Rishi Kapoor was destined for the big screen. He was the son of legendary actor-director Raj Kapoor, and acting was in his blood. His first appearance in cinema was as a child artist in his father’s iconic film Mera Naam Joker (1970), where he played the young version of the protagonist.
His performance earned him a National Award, setting the stage for what would become a remarkable career. His official debut as a leading man came with the romantic blockbuster Bobby (1973).
At just 20 years old, Rishi Kapoor became an overnight sensation. His boyish charm and infectious energy, paired with the fresh chemistry with co-star Dimple Kapadia, made Bobby a massive hit, and Rishi became the new face of romance in Bollywood.
When Rishi Kapoor said he never got credit as an actor
In a 2018 interview with Bollywood MDB, Rishi Kapoor said, “I never got the critics and audience to like me by doing something different. I was only romancing the heroines, running around the trees, singing songs in Ooty, Kashmir, and Switzerland. I was only wearing jerseys, they used to call me sweater man all over the world, and I never got roles, never got characters to play, whereas my contemporaries, they got all kinds of roles to play.”
He further added, “I am not complaining that I did 25 years of romance at a stretch; I may not be the biggest star of the country. But I was always among the first 5 stars of this country. I am very happy that I lasted for 25 years. I never got credit as an actor and it’s my fault, I never gave my audiences the reason to like me, what I did was only sing songs.”
In his autobiography- ‘Khullam Khulla – Rishi Kapoor Uncensored’, Rishi Kapoor said, “To go back to Amitabh, I must confess there is still a lingering issue I have with Amitabh Bachchan. A big disadvantage of working in an all-star movie in those days was that everybody only wanted to make action films, which automatically meant that the star who could carry off action with the most flair would get the meatiest part. That’s how, with the exception of Kabhi Kabhie, which was a romantic film, none of the multi-starrers I featured in had an author-backed role for me. Directors and writers unfailingly reserved their strongest, pivotal roles for Amitabh Bachchan. And it wasn’t just me. Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna faced it too.”
He adds, “Amitabh is undeniably a superb actor, immensely talented and, at the time, the number one star who ruled the box-office. He was an action hero, the angry young man. So roles were written for him. Although we may have been smaller stars, we were not lesser actors. Yet, the rest of us had to constantly measure up to him. We had to work hard, really exert ourselves to match up. In my time, the musical/romantic hero had no place. Amitabh was an action hero in an era of action films. As such, writers gave him the lion’s share and he had the authorbacked roles in almost all his films. This gave him an advantage over the rest of us who had to make our presence felt with whatever we got.”
Rishi Kapoor was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 and traveled to New York City for treatment. After battling the illness for two years, he passed away in April 2020 at the age of 68.
At the time of his passing, Rishi was still working on his final film, Sharmaji Namkeen, directed by Hitesh Bhatia, with only four days of shooting left. To complete the project, actor Paresh Rawal stepped in to finish Rishi’s remaining scenes, and the film was eventually released in March 2022. His death left a void in Bollywood, but his films continue to bring joy to millions.