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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/11-khullam-khulla-confessions-by-rishi-kapoor/articleshow/57064974.cms
11 khullam khulla confessions by Rishi KapoorBy - TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Updated: Apr 30, 2020, 15:31 IST
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HIGHLIGHTS
* Title: Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored
* Author: Rishi Kapoor with Meena Iyer
* Publisher: HarperCollins
* Pages: 280 pages
* Price: 599 INRVeteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor passed away on April 30 in a hospital in Mumbai. The actor had a long battle with cancer, for which he had undergone treatment for close to a year in New York in 2018. The legendary actor was full of life and was even shooting for his next film earlier this year, before he fell sick again. Reports suggest that the actor had a cancer relapse.
Rishi Kapoor had penned his first book, which was his memoir titled 'Khullam Khulla' in 2017. The memoir is written the Rishi Kapoor way --brutally honest and totally frank. The 70s romantic hero does not mince words whether it is about his Dad's affairs, his own temptations, crushes on Bollywood actresses, his own quirks that wife Neetu has to put up with, or why his relationship with son Ranbir is not quite how it should be!
In honour of the legendary actor, here are some Khullam Khulla facts by Rishi Kapoor, taken from his memoir:
1. On his father, Raj Kapoor's, extra-marital affairs
Rishi Kapoor honestly admits that Raj Kapoor was involved with other women even while he was married to Krishna Raj Kapoor. Talking about Raj Kapoor's affairs Rishi shares, "I was very young when my father had an affair with Nargis ji, and so was not affected by it. I don’t remember feeling anything was amiss at home either. But I do remember moving into the Natraj Hotel on Marine Drive with my mom during the time Papa was involved with Vyjayanthimala. My mother had decided to put her foot down this time. From the hotel, we shifted for two months into an apartment in Chitrakoot. My father had bought the apartment for Mom and us. He did all he could to woo her back, but my mother wouldn’t give in until he had ended that chapter of his life."
2. On being madly in love, but not with Neetu!
Rishi Kapoor writes in his memoir that his first steady and serious girlfriend was a Parsi girl, Yasmin Mehta, whom he dated much before Bobby was out. "By the time Bobby was released in 1973, Stardust, which was the most popular magazine of its time, published a story about a budding romance between Dimple and me. Dimple, who by this time was already married to Rajesh Khanna, was not greatly affected by it. But it put an end to my relationship with Yasmin, I tried hard to get her back in my life, but she did not agree" says Rishi.
3. Why Rajesh Khanna threw away Rishi's ring
"Yasmin (Yasmin Mehta, Rishi Kapoor's first girlfriend) had presented me with a ring when we were dating, a simple one with a peace sign on it. When we were filming Bobby, Dimple would pull it off and wear it on her finger. She ended up keeping it. When Rajesh Khanna proposed to her, he saw the ring and flung it into the sea near her house in Juhu. Inevitably the headlines blazed: ‘Rajesh Khanna throws Rishi Kapoor’s ring into the sea’. The truth is that I was never in love with Dimple or even infatuated with her," says Rishi Kapoor.
4. Rishi has a bone to pick with Amitabh Bachchan
In his memoir Rishi Kapoor says that during his era, roles were specifically written for Amitabh Bachchan and he was credited for the success of all his films, despite
the fact that the secondary characters were also superb actors in their own rights. Putting across his point, Rishi writes, "To go back to Amitabh, I must confess here 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. And it wasn’t just me. Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna faced it too". He further added saying, "Although we may have been smaller stars, we were not lesser actors. But this is something that Amitabh has never ever admitted to, in any interview or book. He has never given due credit to the actors who have worked with him."
5. When he wore women’s pants
In the 80s and 90s the stars worked upon their character on their own-- be it deciding the costume, the make-up or figuring out an iconic dance step. During one such shoot, Rishi Kapoor confesses that he once ended up wearing women's trouser for the shoot! "Today, I admit that my second film Zehreela Insaan was a mistake. After the bubbly Bobby, I should have stuck to something similar and not gone for a film so drastically different... The one enduring memory of the Zehreela Insaan shoot was the black trouser I had bought from Beirut. I was in the habit of shopping for my costumes and this tight-fitting beauty with flares caught my fancy. It was only later, when I wore it in the song ‘O hansini’, that the dress man pointed out that its zip was to the side and not in front. I had made a fashion boo-boo, picking up a ladies’ trouser," he writes.
6. In depression, he blamed Neetu for his failures
Every actor has to go through his share of ups and downs in his career, so did Rishi. In his memoir, the veteran actor says that with his first film Bobby being a superhit, his expectations from his other films were quite high but they all bombed at the box-office. By this time he was married to Neetu, not only had he began suffering from depression for his failures but ended up blaming Neetu for them, thus straining their relationship. “Neetu was pregnant with Riddhima and had to endure my breakdown in that fragile condition. I finally came through it with the help of supportive colleagues, family and friends, but I can only imagine how agonizing the experience must have been for her,” he says.
7. Rishi almost refused a movie because Neetu's role was more prominent
While Rishi Kapoor's film Kabhi Kabhi was a huge hit, the veteran actor says that he had almost rejected the film as his wife Neetu had a more prominent role in the movie. “I’ve mentioned earlier that I was reluctant to do Kabhi Kabhie in the beginning because I had been warned against working with Amitabh Bachchan. The second reason was that I felt Neetu had a more prominent role than I did. That’s why I had said to Yash Chopra, if you want me to do the film, give me Neetu’s role. Naturally, Yash-ji was confused," Rishi shares. But he later agreed to work in the film only after his uncle Shashi Kapoor intervened.
8. Rishi personally never liked his songs
Rishi Kapoor is known not only for his acting but for his numerous hit songs too. But the actor, who has given us memorable songs like 'Khullam khulla pyar karenge',
'Dafli wale' and others confessed that he never liked his songs! "I must admit that I was often hopelessly wrong in my initial reactions to some of these chartbusters. I remember Boney Kapoor coming to meet me, brimming with excitement, with a recording of ‘Om shanti om’ in Karz. I gave Boney an earful, saying what a lousy number it was and wondering how Laxmikant–Pyarelal could come up with such a number for me.”
9. When Neetu felt threatened by Dimple
When Rishi and Dimple debuted in Bobby, there were rumours of the two dating but Dimple soon got married to actor Rajesh Khanna. 10 years later Dimple made a comback in Saagar along with Rishi, which made his wife Neetu quite insecure in their marriage. Talking about this Rishi wrote, "Many years into our marriage, Neetu confided in me that the only time she had felt threatened was when I worked with Dimple in Saagar. But she needn’t have worried. Dimple was a friend, even if she may have been a little more than that during Bobby. Ten years had gone by; she was coming out of a marriage with two children of her own and I was also well settled with two kids."
10. On being a male chauvinist
Citing Neetu's early retirement from films, right after her marriage to Rishi, the actor says that probably it was also done to boost his male-ego as he was a chauvinist then. Admitting it he writes, "It was, as I have said often, her decision to wind up her career after marriage. I can say with a clear conscience that I did not force it upon her. We did agree before we got married that once we had children, one of us would be the earning partner and the other would be the nurturing parent. But to be honest, I didn’t try to convince her to keep working either. There was a chauvinist in me that didn’t want his wife to go out to work. I wanted Neetu to finish all her commitments before we got married. All I can say in my defence is that my views have changed since then."
11. Rishi admits to buying a film award!
Talking about the cold war between Amitabh Bachchan and him during the filming of their movie Kabhi Kabhie, Rishi says that maybe it was because he had won an award which Amitabh wanted. Elaborating it, Rishi writes, "I think that Amitabh was sulking because I had won the best actor award for Bobby. I am sure he felt the award was rightfully his for Zanjeer, which released the same year. I am ashamed to say it, but I actually ‘bought’ that award. I was so naïve. There was this PRO, Taraknath Gandhi, who said to me, ‘Sir, tees hazaar de do, toh aap ko main award dila doonga.’ I am not the manipulative sort but I admit that I gave him the money without thinking.”
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