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Rishi Kapoor, who died at age 67 of bone marrow cancer, starred in nearly 100 Bollywood movies and was a member of Kapoor’s remarkable family of actors and filmmakers.
The son of great director, producer and actor Raj Kapoor, Rishi started as a three-year-old child actor in his father’s hugely popular film Shree 420 (1955). But her fitting debut came in the 1970 Raj film Mera Naam Joker, playing the younger version of her father’s lead role. Rishi said that his father only gave him the role, since he couldn’t pay for a recognized star, and the film was not a commercial success in any case. The movie that gave Rishi stardom was his next one, Bobby (1973), the story of a love story between Raja, a wealthy teenage boy from Bombay, and a poor girl, Bobby, on the wrong side of the tracks, played by Dimple Kapadia. In the story, also directed by Raj, he was a Hindu and she was a Catholic, which was itself a bold move.
Despite this, the film was a sensation, it became a huge success at the Indian box office and made huge sums of money in the Soviet Union. More than 60 million people were said to have seen Bobby in the USSR, and the film is regarded as one of Bollywood’s greatest of all time, which is regularly shown in theaters and on television.
Rishi, who won the Hindi Film Industry Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the Role, was always a modest man and complained that the award was fine, but that it had cost him a considerable bribe to get it. He later explained that he was never sure if the money (Rs 30,000) was paid to the right person or if it was a giant scam. However, he was now a big star and during the 1970s and ’80s he appeared in dozens of films, including Kabhi Kabhie (1976), a romantic drama known for its award-winning soundtrack, Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), a comedy that makes a case of religious tolerance, and the reincarnation thriller Karz (1980), with its soundtrack inspired by disco music. They were often fired simultaneously, meaning that upon arrival on set, Rishi had to ask exactly who he was playing and what lines and songs he had to accomplish.
Rishi Kapoor performs Om Shanti Om from Karz, 1980
At the turn of the century, he played character roles to be acclaimed in another hit movie series. He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, and won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for Do Dooni Chaar (2010) and Best Supporting Actor for Kapoor & Sons (2016). Her last film appearance was in The Body (2019).
Born in Bombay (now Mumbai), the son of Raj and Krishna (nee Malhotra), Rishi, who attended the Campion school in the city, and Mayo College, in Ajmer, Rajasthan, were destined for cinema. His grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor pioneered Indian theater and early cinema, and the father of Bollywood greats Shammi and Shashi Kapoor, as well as Raj. Rishi’s uncles on his mother’s side, including Prem Nath and Prem Chopra, were actors, as were his brothers, Randhir and Rajiv. In 1974, while filming the movie Zehreela Insaan, he began dating his co-star Neetu Singh, and they married in 1980.
If Rishi had the advantage of belonging to a glamorous family that demanded immense respect in the entertainment world for three generations, he made his way without expecting any favors. In recent years, he often suffered considerable pain due to his illness, but kept his good humor. He was also not afraid of being controversial, and often said that religion and food were separate from each other, which is why he was “a Hindu who eats beef.” This caused considerable outrage in some sectors. But he was a charming man and, although he was not a great actor, he had a charisma that almost always appealed to him.
In a way, Rishi was a representative of the old Bollywood that has now practically disappeared in favor of an industry that defends new techniques and more relevant issues. However, no one could claim him as an old-fashioned star. His progression from male leads to character studies was notable for a range that not only kept him as his fans, but also constantly expanded his appeal. And it must be said that few Bollywood stars were considered with more affection.
He is survived by Neetu, his son Ranbir, who is also an actor, and his daughter, Riddhima, a granddaughter, and Randhir and Rajiv.
• Rishi Raj Kapoor, actor, born September 4, 1952; died on April 30, 2020
