Some people are born in the lap of luxury and some, like Rishi Kapoor, in the spotlight of fame. As Raj Kapoor’s son and Prithviraj Kapoor’s grandson, the stardom was destined but the legacy of good acting was very much his own.
High-spirited, sometimes irascible and always outspoken, thetalented MrKapoor died after a two-year battle with leukaemia on Thursday, hisacting boots still firmly on at age 67.
The third generation of the famed Kapoor dynasty that fusedstardom with a tradition of acting, Rishi marked three innings in cinema –child actor, romantic hero over three decades and finally character artistewhen he transformed from chocolate boy lover to malevolent villain(“Agneepath’), harried tutor (“Do DooniChaar”) and potty-mouthed grandfather(“Kapoor& Sons”).
One of Hindi mainstream cinema’s most enduring stars, Rishi did almost 150 films over five decades – six if you count his walk on part when he was just a toddler during the song “Pyaar HuaIqraar Hua” in his father’s film “Shri 420”.
Of these, almost 90 were as a romantic hero. In an agedominated by action stars, he was the eternal lover boy, dancing and serenadingactresses from his contemporary Dimple Kapadia (“Bobby” and “Saagar”) to a muchyounger Urmila Matondkar in “Shreeman Aashique”.
Almost always the urban hero from an upper crust family,Rishi could be seen twisting and shouting in scenic locales, strumming aguitar, driving trendy cars and dressed in colourful sweaters that became histrademark.
Some of the films were fun, good and live on in memory(“Chandni”, “Karz”, “Doosra Aadmi”) and some quite forgettable, even bad.
He made the most of the hackneyed roles offered to him asthe poster boy of romance, often turning up as part of an ensemble cast infilms such as “Kabhi Kabhie”, “Amar Akbar Anthony” and “Naseeb”.
By his own admission, Rishi, or Chintu as he was known, saidhe was slotted as a romantic hero and could never have done experimental films.
“Ranbir did a ‘Barfi’. I could never do ‘Barfi’,’Sanju’ or ‘Rocket Singh’ in my time. I could never do these kinds ofexperimental films, which worked big time,” he told PTI in an interview lastyear. Later in life came “experimental roles” in films such as “Mulk” and “LuckBy Chance”.
Rishi was flipping how the world saw him, from star-actor toactor-star, his star status finally being subsumed.
This, his final innings in cinema, was cut short by his devastatingillness.
His latest cinematic appearance was in “The Body”,with Emraan Hashmi, in December 2019. The next, a remake of the Hollywood film”The Intern” with Deepika Padukone was announced but alas never got off theground.
Acting was his lifeblood, and his love for food, family,friends, and films his raison d’etre just as it was for the rest of theKapoors. With his grandfather, father and uncles – Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor– he was to cinema born. There was almost nothing else he could have done.
In 1970, his father cast him in “Mera Naam Joker” as theyoung Raju. Three years later, came the blockbuster “Bobby”, again directed byhis father, that set him firmly on the romance path.
And somewhere early on the road to stardom, he met the love ofhis life Neetu Singh The couple did many films together such as “Khel Khel Mein”, “Rafoo Chakkar” and then veryrecently “Do DooniChaar” and the quite forgettable “Besharam”.
They got married in 1980 and had two children, Ranbir, anactor-star like his father, and daughter Riddhima.
It was a glass bowl life under the flashlights. There waslittle that was not known about the famous Kapoors.
For years, his Twitter bio read, “son of a famous father(Raj Kapoor) and the father of a famous son (Ranbir Kapoor)”
It was reflective of the man, who never backed out of anargument or hesitated in speaking his mind.
The Twitter profile was later changed to issue a challengeto trolls, “I do not think people are are understanding. Any joke, barb,comment on my lifestyle that will makeme block you. Now up to you!”
From being at loggerheads with the media or trolled foradmitting he was a “beef eating Hindu” to recently urging thegovernment to open alcohol shops to get by during the lockdown, which began onMarch 25, Rishi Kapoor was undaunted and fiercely opinionated.
His last tweet was on April 2 when he made an appeal to “toall brothers and sisters from all social status and faiths” to not resort toviolence, stone throwing or lynching.
“Doctors,Nurses,Medics, Policemen etc..Are endangering theirlives to save you. We have to win this Coronavirus war together. Please. JaiHind!”
The same forthrightness is mirrored in his 2015autobiography “Khullam Khulla….” In which he unhesitatingly talks about hisfather’s relationship with Nargis, his first girlfriend and Rajesh Khanna’sinsecurity about his equation with Dimple and how he almost turned down “Kabhi Kabhie”because Neetu had a larger role.
He also admitted in the book to buying aa film award for”Bobby”.
“I think that Amitabh was sulking because I had won thebest actor award for Bobby. I am sure he felt the award was rightfully his forZanjeer, which released the same year. I am ashamed to say it, but I actually’bought’ that award. I was so naïve.” Brutally blunt even when it came tohimself. Not many people would probably admit to actually paying money for anaward.
But that was Rishi Kapoor.
His family disclosed in a statement that doctors and medicalstaff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last.
A video, purportedly his last, did endless rounds of socialmedia on Thursday. A medico is singing to the camera while Rishi is on the bed,smiling widely and saying “mehnatkaro”.It may or may not be authentic.