Bollywood's celebrated leading man of yesteryears who has carved a niche for himself in today's cinema, Rishi Kapoor is known to be a man who does not mince words. The elusive and enigmatic actor had as much fun fielding CNN-IBN's Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand's questions as he has on sets of films he acts in. On the show Now Showing, Rishi Kapoor talks about his journey as an actor, cinema and about his actor son Ranbir Kapoor and wife Neetu Kapoor.
Rajeev Masand: My guest for today is an actor, who for over 35 years has engaged us with his remarkable performances, working within the parameters of popular Hindi cinema. He's often been described as one of Bollywood's most under-rated actors. But for me, he's always been a favourite, which is why it gives me great pleasure to welcome on the show today, the very reclusive Rishi Kapoor. Chintuji thank you so much for joining us today.
Rishi Kapoor: Yeah, Rajeev, hello. Hello, my friends.
Rajeev Masand: Let me start by telling you that it is such a pleasure to see you working in the movies today, to see you having so much fun on screen today. You know, to see you in these quirky roles, often character roles where you often steal the show even from the leads; it is such a joy really to watch you having so much fun.
Rishi Kapoor: Thank you, Rajeev. I am happy to replay another innings at acting and its giving me great joy to really enjoy something that I really, really love.
Rajeev Masand: Sure. Let's talk about the film 'Luck By Chance', your film with Zoya Akhtar in which you play this oily producer role, Romy Rolly.
Rishi Kapoor: Oily? Oily? (Laughs)
Rajeev Masand: Yeah, he's the kind who knows how to get around.
Rishi Kapoor: Yeah.
Rajeev Masand: Zoya told me something interesting. She said that you knew exactly what you wanted to do with this character. You had a vision for this character. You knew how you wanted him to look. You went out and picked the clothes yourself, the shoes yourself. You were not very happy with the curly hair at first, but you sort of gave in. She said you had modelled it after a person or many people that you knew. So tell us about that.
Rishi Kapoor: Well, firstly, see the role was written very well. Whosoever would have done it would have scored really. Yes, there was a kind of participation from my side. I did paint a picture of some very many people whom I have encountered in these 35-36 years of my working. I have taken facets from here and there and incorporated into this one character, which I think is quite funny.
Rajeev Masand: That's interesting. I saw the DVD and on the bonus features of the DVD, there's the 'Behind The Scenes' where you are telling Zoya, "Zoya, you don't know these people. You don't how these people are." So you really did have a vision for this character, didn't you?
Rishi Kapoor: I had fun playing it.
Rajeev Masand: What was it like working for Zoya, your first female director, wasn't it?
Rishi Kapoor: Yes. Zoya is absolutely committed. She knew exactly what she is making and she knew what she wanted. She got what she wanted. Of course, she troubled me a lot because she'd make me do retakes and I for one hate retakes, because I think then my spontaneity gets affected. But I cannot disappoint her and had to give in to her. But, nonetheless, it is because of her that you talk of me in that role. It is because Zoya made that, so I have to give credit to her.
Rajeev Masand: You have done many films with Amitabh Bachchan and you worked with his son, Abhishek in Delhi 6, recently. Did he remind you of his father?
Rishi Kapoor: Well, Abhishek, for one plays pranks just like his Dad used to do. He reminded me of his father. It was very innocent of Amitji. Amitji at times could be very playful and at times he could get very serious. But Abhishek, for one was always there, very respectful and always loving. Well, we have seen him growing up and he was so much...I was so touched when I gave my first shot with him. I remember when we were travelling from Sambar into Jaipur and it took us an hour or so. It was first day at work with Abhishek and I suddenly had a message. When you are driving and get a message, you wonder who has sent you the message. It was from Abhishek. Abhishek travels with security and he was ahead of me. He had sent me a very good sms saying that you know...I cannot remember exactly what the words were but when he said that he was really, really happy to work with me.
Rajeev Masand: Okay.
Rishi Kapoor: So, its like the next generation, you know. Abhishek is like Ranbir is to me. When I say that Abhishek reminds me of Amitji, well, each kid reminds me of their parents. I have worked with Esha (Deol, the daughter of Dharmendra and Hema Malini) and with Kajal (the daughter of Tanuja), Tusshar (the son of Jeetendra) and with Hrithik (Roshan, the son of Rakesh Roshan), I worked in Luck By Chance with Guddu's son too. All of them were happy experiences.
Rajeev Masand: Sure. Tell me what it was like really doing 'Delhi 6'. Tell me what drew you to this character. It's a small character but an interesting character. He's a guy with a soul. I mean is there a back story to the character?
Rishi Kapoor: Well, there isn't a back story to the character, that was my grouse. I mean whatever was told to me was there. I have not seen the film, so I cannot comment but I tell you what I have been told. I wanted to be a part of this film because I found that it was an ensemble cast film and there was something very earthy about the film. What I didn't like and which I did tell Rakesh was a few things I had in my mind. But I definitely wanted to play this character. I quite enjoyed it. It was not a great big role as such but I wanted to be a part of this scenario.
Rajeev Masand: What I think is really interesting for your fans is that you are in your fifties and you are doing great roles, interesting characters that very few actors of your generation really are getting the opportunity to do. I mean you are embracing them. You have five films lined up for release.
Rishi Kapoor: Yes, I did tell you that. I also have a film titled Chintuji, a small film where I play Rishi Kapoor, I play the brat Rishi Kapoor in the film. It's part reality, part fiction. I play Rishi Kapoor and I amRishi Kapoor but I was not born in the place that the film is supposed to be situated.
Rajeev Masand: Right.
Rishi Kapoor: And the journey of Rishi Kapoor on how he wants to join politics, be a politician for which he is not fit at all. I also have another film also very dear to me called Do Duni Chaar. Now why that film is dear to me is for two reasons. A, because it's I have a great role in the film and b, because it's a film I am making with my wife after what 30 years? Neetu is working in a film after 30 years.
Rajeev Masand: You have always been firmly loyal to popular cinema. You have also been very critical of the art movement in your prime. I think you have been famously quoted for having said that art cinema is a fancy word to describe boring films. My question is where did this shift come? The films that you are doing now are not but they are not your typical mainstream films as well.
Rishi Kapoor: We have progressed. Our audience is more focussed now, there is so much of information, and there is so much of exposure. Just the other day I was talking to this friend of mine. I was seeing this very old Dara Singh - Sheikh Mukhtar type of film, partly in black and white, partly in colour. It was the most horrendous and everything about it was very bad. But when we were kids, we had enjoyed that film. So, you see our exposure was not that good at that point of time. Today's kids demand a slick product. The people who go to malls and multiplexes, obviously people who can pay 150 to 200 rupees per ticket, are educated persons. So he does not want that Sheikh Mukhtar type of black and white film, partly in colour. There's a different sensibilty here.
Rajeev Masand: I want to do a little quiz here. I have just one question. What is the only art film thatRishi Kapoor ever did?
Rishi Kapoor: Are you asking me that question? All my films that did not do well were art films.
Rajeev Masand: Very well said! Chintuji, does Ranbir remind you of yourself when you were younger?
Rishi Kapoor: Hello! How! No, it's too early for me to answer that question. You see, I had Bobby which was a huge success. You see my lift off was gigantic. Then I was in turbulent weather and then I came out of the turbulence. But Ranbir seems to have hit air pockets right at the beginning so he has to chart out his own course!
Rajeev Masand: One thing that everyone says about you is that you have this unmistakable judgment of films as far as films are concerned, of their success or failure.
Rishi Kapoor: No, no! If I had the judgment, none of my films would have worked badly.
Rajeev Masand: You have this judgment if a film is going to work or not.
Rishi Kapoor: Nahin, aisa nahin hai. No way, no way! I think you are misinformed. I am very bad with music. For one, when I heard Daflwaale Daflee baza!, I yelled Yeh kya gaanaa le aye!. I said this is no song. Honest to God, you can ask Subhash Ghai. I did not even like Om Shanti Om! Then of course, after hearing it a couple of times, it was like - this works, this works!
Rajeev Masand: I shall tell you a story, Ranbir actually told me this story. He said that you came to the sets of 'Saawariya', just once. You came to the sets; you saw it and you had all these questions, that baffled him like where is this film set, why are the walls blue, why is there a bridge in the middle of the sets. By the end of it, he had no answers to those questions and you had pretty much like given him a fair idea of what was going to be the fate of this film.
Rishi Kapoor: Well, I have no comments on that. Each one has his own perceptions, his own way of thinking and how he wants to present that. I for one am always indebted to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for giving Ranbir such a launch. It was a dream launch. Neetu and I will always be indebted to him. That's all I can say.
Rajeev Masand: And did you enjoy 'Saawariya'?
Rishi Kapoor: No, I didn't.
Rajeev Masand: And we'll leave it at that, right?
Rishi Kapoor: Well, I think it was a great effort but you know, things went awry, it went wrong. I feel that today's directors are taking cinema too personal. They are all very good workers, they are all making very good films but you know, they are not taking a perspective, a viewpoint or a reaction and are not looking for criticism. I mean they will just hold it close to their heart and just want to show the film on a Wednesday the week the film is releasing, to their loved and dear ones. You see, earlier a film was shown to people to get a reaction. So, people knew, are we headed the right way? But today's directors do not feel that they are making a film, they feel that they are making a bomb. They are like no body should get the equation or the formula from us. It's wrong. I personally have a grudge about today's makers and I am seeing that most of them are like that. They do not want to show their film to get a reaction.
Rajeev Masand: How many days before 'Saawariya' release did you get to see the film?
Rishi Kapoor: Two days in advance! It's okay. You see Saawariya is very dear to me because it is my son's first film. It did not work and I did not like it is a different story. But then I am like what the hell!
Rajeev Masand: Everyone asks Ranbir what is it like working with his girlfriend in Bachna E Hasino. I want to ask you this. What was it like working with Neetuji in Do Duni Chaar after all these years? You know you have been doing it all these years. You are not rusty.
Rishi Kapoor: More than anything else, I for one was nervous if she will be able to face the cameras and she was also nervous because she too had not faced the cameras for 30 years nearly. But then I always know one thing, once one has learnt how to ride a bicycle, one never forgets even if one has not ridden it for a while. So it took Neetu a day or two to adjust to the film. Of course she had a little problem about memorising lines, she could not remember them. But then once you are in it, you are in it!
Rajeev Masand: Yes. I read somewhere that Neetuji is in charge of monitoring your diet and Ranbir's as well.
Rishi Kapoor: Excuse me, do not let this go out of here. It is bad news. I want to lose weight, I want to lose weight, and I want to lose weight.
Rajeev Masand: Do you cheat sometimes?
Rishi Kapoor: I only cheat. No, I will lose weight for a good reason and if that reason 'a' is translated into a good role in a film, I will take it up.
Rajeev Masand: Well, I know you do not sit and chat with Ranbir about acting and you do not talk to him really about work.
Rishi Kapoor: We do not talk about work at all. We do not bring work home.
Rajeev Masand: Sure. But what about how to handle scandals, etc?
Rishi Kapoor: It's a part and parcel of scheme of being an actor. I only look after Ranbir's monetary affairs and I do not do anything else.
Rajeev Masand: Sure.
Rishi Kapoor: I do not know what film he works in, whose film he is working in, which subject he is reading in.
Rajeev Masand: But you know waking up in the morning and reading that Ranbir's girlfriend Deepika is...
Rishi Kapoor: He is young and he should be dating girls. He is dating girls I am told and he is on his own. Why should he not have fun? At his age I was having great fun, he too should have fun.
Rajeev Masand: You just di 'Love Aaj Kal', with Deepika. Was it an interesting experience?
Rishi Kapoor: The film or ...?
Rajeev Masand: Working with her?
Rishi Kapoor: We did not have much of a part to play. But yes, of course, my first scene of the film is with them. I cannot talk much about the film because it is under wraps right now, so I cannot tell you. But yes, I had great fun working on that film.
Rajeev Masand: One trick question. Which of Ranbir's heroines is your favourite?
Rishi Kapoor: How many films has he worked in, ya?
Rajeev Masand: Okay, out of Deepika and Katrina, who do you like more?
Rishi Kapoor: See, I have worked with Katrina alone and she will always be dear to me. I did Namastey London with Katrina. So Katrina is my favourite girl to work with.
Rajeev Masand: Tell me honestly, what did you think of Himesh Reshamiyya's 'Karz' and do not tell me you have not seen it because I know you have seen the film.
Rishi Kapoor: Well, what can I say. I felt that they should have not changed the original if they were making after legally talking the rights for it. I think they should have stuck to the original, made a tracing paper out of the original, you know. The original was good anyway.
Rajeev Masand: Rishi Kapoor is not the diplomatic sort, so come on tell us if you had a good laugh.
Rishi Kapoor: No I did not laugh at it. I do not remember which particular part I did not quite like. The music was pretty good. I liked the music. I had issues about casting of the picture, not of Himesh, though. I had issues about other things.
Rajeev Masand: Okay. Is there a film you saw recently that you wished you were in?
Rishi Kapoor: A Wednesday. I loved both Naseer and Anupam. Both were very good.
Rajeev Masand: Chintuji, you are in that place where you are also the producer and also the father of a leading star. You are hearing the numbers obviously. Tell me, do you think that actors are overpaid?
Rishi Kapoor: Actors are always overpaid. What do you do they do? Just make faces. Why are they paid so much? Acting is the easiest thing to do. I have said it very often. I am not putting it down. Acting is a very noble profession. My family is known only because we are actors. But you see, being paid or overpaid is a very relevant thing. There is no gauge to know if you were paid right. The dictates of the box office can only tell you how good you are or how bad you are or what your worth should be. When I joined the industry this was being discussed then too, it is still being discussed. When I asked for a price which was unheard of those days, there was a big noise.
Rajeev Masand: Apparently you still like to get paid a lot.
Rishi Kapoor: I would like to get paid because of what I do.
Rajeev Masand: Fantastic, that's a lovely thought. Thank you so much for joining us today, talking about your films. We are hoping you will continue entertaining us like you have all this while. We will be constantly tracking your career. Thank you.
Rishi Kapoor: Thank you, Rajeev.
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