Kapoor was the lead actor for the first time in "Neel Kamal" (1947). His co-star was Madhubala. In 1947, he started his own movie company, R. K. Films. At 24 years old, he directed his first movie "Aag". His co-star was Nargis. He and Nargis worked together in 16 movies, 6 of these were produced by Kapoor. His first major success as an actor was in the movie "Andaz" directed by Mehboob Khan. "Andaz" was the second-highest earning movie in 1949. The highest earning movie that year was "Barsaat", also starring Kapoor.