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Rishi Kapoor: Ranbir spends more time with me now but I miss him
Priya Gupta,TNN | Apr 29, 2015, 12.00 AM IST
Rishi Kapoor is someone who enjoys his drinks and it is almost customary for him to drink every night. I met him while he was shooting a song on the set of All Is Well, when coincidentally he had not drunk for the last 23 days. He doesn't think it's a big deal either way, though everyone around him does.
He gets offered many roles as the main protagonist, but Rishi Kapoor is a not a man who lives in a false world. He is practical and grounded and knows which film to accept and which not to. He has worked as the younger brother of Amitabh Bachchan in many iconic films, but will be playing Abhishek's father for the first time in All Is Well. Excerpts from a conversation with the bright, forthright, affectionate and charming Rishiji.
You have worked with Amitabh Bachchan in so many films and now you are working with Abhishek in All Is Well. What's the difference?
Abhishek is such a bachcha and such a kid at heart and so genuine. He is a wonderful actor. He is so playful and so lively on the set. Amitji was a reserved kind of actor. He is a reserved man, while Abhishek is a joyful kid. He wouldn't talk much on the set and would always mind his own work. He was always apne kaam se kaam. Abhishek is the exact opposite of his father. I am happy that he is getting his worth right now and is getting the films he is getting and he is enjoying it. He is a hard-working and work-loving actor and that I like very much, as there are very few actors who are passionate. Abhishek ko acting ka shauk hai.
Our job is only about passion, it's a kind of junoon. And he has that about him. So working with him is like revisiting the Bachchan family.
Do they both have anything in common?
The height, the talent. But Abhishek has his own way. Unlike his father, he is not a stylised actor. In fact, I don't think this generation has any stylised actors. They have all become very natural and spontaneous and Abhishek is also one of them.
Who did you enjoy working with more?
I started working with Amitabh Bachchan when he was not the Amitabh Bachchan that he became. So I could say that Amitabh Bachchan was a work in progress in becoming Amitabh Bachchan and we are all part of that foundation.
Were you competing with Mr Bachchan?
The best thing about our relationship was that I was never pitted against him. I was always his younger brother, so there was only love and affection between us. There was never any competition for a girl and we were not partners in crime. We always had a common agenda that we got lost in our childhood and then we met again when we became adults, be it in Naseeb or Amar Akbar Anthony or even in Coolie. Kabhie Kabhie was more a reality check and we played different generations.
Did you find a change in Mr Bachchan from the time he was not the Amitabh Bachchan to when he became the Amitabh Bachchan?
No. Amitabh Bachchan was always very correct, very good and very grounded. Never a wrong moment. Amitabh Bachchan was never crass, he was always class. Always. He was the best class that you can work with and now, so is his son.
Did you and Mr Bachchan ever have a crush on the same actress?
Sorry to say that but we were going to work in a film called Mehrunnisa that was about two old people, who had been best friends, but had not met for 40 years and were fighting for the same girl. I truly have a wish list. I do wish that Sudhir Mishra should someday still make that film.
You recently got a lot of negative comments on your view on the Land Bill. Could you explain your point of view?
I am like I am on twitter. I can't be false. My wife keeps fighting with me all the time as I keep inviting trouble. But I always say the truth. And what the hell yaar, it's a democracy. I am basically a Modi-BJP guy, but this time I agreed with the Congress. I feel the best way to solve the farmer problem is that you take the land, ie, let the government take the land but do what the farmers did in Gurgaon. They said you pay us some money and then you make us partners in whatever you get into, so it becomes likes an annuity for them and they are safeguarded for life. If you just give them the money at one go, they go mad seeing so much money and blow it up in three months and then they don't know what to do for the rest of their lives as they are neither left with money nor land that they can earn from. So what I said was, 'You must ensure and insure them.' They need to be supported for a lifetime so that their lives are not dependent on the rains. So I only said that make the farmer a partner in the zameen in whatever pursuit you want him to do as against giving him the money to blow up.
With Ranbir having moved out with Katrina, are you and Neetuji enjoying each other's company?
Well we are dining out a lot, but we miss Ranbir. About two months from now, the house we live in, Krishna Raj, will be broken and remade over the next two years. During that time, Neetu and me are shifting into a three-storey transit apartment close to where Ranbir lives. After two years, we will all move back with Ranbir to the new Krishna Raj after it's ready.
Who gets Ranbir's share of scolding at home now?
He never got any firing as he never gave any reason for you to do that. As it is whenever Ranbir was at home, he was never meeting me as he was always so busy with himself and his work. So now, when he is not staying with us, I see him more as he now comes and visits us.
Priya Gupta,TNN | Apr 29, 2015, 12.00 AM IST
Rishi Kapoor is someone who enjoys his drinks and it is almost customary for him to drink every night. I met him while he was shooting a song on the set of All Is Well, when coincidentally he had not drunk for the last 23 days. He doesn't think it's a big deal either way, though everyone around him does.
He gets offered many roles as the main protagonist, but Rishi Kapoor is a not a man who lives in a false world. He is practical and grounded and knows which film to accept and which not to. He has worked as the younger brother of Amitabh Bachchan in many iconic films, but will be playing Abhishek's father for the first time in All Is Well. Excerpts from a conversation with the bright, forthright, affectionate and charming Rishiji.
You have worked with Amitabh Bachchan in so many films and now you are working with Abhishek in All Is Well. What's the difference?
Abhishek is such a bachcha and such a kid at heart and so genuine. He is a wonderful actor. He is so playful and so lively on the set. Amitji was a reserved kind of actor. He is a reserved man, while Abhishek is a joyful kid. He wouldn't talk much on the set and would always mind his own work. He was always apne kaam se kaam. Abhishek is the exact opposite of his father. I am happy that he is getting his worth right now and is getting the films he is getting and he is enjoying it. He is a hard-working and work-loving actor and that I like very much, as there are very few actors who are passionate. Abhishek ko acting ka shauk hai.
Our job is only about passion, it's a kind of junoon. And he has that about him. So working with him is like revisiting the Bachchan family.
Do they both have anything in common?
The height, the talent. But Abhishek has his own way. Unlike his father, he is not a stylised actor. In fact, I don't think this generation has any stylised actors. They have all become very natural and spontaneous and Abhishek is also one of them.
Who did you enjoy working with more?
I started working with Amitabh Bachchan when he was not the Amitabh Bachchan that he became. So I could say that Amitabh Bachchan was a work in progress in becoming Amitabh Bachchan and we are all part of that foundation.
Were you competing with Mr Bachchan?
The best thing about our relationship was that I was never pitted against him. I was always his younger brother, so there was only love and affection between us. There was never any competition for a girl and we were not partners in crime. We always had a common agenda that we got lost in our childhood and then we met again when we became adults, be it in Naseeb or Amar Akbar Anthony or even in Coolie. Kabhie Kabhie was more a reality check and we played different generations.
Did you find a change in Mr Bachchan from the time he was not the Amitabh Bachchan to when he became the Amitabh Bachchan?
No. Amitabh Bachchan was always very correct, very good and very grounded. Never a wrong moment. Amitabh Bachchan was never crass, he was always class. Always. He was the best class that you can work with and now, so is his son.
Did you and Mr Bachchan ever have a crush on the same actress?
Sorry to say that but we were going to work in a film called Mehrunnisa that was about two old people, who had been best friends, but had not met for 40 years and were fighting for the same girl. I truly have a wish list. I do wish that Sudhir Mishra should someday still make that film.
You recently got a lot of negative comments on your view on the Land Bill. Could you explain your point of view?
I am like I am on twitter. I can't be false. My wife keeps fighting with me all the time as I keep inviting trouble. But I always say the truth. And what the hell yaar, it's a democracy. I am basically a Modi-BJP guy, but this time I agreed with the Congress. I feel the best way to solve the farmer problem is that you take the land, ie, let the government take the land but do what the farmers did in Gurgaon. They said you pay us some money and then you make us partners in whatever you get into, so it becomes likes an annuity for them and they are safeguarded for life. If you just give them the money at one go, they go mad seeing so much money and blow it up in three months and then they don't know what to do for the rest of their lives as they are neither left with money nor land that they can earn from. So what I said was, 'You must ensure and insure them.' They need to be supported for a lifetime so that their lives are not dependent on the rains. So I only said that make the farmer a partner in the zameen in whatever pursuit you want him to do as against giving him the money to blow up.
With Ranbir having moved out with Katrina, are you and Neetuji enjoying each other's company?
Well we are dining out a lot, but we miss Ranbir. About two months from now, the house we live in, Krishna Raj, will be broken and remade over the next two years. During that time, Neetu and me are shifting into a three-storey transit apartment close to where Ranbir lives. After two years, we will all move back with Ranbir to the new Krishna Raj after it's ready.
Who gets Ranbir's share of scolding at home now?
He never got any firing as he never gave any reason for you to do that. As it is whenever Ranbir was at home, he was never meeting me as he was always so busy with himself and his work. So now, when he is not staying with us, I see him more as he now comes and visits us.
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