration as the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents an extraordinary series of exhibitions at the International Film Festival of Delhi (IFFD). Curated by pioneering arts archivist, author and institution-builder Neville Tuli, the exhibition brings together towering figures of world and Indian cinema alongside rare and vintage film art, memorabilia, posters and archives that trace the visual history of the medium.

From the quiet genius of Satyajit Ray to the mass appeal and love for the Cinema of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand & Shakti Samanta, to the enduring charm and stardom of Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore to the epic grandeur of Mughal-E-Azam, and the contemporary superstardom of SRK, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, the exhibition captures multiple eras of cinematic imagination under one roof.

One of the highlight Exhibitions is “The Golden Age of Hollywood, 1910–1960s,” which explores the evolution of cinema from the silent era to the rise of global stardom. The exhibition is positioned as part of a larger Indo-American cinematic dialogue and as a learning module within India Studies.

Another major showcase, “Highlights of Indian Cinematography, 1913–1973,” celebrates the pioneers behind the camera, featuring the work of legendary cinematographers including Faredoon A. Irani, Josef Wirsching, the Mistry Brothers, Radhu Karmakar, R.D. Mathur, V.K. Murthy, Dilip Basu, and Subrata Mitra, whose visual craft shaped the aesthetics of Indian cinema.

The exhibition “The Heart of Cinema as a Critical Educational Resource – The Song-Synopsis Booklet” revisits a fascinating film artefact that once served as both publicity material and audience guide. Today, these booklets stand as important educational resources that reflect how music and storytelling became inseparable from Indian cinema.

A spectacular display titled “Significant Artworks of Landmark Films of Bombay Cinema, 1940–80s” presents original artworks, hoardings and rare multi-sheet posters that once dominated the visual culture of Indian cities, from classics such as Sholay, Guide, Azaad, Pakeezah, Deewaar, and many others.

Another rare showcase, “The World of Satyajit Ray through the Lens of Nemai Ghosh, 1969–1990,” offers an intimate glimpse into the legendary filmmaker’s working life through rare still photographs captured across decades.

The global influence of film poster design is reflected in “Vintage Polish & Japanese Designed Posters, 1950–70s,” which highlights powerful graphic traditions that shaped international cinema publicity.

Among the most evocative presentations is “A Tribute to the Greatest Epic Indian Film – Mughal-E-Azam,” featuring memorabilia and visual material connected with the iconic film and its legendary cinematography.

The exhibition “From Trinity to Trinity to Trinity | Dev-Raj-Dilip to Ray-Ghatak-Sen to Salman-Aamir-SRK” traces how different cinematic trios have defined successive eras of Indian cinema, reflecting the changing idea of heroism and storytelling.

Additional exhibitions pay homage to major cinematic personalities including Dharmendra, filmmaker Shakti Samanta (1926–2026) and Sharmila Tagore, offering deeper insights into their artistic journeys and influence, and the first magnificent Exhibition ever held in India on a vast range of the uniquely Indian Film Jubilee Trophy from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Together, these twelve exhibitions bring together a vast constellation of film objects — posters, lobby cards, still photographs, booklets, pamphlets, memorabilia and Jubilee trophies — demonstrating how cinema’s life extends far beyond the screen and into the cultural imagination of audiences.

The initiative is anchored by the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.), an independent charitable society and trust dedicated to advancing Contemporary India Studies. Through its pioneering digital platform tuliresearchcentre.org, the centre offers an open-access knowledge base structured across sixteen Research Categories spanning the arts, humanities, social and ecological sciences.

T.R.I.S. combines digital scholarship with physical archives, extensive library collections, exhibitions and live interactions with leading creative minds. The initiative also connects with the Vanraja Sanctuary and Hospice, a path-breaking initiative dedicated to the welfare of canine and feline children.

Through institutional collaborations and interdisciplinary engagement, the centre seeks to build the first structured Contemporary India Studies curriculum where visual, textual and audio materials are treated as equal sources of knowledge.

Neville Tuli says,
“Cinema has always been far more than the films we watch. It is a vast universe of visual memory — posters, publicity art, photographs, booklets and objects that carry the spirit of their time. Through these exhibitions we hope to re-introduce cinema as a powerful educational resource, where the visual becomes a serious source of knowledge and dialogue across disciplines. Our endeavour through T.R.I.S. is to help audiences, scholars and students rediscover the deeper intellectual and aesthetic worlds that cinema has created across generations, and relate such to all the arts, humanities and social sciences in a systematic manner.”