Rishi Kapoor turns 57 next month. A look at the actor the perennial heart throb, a straight talker and a man whose image is incomplete without a guitar... err... in this case, perhaps a violin!
Rishi Kapoor turns 57 next month. A look at the actor the perennial heart throb, a straight talker and a man whose image is incomplete without a guitar... err... in this case, perhaps a violin!
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In the days when Rishi Kapoor (I could never bring myself to call him Chintu as he was fondly nicknamed by his father) was a major teen heartthrob, certain star-watchers evaluated him with speculative scepticism.
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Their contention was: 'Since Rishi's appeal is totally young-centric because of his height, vigour and the guitar, which looks like an extension of his arm, what will he do once he crosses the big 4-oh, never mind 50?'
The poser became increasingly relevant because Rishi Kapoor constantly teamed up with a fast-changing array of new girls from Kajol Kiron (Hum Kissise Kum Naheen), Ranjeeta (Laila Majnu), Jaya Prada (Sargam) right up to Sonam (Vijay), Zeba (Henna) u2026 I stopped counting once the number reached double digits.
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Today, at 57, the fogginess regarding Rishi's future after fifty has cleared up. After an uneven transitional decade when his career seesawed, Rishi Kapoor is currently enjoying a remarkable resurgence.
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He has had four releases so far into 2009. Earlier this year, he dashed off a ripe comic performance as a roly-poly, harangued Bollywood producer in Luck By Chance.
While Delhi 6 and Kal Kissne Dekha were not memorable, he gave youngsters a run for their money in the recent hit, Love Aaj Kal.
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Rishi was the epitome of yesteryears' romance during the action-packed 1970s and 1980s, especially when paired with Neetu Singh; and Love Aaj Kal cleverly played on their images to establish just that by casting Neetu, now Kapoor, in the film, albeit in a blink and miss scene.
Remarkably, both Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh began their careers as child artistes and have 40 years of acting behind them.
Rishi Kapoor deservedly won the National Award for his performance in his very first film Mera Naam Joker. Rishi was memorable as Raju, a gawky, overweight school boy who has a crush on his teacher, Mary (Simi Garewal), and is in the first flush of sexual awakening.
I was a teenager when Rishi's first film as an adult the Raj Kapoor-directed megablockbuster, Bobby, was released.
Along with Julie, it was an iconic film for my generation; just like Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Betaab, Hero, QSQT, Maine Pyar Kiye and DDLJ were to generations of teenagers after me.
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After viewing Bobby, the image of its nubile heroine, Dimple, was predominantly imprinted on my mind; though now, each time I view the film, I am equally impressed by Rishi's honest performance.
I finally met Rishi Kapoor in the mid-eighties at Mehboob studios with my colleague, Virginia. Holding (what else?) but a guitar while the lights were being readied for the shot, he spoke as if his tongue was afire and left me speechless with his energy and cascade of words. I managed to barely introduce myself.
The second time I met him, he was dubbing at Anand Studios for Raj Khosla's Naqaab. His father, the legendary Raj Kapoor had passed away a few days ago.
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I decided to get the three brothers, Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv, to pay a tribute to their dad. Randhir and Chimpu were easy to pin down, Rishi Kapoor was as slippery as an eel.
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When I finally collared him at Anand Studios, he said it was too painful a subject and didn't want to talk about it.
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"What do you want me to say, yaar?" he began brusquely; but it was Open Sesame the next moment. He talked reams about his father thereafter, almost unaided.
That's Rishi for you. At most times, he begins conversations with the grumpiness of a bear with a sore paw. Persist with him and the bluster and the ice disappears.
That day, he decided to hop over for lunch to his Pali Hill home (the earlier bungalow) since it was a short distance away and asked me to join. He warned me he was on salads and I told them I wasn't particularly hungry.
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Not in a mood to take the car, he nonchalantly stepped out and began walking! Finally, we ended up walking to his home.
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While wolfing through a salad plate, he asked me, "How did you come till Anand?" I told him, 'I have a bike.' He stopped eating and scowled, "We could have come on your bike, na? Why did you make me walk so much?"
Rishi Kapoor may not have liked to walk but he sure has come a long way.
Possibly the youngest male star ever after Bobby (he was but 21), he quickly established himself outside the RK ambit too with Raffoo Chakkar and Khel Khel Mein.
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Numerous hits followed including Laila Majnu, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Sargam and his trio with the Amitabh-Manmohan Desai combo (Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb, Coolie).
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He moved on to sensitive actor territory with Kabhie Kabhie, Doosra Aadmi, Karz, Tawaif and Ek Chadar Maili Si, while I moved on to becoming the Editor of Movie magazine.
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At Movie, we began a hugely popular Talk-To-The-Star scheme we invited stars to talk to their fans on a pre-advertised date and time.
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I asked Rishi to come to the office, but once again he played the elusive star. Finally, out of the blue, he yielded and said, "I will be there Sunday at 11 am."
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I baulked, 'We don't work on Sundays.' "Sunday it is," he boomed. Come Sunday and I had a treat ready for him club sandwiches from National Sports Club of India and pastries from Croissants. But when Rishi arrived, sporting an eye-catching floral shirt and baggy trousers, he eyed the goodies dismissively and asked for beer.
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When I told him that I didn't serve drinks in the office premises, he mock threatened me, "Beer or..."
Mollified, he grabbed the phone and had the fans eating out of his hands while the snacks remained uneaten.
Over the years, I realised that he can take potshots at himself with the same ease as which he rattles them off.
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While I was a Chief Reporter with a magazine, I was assigned the job of stalking Amitabh Bachchan for 76 hours because he was off-press those days.
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As a godsend, Manmohan Desai, who enjoyed a good rapport with my Editor, invited us to Essel Studios for a song picturisation of his Amitabh starrer Coolie.
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The other stars present on the outdoor set were Rati Agnihotri, Shoma Anand and Rishi Kapoor. For one particular shot, the choreographer wanted Amitabh to lift Rati and Rishi to lift Shoma.
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However, despite umpteen rehearsals, Rishi was unable to lift the not-so-slim Shoma while Amitabh lifted the reed-slender Rati.
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Finally, Manmohan Desai, who was always full-of-beans, quietly joked with Rishi, "If you are not able to pick her up one more time, I will have to ask her to lift you."
Later, when Rishi said he was driving down to RK studios for lunch in the break, Manmohan ribbed him, good-humouredly, "Bade baap ka beta. Why will you eat unit food with us?"
But I know better. My cousin sister Aarti recalls the days when her father-in-law MS Khanna's bungalow was rented out for film shootings.
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Rishi Kapoor was shooting for Surinder Kapoor's Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan at the Khanna bungalow.
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Around lunch time, driven by the aroma of fish being cooked, he walked straight into the kitchen, and without much ado ate straight from the kadai.
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Aarti vouches, "He was gregarious, friendly and very warm, unlike some other snooty stars."
In the '90s, Rishi was sometimes a bit tetchy as he felt he was being undervalued, his numerous hits were not being considered and directors were not repeating him (Yash Chopra after Chandni, Subhash Ghai after Karz) even after delivering memorable hits with him.
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But I remember his enthusiasm (when he was not complaining of blood pressure from the stress) once he started his directorial venture, the Aishwarya Rai-Akshaye Khanna starrer, Aa Ab Laut Chalein.
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Unfortunately, the script, despite elements from Shri 420, didn't gel; and Rishi has not directed again. And may be never got blood pressure again, too!
But, on the whole, life has been good to Rishi and he has tried to pay it forward. I would like to sign off with a incident recently narrated to me by Sanjay, who began as Rishi's publicist but went on to be his friend.
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When Sanjay was hospitalised for a major surgery, Rishi dropped in at the hospital, and even did a small jig to make Sanjay smile. Sanjay says, "He told the nurse, 'He is my brother.
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Take good care of his diet, isska khayal wayal rakhna'." The nurse was bowled over and Sanjay got star treatment thereafter.
Some time back, I saw Rishi's son, Ranbir, with his girlfriend Deepika Padukone at Indigo; but since we have never been introduced, we crossed each other like ships sailing past each other in the darkness.
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Maybe I should have caught his attention like Rishi Kapoor once did. I remember him frantically waving out to catch my attention when his car came to a standstill next to mine at a traffic signal at Santacruz.
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We were seeing each other after years but the warmth was palpable. It gets transmitted on screen too.
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