All those meeting actor Rishi Kapoor are often warned of his temperament. So were we when we arrived at a suburban hotel in Mumbai to speak with the actor about his autobiography Khullam Khulla : Rishi Kapoor Uncensored (HarperCollins). Sending his team ahead to check the interview setup, the 64-year-old actor walks into the room amidst an awkward silence and demands the air conditioner to be turned up. “An actor must look good, doesn’t matter the AC noise,” he declares in the typical Kapoor flamboyance. As the temperature lowers, so do his inhibitions. The actor maybe mercurial, but he is well aware of it. “I am a difficult person to work with”, he says “but the end results are always good”.
Being the self-aware and candid person that he is, Kapoor decides to officially open up in his as-told-to style autobiography with journalist Meena Iyer. From entering the industry as the son of superstar Raj Kapoor, being typecast as Bollywood’s lover boy, struggling with failure and depression, meeting Dawood Ibrahim, surviving cold wars with wife Neetu Kapoor to his second innings in the Hindi film industry, the veteran actor recounts in his book his over four decade long journey, as an actor and more so as a person.
How forthright have you been in your telling?
This is no exercise in trying to be egoist and have something written about me. When I was approached by several publishing houses I realised it was important for an artist who had a journey from the age of two to today, that journey should be documented, road-mapped for people to follow my follies, my achievements, my failures, successes. I never had any kind of a scandalous or controversial life. When people say that Rishi Kapoor was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, I wouldn’t deny it. Of course I was. When I got a break with Bobby , which was made by my father, yes I was I got that, but then after that what? When my films started failing I was on my own. I had to swim against the current. I had to swim in the choppy waters and [that was the] action era period, that angry young man. It was only action that was surviving. I have survived onslaught of cyclones like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, all those action heroes. And I was the only musical hero at the time, and very difficult to survive at the time when audiences only wanted to see action. My life hasn’t been that trajectory where it started at a point and has been going on. Every since I was two years, I’ve been in the limelight. I did a cameo appearance in my father’s film Shree 420 (1955), and I was throwing star tantrums even then. I couldn’t keep my eyes open because of the rain and I used to cry. So the only way they got me to do the shot was Nargisji bribing me with a chocolate bar to keep my eyes open and complete the shot.
What kept you going through the action era?
My determination, my forthrightness, and my sincerity to do whatever I was doing. By God’s grace I came up when I went down. Of course there were failures also, but that was an era which was completely an action era, and was a time when a lot of young boys and newcomers didn’t survive. Maybe it was luck. But due to my sincerity and determination, I kept going.
Do you still throw tantrums as the two-year-old you did on the sets of Shree 420 ?
No, but you got to bully these guys out of love. Not that I’m very easy to work with. I’ve said it in my book that I’m difficult and not very easy to work with but the end result is very satisfying.
Has your criteria for selection of roles changed over the years?
Of course, I have to do something that is suitable for my age. I’m fed up playing fathers. How much can you vary playing fathers? There are one-two of those that I’m doing which is very interesting, but I would like to do characters as I did in Do Dooni Chaar (2010), Agneepath (2012), Kapoor and Sons (2016), Patiala House (2010), Luck ByChance (2009). I’ve never got these kinds of characters in my heroic days, so to say. I’m very happy in my second innings to have played this varied amount of roles and I’m quite enjoying it.
Do you still have the fear of being typecast, perhaps in the role of a father today?
At this age, you don’t have typecast. You only are typecast when you are young. I could do only romantic films, I could not do action, and action guys couldn’t do romantic.
Did you play it safe with your autobiography after facing backlash on Twitter for being outspoken?
Why should I? I’m not scared of [any] backlash. I actually jump into the eye of the storm. Just last night I climbed on Amazon, but I had to remove. They had an Indian flag as a foot rug. I then said, ‘forget it’, I just end up creating a storm. But yes, I take the bull by its horns. People who follow me on Twitter know what I’m all about. My fan following – whatever I have – has been largely very supportive. They have always backed me.
You also wrote about your experience with clinical depression.
It’s a psychological disorder I went through. I was just married and lost my popularity.
Do you see more acceptance and understanding towards actors opening up about depression today?
There was no media as such then. There was not much help. You cope up with yourself, you learn by your mistakes.
So how did you pull through?
I just did. I had to.
You mention that you had differences with Shakun Bhatra while filming Kapoor and Sons …
I’m a malleable actor. In my head I was very clear about the content. My only concern was that being a spontaneous actor I cannot keep repeating my performances. I’m not a method actor; I’m a spontaneous actor so I just had a problem with the execution part. He used to film one scene from every angle. Repeating emotions from every angle is very difficult. I had make-up done six hours before the shoot so I’m stuck in that, and then doing the scene again and again tired me, and made me irritable. But today I am winning awards for the film so I am thankful to Shakun Bhatra.
So is this a problem with adapting to the digital age?
Yes, I would think so. There are certain pros and cons of shooting again. They have a choice of edit and choosing shots. There are many advantages to this technology and you have to flow with age. Maybe I was new to it but let’s not forget I was masked in that makeup which took me five to six hours in that sweat. It’s only my passion that made me last.
You started off known as Raj Kapoor’s son, what’s your reaction to be referred to as Ranbir Kapoor’s father today?
I’m very proud of it. It’s on my Twitter bio, son of a famous father, father of a famous son.
You wrote that you regretted doing Besharam (2013). But would you want to work with your wife Neetu Kapoor and son Ranbir Kapoor again?
Of course I would. It’s not that I regretted, I said that it was a film that didn’t work with me. I guess if Ranbir wasn’t there and there was another hero in it, it would’ve been a successful film. But he created such a position for himself that the audience wanted him to be something off the curve and different.
Looking back at your life, what’s your biggest regret?
There are no regrets for the simple fact that I always got what I wanted, and I did justice to it.
And the best advice you’ve received?
B.R. Chopra told me that acting is all about effort to show effortlessness. Acting is such a thing that it should be easy and spontaneous, which I have been.
