Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor represent the holy Trinity of 50’s and 60’s Bollywood. While they represent different spectrums of filmmaking comparison can be made based on certain parameters.
Number of Hits: Raj Kapoor and Devanand both started their career in late 1940’s but Rajkapoor stopped acting actively after the debacle of Mera Naam Joker in 1970 and he worked in very few films as an actor post 1970. Devanand continued acting till the very last (Chargesheet released in 2011) and was actively till the 90’s as a lead actor. Raj Kapoor in his career has around 20 successful movies whereas Devanand had more than 30 hits as a lead actor. But Raj Kapoor has done half the number of films done by Devanand.
HGOTY - How many films of these actors have been Highest Grossing Film of the year?
Raj Kapoor- 1. Barsaat (1949)-1.25 crores
2. Awara (1951)- 1.50 crores
3. Shree 420 (1955)- 2 crores (first Hindi film to earn 2 crores)
4. Anari (1959)- 1.5 crores
5. Sangam (1964)- 4 crores
(As a director he had two more HGOTY - Bobby (1973) and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985))
Devanand HGOTY-
- CID (1956)- 1.50 crores
- Johnny Mera Naam (1970)- 3.5 crores
Overseas Grosser- Raj Kapoor was very popular in countries like Iran, Soviet Union and Middle East. Aawara is the most successful Indian film in USSR in terms of Footfall. The top 3 Indian films in terms of footfalls in USSR are- 1. Aawara, 2. Bobby, 3. Disco dancer (2 out of 3 films are made by Raj Kapoor). Even a film like Abdullah which only had Raj Kapoor in a supporting role was promoted in USSR in his name and was fairly successful. In Iran the Hinduja group was responsible for exhibiting Raj Kapoor's films and they earned hansome profits out of it. Devanand didn't had a niche in the overseas market as compared to Raj Kapoor
Music Hits - if we look at the top music albums of 50’s to 70’s we will see that Raj Kapoor has 4 albums among the top albums of the decades (and 3 additional as director and producer). Devanand on the other hand has also 4 albums to his credit in the top albums. The difference is that Sangam was the highest selling album of 1960’s and Awara of 1950’s and as a director Bobby was the highest selling album of 1970’s and Ram Teri Ganga Maili was the second highest selling album of 1980’s. Devanand’s albums were generally placed at number 10 or below (CID, Jaal, Guide) except Johnny Mera Naam which is one of the highest selling album of 1970’s.
As a Director - As a director Raj Kapoor was way more acclaimed and successful than Devanand. Raj Kapoor was known as the showman of India for mixing social issues with commercial cinema. Most of his films were also commercial success. He directed Blockbusters like Barsaat, Shri 420, Awaara, Sangam, Bobby, Prem Rog and Ram Teri Ganga Maili. His not so successful films include Mera Naam Joker which was a commercial disaster, Satyam Shivam Sundaram which was average, and his productions include Aah which failed (directed by Raja Navathe), Jis Desh me Ganga Behti hai which was a hit (directed by Radhu Karmakar), Boot Polish was a hit, Ab Dilli Door Nahi and Jagte raho failed commercially, Kal Aaj aur kal and Dharam Karam were average grossers directed by Randhir Kapoor, Biwi o Biwi directed by Rahul Rawail failed, Henna Directed by Randhir Kapoor was a hit and the last two films of RK films Prem Granth and Aa ab Laut chale flopped.
Devanand was not a good director and gave back to back flops in 70’s, 80’s till 2000’s when he started making his own films not by his talented brothers Chetan and Vijay Anand. Devanand only made two hit films as a director - Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Des Pardes. Lootmaar and Swami Dada were average and the list of flops is long - Prem Pujari, Ishq Ishq Ishq, Anand aur Anand, Awwal Number, Hum Naujawan, Gangster, Love at Times Square, Chargesheet etc.
Awards- Raj Kapoor is ahead of Devanand in terms of awards. As an actor both Raj Kapoor and Devanand won 2 best actor flmfares (Raj Kapoor won for Anari and Jis Desh me Ganga Behti hai, Devanand won for Kala Pani and Guide). Raj Kapoor won 3 National awards including one Dada Saheb Phalke Award and two national awards as director producer (Shree 420 and Jis Desh me Ganga Behti hai). He also won 11 filmfares (2 for best actor, 3 best editor, 4 Best director and 2 best film) from 23 nominations. Devanand won one Dada Saheb Phalke Award and one national award as producer for Guide. He won 4 filmfares (2 best actor, 1 lifetime achievement award and one for best film) out of 7 filmfares. Raj Kapoor has won awards in various International film festivals as well which is missing in Devanand’s filmography except for Guide. Both actors have won the Padma Bhushan award.
Controversies - Raj Kapoor has often been criticised for his skin show in films which led to his conflicts with the censor board. Especially in films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Ram Teri Ganga Maili. Devanand has also been criticised for his taboo films on incest (Bumbai ka Babu, Ishq Ishq Ishq, Prem Shastra), and the use of cheap vulgarity in Hum Naujawan, and his later films which were outright trash. His film Teen Deviyan received A certificate for showing man having multiple affairs, and his films Jaal, Baazigar, CID showed hero as grey shade visiting clubs etc (the club song Fiffy was deemed vulgar and banned).
In terms of universal acclaim and international appreciation Raj Kapoor is a bit above Devanand. Devanand has established himself as an evergreen hero with many classics but his films didn't receive international acclaim like Raj Kapoor.