Shah Rukh Khan can thank him for Darr
Yash Chopra wanted Kapoor to play the obsessive antagonist in Darr but the actor was in no mood to play a baddie, especially since he had last made Chandni with the director. The filmmaker then offered him Sunny Deol's role. That too was rejected, for Kapoor believed he would be overshadowed by the villain who had the meatier part. Kapoor suggested the name of his Deewana co-star who he thought was "smart and capable". The rest as they say is history
Written in his own voice, this biography of actor Rishi Kapoor begins with the trademark candour people have come to associate with the man. As written by journalist Meena Iyer, the book opens with a description of the fortunes of Kapoor’s father – the legendary Raj Kapoor – at the time of Rishi’s birth, including the woman he was in love with back then: fellow actor Nargis.
from the gawky adolescent pining for his schoolteacher (Mera Naam Joker, 1970) to the naughty ninety-year-old (Kapoor and Sons, 2016), Rishi Kapoor has regaled audiences for close to fifty years. He won a National Award for his debut, became an overnight sensation with his first film as a leading man (Bobby, 1973), and carved a niche for himself with a string of romantic musical blockbusters in an era known for its angst-ridden films. He was the youth icon that is still the toast of the satellite TV circuit. The songs he lip-synced are the bread and butter of all radio stations even today. Then there was the second coming after a brief hiatus in the 1990s – as one of the finest actors in mainstream Hindi cinema with powerhouse performances in films like Do Dooni Chaar, D-Day, Agneepath and others.
Characteristically candid, Rishi Kapoor brings Punjabi brio to the writing of Khullam Khulla. This is as up close and personal a biography as any fan could have hoped for. He writes about growing up in the shadow of a legendary father, skipping school to act in Mera Naam Joker, the workings of the musical hits of the era, his streak of rotten luck with awards, an encounter with Dawood Ibrahim, his heroines (their working relationship, the gossip and the frisson that was sometimes real), his approach to his craft, his tryst with clinical depression, and more. A heart-warming afterword by Neetu Singh rounds off the warmest, most dil se biography an Indian star has ever penned.
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