Aag

Aag is a 1948 Indian Hindi language musical drama film which is produced, directed by and stars Raj Kapoor. The film marked the debut of Kapoor as producer and director and was the first film produced by his R.K. banner. Nargis, Premnath, Nigar Sultana and Kamini Kaushal also starred in supporting roles. Raj Kapoor's youngest brother Shashi Kapoor appeared as a child artist in this film playing the younger version of his character (Kewal). This marked the first of more than a dozen films in which Raj Kapoor and Nargis appeared together Plot The film opens with a groom approaching his new bride, called Sudha, on their wedding night. The bride, upon seeing the groom screams because his face is disfigured due to burns. The groom then starts telling the bride his story and the remainder of the film is a flashback told to the bride by the groom. The story is about a boy, named Kewal (played by Shashi Kapoor), who is obsessed with theatre but is descended from a family of lawyers. The boy Kewal is fascinated by a girl named Nirmala, nicknamed Nimmi, a classmate in school when he was aged 10 years. They both enjoy theatre and Kewal shares his dream of opening a theatre company and starring in his play with Nimmi as the female lead while watching a play in their school. He soon plans to stage a play in his neighbourhood with Nimmi, but she deserts him because her family moves to a different city on the day of the premiere. The young Kewal takes this to heart, but after finishing school, Kewal (now played by Raj Kapoor) reluctantly submits to his father's (Kamal Kapoor) demands to continue the family tradition by studying law and become a successful lawyer just like him and his forefathers. At College, Kewal meets another Nirmala (who asks him to call her Nimmi, after hearing his story of childhood love). He again plans to stage a play, but the second Nimmi also deserts him because her parents have decided to marry her off to a man who lives in England on the day of the premiere. Kewal is distracted and fails his law exam. This forces him to a reckoning that he has no real interest in becoming a lawyer and would like to pursue his childhood dream of owning his theatre company to write, direct, and produce plays. He argues with his father and is asked to leave the house and despite his mother's protestations, decides to chart his path in life and pursue his dreams.