The RK studios logo to date remains the most iconic logo from Bollywood. It’s from the blockbuster ‘Barsaat’ ( 1949) in which Raj Kapoor romances Nargis – one of Bollywood’s leading pairs seen in almost 15 films.
According to Merinews, it is possible that Raj Kapoor’s iconic pose for the poster was was inspired by a French painting by Rene Francois Prinet, which was in turn inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s short novel ‘Kreutzer Sonata’. Funnily, Tolstoy’s short novel was also inspired by Beethoven’s ‘Violin Sonata 9’, of the same name.
In more trivia, the short novel is about a violinist's passionate love for a lady piano player, and the painting by Prinet also appeared on the bottle of a perfume named ‘Tabu’, which was popular at the time.
Whether the inspiration is true or pure conjecture, the powerful image from Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’, in which he holds a violin in one hand and a swooning Nargis in the other, is going to stay with us long after the RK Studios takes its curtain call.
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