Rishi Kapoor : Mein ab bachcha nahin hoon!
First part of Mera Naam Joker was heavily dependent on the acting skills of a young boy Rishi Kapoor, who had made his debut with this film.
There is a scene in MNJ and any teenager actor has yet to supersede or even match the performance given by Rishi Kapoor in that particular scene.
Raju, a young boy is confessing before the statue of Jesus in a church and his teacher, a young lady, who has just entered her 20s, comes there and asks him what he is doing there?
Raju says,” Mein Sir ke saamne confess kar raha tha. Meine paap kiya hai”.
He turns to go out as he wants to avoid looking at his teacher.
She says endearingly,” par bachche paap nahin karte”.
Raju turns his face to reply her. His face is radiating the anger, his eyes are shining with the rage and angrily he roars,” Mein ab bachcha nahin hoon”.
An actor achieves heights in some moments while performing in a role. These are the moments when actor has been lost somewhere inside the performance and this particular small scene was/is the best scene ever delivered by Rishi Kapoor.
Maybe this was not done deliberately by Rishi Kapoor and such great things just happen when actor is vulnerable and he is ready to surrender without any hitch and reservation to the situations of the scene. The kind of truthfulness which is present in this scene is seen only in the great performances. No doubt a master director was guiding him through these moments but ultimately it’s the understanding of the actor which helps him going deeper into the character and bringing out a deeply moving performance.
Truthful emotions exist in the eyes of Rishi Kapoor while performing the scene. That particular scene is the career defining scene for Rishi Kapoor. He also has to match the purity and quality of that scene again some day in some other film.
Indian cinema used to exist before Rishi Kapoor was even born and thousands of films have been made after he made his debut in 1970 but no other teenager actor has been able to surpass what Rishi Kapoor had achieved in his debut film Mera Naam Joker. Have not seen the film for which Kamal Hassan (as a child actor) was given National award but having seen MNJ, it seems that he also might not have been able to overpower Rishi Kapoor’s performance in MNJ. Without seeing Kamal Hassan’s performance it seems a cynical attitude but seeing the purity in the performance of teenager Rishi Kapoor in MNJ, it does not look too odd a conclusion either.
Both, Kamal Hassan and Rishi Kapoor have been wonderful actors in their own leagues and once they worked together in Ramesh Sippy’s Saagar.
Kamal Hassan, one of the great actors of Indian cinema, said following about Rishi Kapoor.
“I enjoyed working with Rishi Kapoor in Ramesh Sippy’s Sagar. I don’t know whether Mr. Kapoor felt equally good about me. And why just Mr. Kapoor I was the director Mr. Ramesh Sippy’s blue-eyed boy as well. But the way Rishi Kapoor and I shared the screen was amazing. He would simply stand back and let me do my scenes.
Rishi Kapoor isn’t an insecure actor. And I wanted to behave the same way when I had the chance to work with another actor who was my junior. I hope I lived up to my pledge.”
Kamal Hasaan had got a role in Saagar where he was supposed to get all the sympathies of the audiences. He had variety of emotions in his scenes. His character had clearly visible shades of heroism.
Rishi Kapoor’s role was again the role of a lover boy but a true actor does not bother about the length and weight of other actor’s role and he simply tries to give his best to his own character. Rishi Kapoor does that in Saagar. He makes it an honest portrayal of a lover of Dimple Kapadia on the screen.
Whether it was the scene where first time he gets to see Dimple at Sea Shore or the scene where Kamal Hasan and Dimple try to make him a fool by making him realize that actually Dimple loves Kamal and Rishi Kapoor has actually intruded between the two lovers, Rishi Kapoor gave perfectly balanced expressions, reactions and therefore a high quality performance.
Love for his lover oozes out of his eyes and he has been doing this honest display of appropriate emotions in almost all his films wherever he has played a lover.
Raj-Dev-Dilip brought authenticity in the portrayal of a lover man. If they loved a woman on screen then it looked so real. Rajesh Khanna carried this romance ahead and added his own charming manners to it. But still they were representatives of matured men/lovers.
Mera Naam Joker had introduced a very fine and promising actor to the hindi cinema. Just after three years of MNJ, Rishi Kapoor established another milestone. Bobby introduced an original lover boy of hindi cinema and emergence of Rishi Kapoor on the horizon of Hindi cinema brought an authentic youthfulness to the hindi cinema. All of a sudden hindi cinema became very young. Rishi Kapoor genuinely represented the college going youth and young characters in their 20s in the films of 70s.
Many debuts have been made by star sons and daughters and few of such films might have gained more success on B.O. than Bobby had gained upon its release in 1973 and few of the actors might have become bigger stars than Rishi Kapoor but no one could beat the genuine freshness which Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia had brought to the hindi cinema via this film. Bobby has been an inspiration for all the debut films of star sons and daughters who have been launched through love stories.
That lover boy has completed almost 40 years in the film business. Some 26 years ago, in his debut film (Masoom) as a director, Shekhar Kapur had given a very befitting tribute to the actor Rishi Kapoor.
Little girl is watching the TV, where Rishi Kapoor is dancing on the song, Om shanti om.
A jealous Urmila Martondkar, who is forced to do home work, complains to her mom (Shabana Azami) about the noise which is breaking her concentration.
Shabana goes and shuts off the TV and little girl screams,” Mummy, Chintu ka gana aa raha hai”.
Shabana,” Haan Chintu to tera mama lagta hai na”.
Little girl,” Haan”.
Naseer enters the home and little girl complains to him,” Papa, mummy ne mujhe Chintu ka gana nahin dekhne diya”.
In addition to Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor Aka Chintu was also the actor or hero of the kids and young population during the period of 1973 onwards till 1985.
Initial ten years of Rishi Kapoor in the films were quite fertile and productive. Over next 10 years he occasionally got few good roles in films like Prem Rog, Ek Chadar Maili Si, Tawaif, Heena, Chandni and Khoj.
Inspite of his good performance in Heena and Chandni etc in late 80s, it had also become clear that time had come for him to say good bye to the roles of a young lover. But film market did not provide him the suitable roles which could match with his age. In next ten years he looked misfit because his age and physical appearance were not suitable for the roles of a young lover but filmmakers were still casting him in such roles only.
Every actor has a certain age segment where he shines more. Rishi Kapoor was at his best while it comes to represent the college going youth and he was very good in portraying the lover representing the age group of bit older generation like what he did in Prem Rog, ECMS etc. But as a matured man he could not match with the league of Raj-Dev-Dilip, Ashok Kumar etc. Barring few exceptions good films were not made in 80s and 90s and that is also a very important factor because if he was offered suitable roles of a matured man then he could have moulded his acting range according to the demand of the roles.
In late 80s, Vijay Sadannah had directed a film Janam Janam, which was a remake of Bimal Roy’s Madhumati. Rishi Kapoor could not live up to the standard of the acting established by Dilip Kumar in the Madhumati but it is also true that Janam Janam could not match the Madhumati in any department.
Amrish Puri could not match the magic of Pran Saab. Actress Vinita Goel looked least effective in comparison to Vajayanti Mala. Danny Denzogpa was not as effective in J-J as Jayant was in Madhumati.
It is quite interesting to observe that just after Bobby Rishi Kapoor had appeared in Zahreela Insaan. Film could have been better but Rishi’s efforts and hard work and understanding of his character etc were quite visible in his portrayal.
It seems that film had not got success at BO otherwise he could have got more such films and he could have gone on a path where an actor tries to do variety of roles.
Rishi Kapoor was left to do romantic and social theme based films only. He, being a thoroughly competent actor, brought variety in his portrayals in these romantic and social films and did not look stale till late 80s when his physical appearance created some difficulty for audiences to accept him in the films, where he was shown dancing with much younger heroines. His acting still was competent in these films but there are stages in the career of an actor when in spite of giving very good performances his contribution is not given much importance because he has done all these things many a times in the past and now it is expected from him that he would jump outside of this circle and would do something different.
Physicality of few actors produces hindrance before their growth as they are not given variety of roles. Sachin was the victim of this trend.
If an actor continues playing same roles what he used to play in his 20s then in spite of his good performances audiences start neglecting his presence in the film because he is doing nothing new and in appearances also he is not looking suitable for the kind of roles he is doing. It happens with almost all the actors of Hindi cinema and it happened with Rishi Kapoor also.
It seems that he was not as selective as Aamir Khan is. Aamir Khan as a lover boy of early 90s could have gone the way paved by Rishi Kapoor but Sarfarosh changed the ways for him. His experience of Raakh might have helped him a lot in selecting different paths than what audience and producer, director and distributors were imposing upon him. Perhaps Rishi kapopor also should have done the same but somehow he did not spread his wings too far.
Later after mid 90s he disappeared from the silver screen for few years and during that phase he directed his debut film Aa ab laut chalein which was an average film.
Hum Tum, Fanaa etc brought him back into the acting business. Luck by chance, Delhi 6 and Love Aaj Kal established him properly as a character actor and Chintu Ji has presented him as a serious competitor to any other veteran actor active in the acting profession in India in present times.
Now he has entered in to a matured phase of his career and Luck by chance, Delhi 6, LAK, Hum Tum etc suggest that now when he is also playing character roles, he will be able to give a stiff competition to AB, VK, Dharam etc.
He successfully established his own brand name “Rishi kapoor” in the era of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharamendr, Vinod Khanna, Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Shashi Kapoor and continued to remain consistent when Anil Kapoor, Jacky Shroff etc became stars and Naseer and Om Puri became stars of parallel cinema.
Prem Rog had given him another dimension but time after mid 80s could not produce any director in hindi cinema which could trap this new developed acting range of Rishi Kapoor. Ek Chadar Maili si andTawaif are two films among few exceptions.
He is son of a great actor Raj Kapoor and grandson of Prithvi Raj Kapoor. His uncles Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor were popular actors in their eras. His elder brother Randhir Kapoor had joined the films before Rishi Kapoor made his debut in MNJ but Rishi Kapoor’s acting does not give any clue that anywhere his acting has been influenced by any of the actor of Kapoor family who joined the acting profession before him. He has been a complete natural actor. His range is his own. Merits and shortcomings of his acting are his own.
Ashok Kumar, Motilal, Raj-Dev-Dilip influenced good actors who joined hindi films after them but Rishi Kapoor does not represent any of the category left by these legends. He knew the basics of acting and followed his natural instincts in his 40 years long acting career.
Dev Anand perfected the art of presenting the songs on screen but in spite of all his charming ways and great talent he lacked in one thing and that was his incapability or less capability to dance. Rishi Kapoor brought the dancing skills also to the presentation of song and dance sequences on screen in hindi films.
One may select any song from his romantic films of 70s and early 80s and he is a perfect performer in those songs and dance sequences.
Often he played a second fiddle to the woman lead in the films like Prem Rog but there also he filled the screen with his full devotion and conviction.
He was not only a good male lead in a romantic film opposite very young Neetu Singh and Tina Munim but he very effectively played a romantic lover to the characters played by actresses like Rakhi, Reena Roy, Moushumi Chaterjee, Jaya Prada etc who looked bit older than him on screen.
Doosra Admi represents this range of Rishi Kapoor. He looks equally at ease with both Neetu Singh and Rakhi.
He was able to do romance on screen and it did not matter who was the leading lady opposite him. That is a sign of a very capable actor.
Like his ease with all the heroines he worked with he very effectively lip synched the songs sang by the likes of Shailendra Singh, Kishore Kumar, Mohamad Rafi, Amit Kumar, Suresh Wadekar, Mahendra Kapoor etc. He made their songs of his own.
His screen presence in the films of 70s used to effuse energy and it can be felt in the Kabhi Kabhi very well.
His appearance, whenever it happens in the film, charges the audience also. He is the epitome of youthfulness there.
Similar thing he does in Amar Akbar Anthony also. He was a perfect Akbar there.
Vulnerability in his looks made it possible to make him like a kid brother to Amitabh Bachchan in Naseeb.
Deedar-e-yaar, a muslim social did not work on BO but Rishi Kapoor played his role very well.
Sargam showed that he was not only good in portraying the urbane young characters only and he was capable to play a less educated singer also who came from a rural background. He looked an authentic Dafli player. Perhaps this is in his gene as whatever Musical Instrument Raj Kapoor held in his hands on screen it looked as if he had been playing it for many years. Same talent has been shown by Rishi Kapoor in many films.
What Shammi Kapoor could not do in Laila Majnu in 50s and Sanjeev Kumar could not do in Love and God, Rishi Kapoor did in Laila Majnu in late 70s. In his long acting career he has given us many good Romantic, romantic comedies and social films.
One can pick up any film of Rishi Kapoor he did in 70s and early 80s and he will be greatly satisfied with the quality of those films displaying youthfulness on screen.
Somehow he could not used later years of his 30s and years of 40s and early years of 50s in a fruitful way as far as acting area is concerned but now he has reached a phase where he can again utilize his superb acting talent in a very fruitful manner and he has already started it with Delhi 6, Luck By Chance, Love Aaj Kal and Chintu Ji.
Since he has never been a super star and he has been silently working in his kind of films a true evaluation of his contribution to the Hindi cinema may take sometime but it will be difficult to neglect his contribution. Rishi Kapoor has become an important part of the history of Hindi cinema.
Picture abhee bhee chal rahee hai.
A great phase of his acting career is going to come before us. Now he can do a variety of roles.
Tags: Aa Ab laut chalein, aamir khan, Amitabh Bachchan, amrish puri, anil kapoor, Ashok Kumar, BOBBY, Chandni, Chintu Ji, Dev Anand, Dhamendra, Dilip Kumar, Dimple Kapadia, Heena, Jacky Shroff, Janam Janam, Jaya Prada, Kabhi Kabhi, Kamal Hassan, Khoj, Kishore Kumar, Love Aaj Kal, Luck By Chance, Madhumati, Masoom, Mera Naam Joker, Mohammad Rafi, Moushumi Chaterjee, Naseeb, Neetu Singh, Pran, Prem Rog, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, randhir kapoor, Reena Roy, Rishi Kapoor, Saagar, Sargam, Shailendra Singh, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, shatrughan sinha, shekhar kapur, Simi Grewal, Suresh wadekar, Tawaif, tina munim, Urmila Martondkar, vinod khanna, Zahreela Insaan
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Nostalgia… Chuk Chuk Chak Chak Bombay se baroda tak… it’s been years since the last I heard this song.
From Gurudev, I remember another song… Jaipur say nikli gaadi dilli challe halle halle. didin tinak din didin tinak din. Gori ka something something…
by any chance remember tu tu tuuu tu tu tara .. todo na dil hamara??? .. wow reminds me … the song from where this song was copied was ranked the #1 song in the world in a BBC poll … a AB govinda on top 10 and rakamma being #1 song forced me to believe that the participants were more or less indians, majorly south indians (not to take anything away from these respective winners)….
Yeah Rishi Kapoor Juhi Chawla. David Dhawan at his peak. Kader Khan can’t see at night.
Tu tu tu tutu tara
todo na dil hamara
sachchi kahani tum ko sunaye blah blah
kardo humein maaf tuummmm
Tu tu tu tutu tara
yeah … kader khan cannot see… shucks had forgotten that as well … thats the one where he cannot see beyong 6 o clock… and in the end cant hear after 6 … Dhawan madness started right then … now every character is like that in his movies..
Rishi Kapoor had a double role in Bol Radha Bol ( hero and villain ) and the main villain was Alok Nath if I’m not wrong,that year Rishi gave back to back hits in Bol Radha Bol & Deewana.
Deewana had sweater uncle singing
” Payaliya ho ho ho ” ( Kumar Sanu at his nasal best )
I prefer Sochenge tumhe pyaar, karein ki nahi.
Nasal or not Nasal, Those Kumar Sanu Songs were real good. Ek Ladki ko dekha, Songs from Phir teri kahani yaad aayee, Do Dil from Pardes, Tum Mile from Criminal. These are some amazing songs, who cares if he sang from the nose or somewhere else.
Anybody who has got sense of hindi film music through the high quality singing of Lata, Asha, Geeta Dutt, Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Suraiya, Mukesh, etc will definetely mind the singing of other singers if they are giving their voices to the playback singing in hindi films.
A music lover would not mind listening any kind of tone if a singer is singing folk songs (not as a playback singer but as a singer) and his/her singing is able to present the spirit of the song. A special and specific type of singing standard is not expected from folk singers and variety with a personal touch is the element there.
But abovementioned names have corrupted the music lovers and so they care who is singing in which way.
Leave alone Kumar Sanu, Amit Kumar will never be given same respectful place which people had given to his father because son could never match the singing of his father.
There can be few good songs sang by almost every singer when s/he has sung 100s of songs but overall evaluation will tell that even their best of the songs can not be listened again and again because of their “voice and singing quality”.
While best songs of singers mentioned in first paragraph have become immortal.
Fark to padta hai bhai
“even their best songs can not be listened again and again because of their voice and singing quality”
Can’t it be because of poor lyrics and music as well?
KL Sehgal is also considered to be a legendary singer but how many people appreciate him? Also is this just a coincidence that great singers were there in the past only and none of the singers of past decade or currently working are like that? This may be just another case of sticking with the old things.
Someone who has always listened to Panchamda may not give Rehman the same high position (including me) but those who like him at present will consider him the greatest musician in coming years if not now.
Surely it may happen.
If one is getting introduced to a filmi song through the audio, Hindi film music is dependent on few factors- composition, orchestra, lyrics and singing.
and if first time song is coming across through the film then picturisation also affects the impact which a song can make on an audience.
If tune is not good, lyrics are not appealing then singer’s voice alone can not do much. All great singers of hindi film music have given very ordinary songs also because of these things.
But a good singer has always given an outstanding song if s/he has been supported by a good tune and good lyrics. It can be a rare case that a good singer has ruined a song inspite of availability of these good things.
But to appreciate KLS, one has to approach his songs and they will not come in readymade package to a new age listener. A new age listener has been conditioned by the contemporary music market to care mostly about the beat.
Mallika Pukhraj will not come to new age listener, he will have to go to her singing and there is a probability that if he has earned some musical sense then Abhi to main jawan hoon’s sweetness may carry him deeper into the world of Mallika Pukhraj.
Then in the Pancham’s world also things will remain subjective depending on the mood of the listener. If he can go towards Sili Hawa Choo gayee, Jaane Kya baat hai etc then some new musical areas will be opened to him and he can go towards Jaidev, SDB etc.
If he is only listening most popular songs of Pancham then he may not enter into the building where a rich heritage is present.
Whoever trained a listener in listening good songs, this training does not stop one recognizing and appreciating good songs composed by other musicians and sung by other singers.
So it does not matter in reality what position Rahman’s present age lovers give to him or Pancham lovers give to him, if that love is making them a closed admirer then both Pancham and Rahman, as creators of music have been failed misreably. Their music could not train their admirers properly. Good training will provoke an audience to go for any good song composed by anyone because now he has got a better musical sense.
These MDs work like an academic institution.
With too much intrusion of technology in the music, old scenario of music has been finished.
Now music composers have made it possible that a singer sings Mukhda today and antra next week. and in some cases a singer is not required to follow the rehearse the song. Audience may not know the difference because they will listen the final mixed version but this is going to affect the singing quality of the singers.
Like fast track Cricket competition among MDs is within the definition of getting success anyhow. It can get success because of a foot tapping beat also.
Now few of the new age MDs may ridicule a Naushad after knowing that man had spent several nights in a graveyard to create a proper tune for Dharti ko Akash Pukare in Mela.
Back then highly talented music directors were in the field. They were there because they were made to pursue the music. After getting success also they did not change their profession. They did not start a different business. Day in day out they were devoted to music only.
and filmmakers too of that time knew the music very well.
Very good lyricist were in the film industry.
Then there is a collective atmosphere also that matters a lot.
Now an entire generation of singers has either died or singers have become too old.
Music, (be it classical, sufi, gazal, or filmi) has to face this phase where not very great talents are in the arena.
Competition is of different type now.
@Jahanpanah,
see the two versions of same song.
(1) Kumar Sanu Version
(2) original Kishore Kumar version
…
Same visuals. same song. same lyrics but different voices of two singers.
Decide yourself who is the murderer here
Kumar Sanu was accused of copying Kishoreda. He even used to improvise the songs singing He he he la la la etc. like KK. So of course I dont expect him to be at par with Kishoreda but I think there were singers e.g. Suresh Wadekar, who could have lived up to the expectations after the era of those great singers.
Suresh Wadekar is a different case. He gave us good songs but he was not given many songs by MDs who joined the hindi film, industry in 80s and 90s.
Good MDs always used Suresh Wadekar.
Most of the good songs of last 25-26 years and which have got long life are sung by Suresh Wadekar.
But MDs who controlled music of majority of commercial big budget films after mid 80s did not use his voice. A Singer is helpless if MDs don’t use him.
His case is an example that MDs of 80s and 90s did not want better quality of singing in their songs and they were happy using less talented singers and their ineferior quality singing.
Environment after mid 80s needs a study.
Is long life alone indication of good song? Songs of Aashiqui, PTKYA and other Kumar Sanu Nadeem-Sravan combos can be heard still. People do listen them.
True about Suresh Wadekar not used properly but I wonder why this happened that MDs settled for low quality singers. Didn’t they want their songs to be well composed?
Those who were getting musical awareness through Ashiqui, Saajan, Phhool aur Kante etc might feel a nostalgic relation. There is no dispute there.
and there are other factors also. Few hit films like Dil hai ki manta nahin also may pronlong the age of its songs.
…
Not many artists can be equally good in management and manipulations and not all of them can knock every music director’s door to get the work.
Things worked differently after mid 80s. Emergence and strong hold of few new music companies in that period have to be studied to know many things.
It is quite possible that if Rafi, Kisore , Lata Asha etc had started their singing career sometime in 1986-1992 then possibly they could not have earned a status which they could got in the hindi film music. Nexus of Pattrons of certain MDs and singers would have have stopped their progress because they had a job to promote their chosen singers and musians.
These singers were immensely talented so they still could have earned a name in hindi music but this much mass popularity was not possible for them.
With money, heavy sale, interest of mafia powers in hindi films and related areas came a corruption.
People are guided by heavy advertisement campaigns and then anything can be sold for timebeing.
Scene is far better now than the past 2 decades.
One can laugh over the claim of some singers of that period who say that they dont sing/work in hindi films anymore because quality has been degraded from their time.
Reality is, their masters either are no more or they have become less powerful in the music world. and they can not compete with better and talented singers, MDs than themselves.
Rishi Kapoor has been my favourite actor after Amitabh bachchan from those times.
@OZ :
Jaipur se nikali gaadi, Dilli Chale haule haule,
Gori ka dil chhore sang, dhak dhak kare haule haule,
and another one ,
Tu tu tu tu tu tara, todo na dil hamara,
Jaane tamanna vada hai vaada,
ab na kahenge hum tumko raadha ,
kardo hamein maaf tum…….
add to it something like ….
Ladkio se na milo tum, ladkia to hai balaye….
Acting with that girl who was irritated by shabana Azmi not letting her see his work (Urmila Matondkar, Shriman Ashiq).
I feel the onscreen persona and Charm of Rishi kapoor was one of the best that industry has seen. COmplete natural.
chori ks dil chore sang dhak dhak bole halle halle…didin tinka din…
Kya yaad dila diya gurudev
~Ashu Bhai MAPRM wale
Rafoo chakkar- And Narendra Bedi matched the fun quotient and spirit of Billy Wilder’s Some Like it Hot.
Rishi Kapoor, Paintal, Neetu Singh and Rajendra Nath acted very well and at times their acts were better than the star cast of the hollywood comedy.
Narendra Bedi’s filmgraphy is so interesting.
He made Rafoo Chakkar, Jawani Diwani, Sanam Teri Kasam etc
and he also made Kachche Heere, Khote Sikke, Benaam, Adalat etc.
Benaam was a take off on Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, but quite well adapted. Actually during the 70’s, there were many Hindi movies, that were based on foreign cinema, but most of them were well adapted to the Indian context and situation, and really did not mind them.
Yes most of Narendra Bedi’s thrillers were remakes of hollywood thrillers but he cooked the dishes following entirely indigenous manners and they stood independently.
Adalat had one of AB’s best performances in role of Dharma. I recall one scene, he comes back from prison, completely devastated, his sister has fallen prey to the lust of one of his partners, he goes into the puja room, and picks up the Shiva idol, and is about to break it, when his wife Waheeda stops him. Not much dialogues there, but he expresses everything just through his eyes and expression.
Adalat had a funny thing also towards the end, where Inspector Khan (Kadar Khan) says to Dharma something like following
“Dost tumahre karan mein aaj tak Inspector hee raha. Mera promotion ruk gaya”.
Can’t be sure if he himself had not written the dialogue.
Gurudev: Yes remember Jaipur se nikali Gadi Dilli chale halle halle also.
Selected Ana re ana re, for free spiritedness followed by Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Sri Devi and full throttle high pitched singing of Shailendra Singh and Amit Kumar.
Mr India, Chalbaaz, Gurudev, Chandni, Lamhe, Sri D was really a comedy queen. Such Bindaas performances!:bow:
I guess one mention of Aap ke diwane would ve been nice… for all the folks who havent seen it, its one movie regularly shown on TV… and i thought it was one real nice movie that got lost somewhere…
.. rishi kapoor owes one drink to that then kid for making him the automatic choice for innocent liking 
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One aspect about Rishi Kapoor, with hum kisi se kam nahi and karz he almost took the spot of being that ‘rockstar’ where in any character who would be a stage performer, the role might be given to Rishi Kapoor… though he looked like he had certain class… Disco Dancer just re wrote things cuz mithun made the whole stage artist as something even the layman can achieve..(even the whole movie revolves around that gareeeb who makes it big) .. but that again might be an evolution from the Rishi Kapoor character… but Rishi Kapoor meant pro ‘performer’ on stage… not just a hero singing songs as well.. but a pro be it any kinds… HKSKN or karz, or one song in AAA or RafooChakkar or Sagar or naseeb… he was got the ‘cool’ factor in those times.. he also turned into the alternate mainstram hero… maybe the only hero who has acted as the ’side’ in a lot of movies butstill would be picked up as main leads in so many other movies..
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looks like anybody who has seen massom would remember that scene
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Sweater uncle phase, as said somewhere else is the point where all actors invariably have fumbled…. guess Rishi was still in a better spot that so many others…
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abenanabento ho ho ho ho
Aray yaar it’s the song that the African guys sing for Rishi Kapoor and Rakesh Roshan on the birthday in Aap ke Dewane. Abenanana bento
o yes…. abynanabento ho ho ho … yes… ram kare allah kare or smthing… the song
till you mentioned I was still wondering… now i get the pronounciation right 
…guess suffering from Alzeihmers (everybody’s fav dialogue after black .. until TZP came in with dyslexia… ) 
Gosh had this song in an old video cassette of mine, would play it umpteen times, not because i liked this song, but it was there, and had to listen to it, whenever we put this casette on for any guests.
Abynanabento … reminded me of a mithun song.. remember zigarbandhish mukundbaransih bahaare hijra, bechara dil hai … never ever understood what the first line ever meant…
It’s in Persian…zeehal-e-maskin makun ba-ranjish bahaal-e-hijraan bechara dil hai
Gulzar saheb was inspired by Amir Khusro’s poem which went zeehal-e-maskin makun taghaful…
African dancer was like a rubber man. so flexible.
and adding khel khel mei to this list of “singing performer’ image of rishi kapoor…
Oh Darn, I was about to comment on that. RK YOU FORGOT KHEL KHEL MEIN… ONE OF THE BEST SUSPENSE THRILLERS from the seventies (sorry caps)
Ek main aur ek tu,
Humne tumko DEKHAAAAAA,
and my favorite Khullam Khulla pyar karenge hum dono – is duniya say nahin darenge hum dono – Pyar hum karte hain chori nahi… oh darn here’s the videos
and …
Ravi Tandon’s Khel Khel Mein deserves a full separate post. Campus fun, a little protective senior, his sudden absence from the scene and problems faced by bit innocent juniors because of their asociation with that senior friend.
Somewhere its campus fun portions had inspired TV serial Subah.
How about Karz… with Ranbir taking the bachna ae haseeno track on him .. the Om Shanti Om track would still be the most ideal entry track for Rishi Kapoor anytime …
Khiladi was a not too good reworking of Khel Khel Mein, i mean it was ok, but the ending was stupid.
Aap Ke Deewane : this film was discussed last year. So did not write again anything on it.
http://passionforcinema.com/aapke-deewane-ram-and-raheem-love-sameera-in-the-debut-film-of-hritik-roshan/
if we also had the video for “Paisa yeh kaisa Paisa” … the Rishi Kapoor mannerisms when the count is going on … can be seen by all the ROCK ON fans… 80s mei bhi attitude tha boss.. and Subhash Ghai made this song with no much dance but with those minimum mannerisms and Boney M effect… it was one heck of a song and Rishi Kapoor gives you that ‘mai bhi stage pe gaunga feel’…
and from the same movie “Tu solah baras ki… (tun tun tun tun) … Main satrah baras ka… solah satrah solah satrah” and in that song, with one casual expression Rishi Kapoor showed his command over acting. Its in the first two lines of the song where Tina Munim asks Rishi his age (or something) and that expression Rishi gives had that mix of suave, casual and sleekness all rolled into one.
Got it! that expression at 0.23
for some reason his expression when he starts singing “tere chehre se nazar nahi hat ti…” was pretty striking then .. even now.. hadnt seen a fierce and yet romantic way of the hero looking at his girl and singing before that…
absolutely… and somewhere between those expressions and Sridevi expressions was where SRK seemed to have picked up his mannerisms…. Karz was actually another milestone movie… it was again the arrival of 80s kind movie … masala mixed with impeccable songs… stage performance, the glitz everything was there…. Rishi Kapoor somehow effortlessly waloked into the zone that Shammi Kapoor to Feroz Khan tried real hard to make themselves as the image of… the suave, charismatic hero ones… not that SK and FK didnt make it..they of course did, but rishi kapoor somewhere walked in as if it was his birth place…somewhere his youthfulness made sure he didnt go to the top spot but again also made sure he wasnt chucked off…
This is nostalgia RK!!! RD gave some great music to Rishi Kapoor.
You didn’t include the Saagar ones… but specially one which is sung by Kamal Hasan (who should receive a 21 gun salute just for this song), but Rishi so accentuates the song in the background…
and of course the uber cool Jaaaaaneeee dooooo naaaa
For the sake of desire to cover separately Prem Rog, Saagar, Ek Chadar Maili Si, did not include their videos here.
Sagar Kinare dil ye pukare and Chehra hai ya chand khila hai are also songs which can be heard and seen again and again.
Chehra hai ya had declared that Kishore Kumar was still there in his good form, inspite of emergence of singers like Shabbir Kumar who had already given voice to Sunny Deol in Betaab and AB in Coolie and Mard’s songs had appeared in market. SPB was another singer of those years giving voice to Jeetendra, Kamal Hasan etc.
And as RK mentioned… here’s the song that became a rage in the year Sargam was released it was Jaya Prada’s foray into Hindi Cinema… did you know Rishi Kapoor is the one who’s acted with the maximum number of debutant heroines!!! It tells one of the hardcore romantic image he carried so effortlessly for years.
Yes Oz & I think the record has been matched or surpassed only by Salman Khan.I dont think anyone is going to come close to Rishi or Salman in this case.
Apart from Bobby,Saagar,Sargam,Karz,Khel Khel Mein I also enjoyed Hum Kisise Kum Nahin.Rk Saab how come you didnt mention a single word about it?HKSKN is one of the more popular masala entertainers of the 70’s & the music was phenomenal.Be it kya hua tera waada,hain agar dushman, chand mera dil, bachna ae haseenon, yeh ladka hai allah & so many more.
Another movie I thoroughly enjoyed was Rafoochakkar in which Rishi & Paintal were in drag and had a blast.Kisi pe dil agar,laga le to kya hoga- is an all time favorite.
Rishi was good in the AB movies like Kabhi Kabhi,Amar Akbar Antony, Coolie etc.
With Chintuji Rishi indeed seems to have made a solid turnaround.
Chintu Ji, was indeed a brave attempt by Rishi Kapoor. Not sure if any other actor cum star would have nodded to the role in such a manner because there is a very thin line in the film between real Rishi Kapoor and character Rishi Kapoor because he has been given same name, same identity and references are taken from real life. Not many actors would have given consent to portions where his on screen secy. tells the heroine that Rishi Ji’s wife and family are going to Switzerland and they have asked me to take care of Chintu Ji.
Both the RKs, Ranjit Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor have done first time something which was not even attempted before in Hindi cinema.
…
HKSKN,
It is so well known musical hit that did not feel any new interest while writing on Rishi Kapoor. And he has many other hit films in 70s which need another post, just to mention one or two lines about them.
Couple of Rishi Movies, that somehow did not get much attention
* Khoj- A murder mystery thriller, co starring Kimi, Naseer, Danny. Rishi’s role is one with greyish shades, and his performance is super in the climax.
* Duniya- Felt he did a really good job opposite Dilip Kumar. Standard Revenge flick, but watchable, good performances from both Dilip Kumar and Rishi Kapoor.
* Ek Chadhar Maili Si- Really good movie, based on a Punjabi story. Rishi playing a young Punjabi farmer, who is forced to marry his own bhabi( Hema Malini), after his elder brother( Kulbhushan Kharbanda) is killed.
* Barood- Remake of a B movie Summertime Killer, i guess one of his full fledged action dhamaka stuff.
* Zehreela Insaan- Remake of the Kannada flick, Nagarahavu, and while the original was a better one, Rishi still put up a good performance, though not as hard hitting as Vishnu Vardhan’s in original one.
There are a number of moments related to Rishi Kapoor that live in my memory from my love for Hindi movies as a child.
Karz : The way Rishi kapoor, remembers his past life and the intensity with which he interacts with the other characters onscreen is simply awesome. I think the song “Ek Hasina thi…” belongs as much to Rishi Kapoor as to Kishore da
All his movies with Neetusingh were so bright and lively. He represented the youth of his times. “Pyar kar lia to kya, pyar hai khata nahi, teri meri umr mein kisne ye kia nahi… ”
I still cannot forget the natural moves and dance from our Dude in the movie … “Hum Kisi se Kam nahi”
And even the weirdest lyrics looked good on him “Manu Bhai motor chali pum pum pum… chowpati jayenge ne bhel poori khayenge … acchi achhi surato se naina ladayenge”
He was equally good doing comedy. I can especially remember his teaming up with Amitabh bachhan in various movies from Amar Akbar Anthony to Ajooba. I especially like Lambuji-Thinguji jodi from Coolie.
Chandni was a remarkable film in his career and I would always remember the original trend of sweaters that he came up with. He worked with so many other actors right from AB to Arbaaz Khan and Shahrukh khan.
One of his best performances that I have always liked and I would suggest if someone has not watched it is “Khoj”….Its a beautiful movie.
SO much in one life.
Jay,
This is an interesting thing to notice how subtly Rishi Kapoor opts the body language of Raj Kiran in the song Ek Haseena Thee. He even copies the pout of Raj Kiran once he stands there on stage staring at Simi and other dancers are dancing around him.
and
Hey Manu Bhai Motor Chali pam pam pam was such a fun song. Phool khile hain gulshan gulshan!
I guess after Amar Akbar Anthony this was Rishi Kapoor’s second pairing with Mukri Saab and both the times they created a lot of fun on screen.
There was a kannada movie called Nagar haavu which was the debut movie of Vishnu vardhan. Absolute whacko role for a male actor – a rebel in the town, used to listen only to his teacher.
This movie was remade by Raj Kapoor with Rishi in the lead. Rishi kapoor did his best to do justice to the role. Dont remember the name of the hindi movie
That was Zehreela Insaan, had a couple of good songs too, but was it an RK production?
That movie also had Ambarish in a bad guy’s role, later went on to become the hero. Puttana Kannagal was one of the best directors in Kannada cinema.
No no. Raj kapoor had seen Nagarhaavu and recommended to remake it. In fact Puttanna Kanagal himself directed the hindi version. The hindi version didnt do well at the box office. The prominent thing in the hindi version was coming together of Rishi and Neetu as well as the song O Hansini.
Ambarish never had any qualms about playing villain or hero. He played Ahmed in Nagarhaavu. He excelled in action movies, or drama. However he never could succeed in comedy. Vishnu Vardhan acted in two hindi movies. Dont think Ambareesh ever acted in a hindi movie
I guess the problem with Zehreela Insaan, was it went against Rishi’s lover boy image, and so was rejected by the audiences, otherwise, it was quite a well made one.
Rishi Kapoor was just one film old as a hero then.
So image of lover boy might not be that strong just on the basis of reputation of Bobby.
Have not seen the original kannada film but hindi version needed some detailing in some portions. Few things of film reduced the intensity and impact which Rishi Kapoor’s rebellion and always angry character was making. Especially song Mein to hoon ek Zahreela Insaan catalyzed this reduction. Such a serious character should not have been given such song, presenting self description. His silence was doing much work.
and perhaps sad and abrupt ending might have affected the over all performance of the film on BO.
Brilliant. Now you should see the original: Nagarhaavu
Vinay,
I will see it whenever I get an opportunity.
You have seen both the versions and you may say the differences between two versions.
And as you wrote that director of original Kannada film was the director of its hindi version also so in such a case he got a chance to improve his film.
Some directors may feel after their film is completed and released that they could have improved here and there and If he knew Hindi then Zehreela Insaan gave director a second chance at the expense of a producer to bring improvement to his own film.
Ambarish played the Character Jaleel…
Did yall know Rishi Kapoor was MTV Lycra Awards: Maha Style Icon of the Year at for 2006. What were they thinking!
In Rafoo Chakkar, Rishi kapoor gave a new acronym to ESSO: Eknath Sada Shiv Omkar. Hilarious.
It was painful to see him act in duds like Gurudev, Eena Meena Deeka, Saajan ka ghar, Jai hind, etc. IN fact Shreeman Ashique had this ridiculous rip off song Ladki Ladki (Didi Didi).
Only Hum dono with Nana Patekar was somewhat of a saving grace.
Thankfully he returned to good roles like in Delhi 6 and Love Aaj Kal.
MTV has long stopped thinking IMO, and their decision to take out the Music Channel from their logo, only confirms it.
90’s was Rishi’s worst phase, basically with 2 back to back hits in Bol Radha Bol and Deewana, Rishi went in for the same kind of movies, draped in Sweaters, acting opposite heroines half his age, it became painful. The only good movies of his during the 90’s were Damini and to an extent Hum Dono.
BTW there was an announcement of an Amitabh-Rishi movie called Dogs, some time back, have not heard about it after that. Wud love to see both of them together, they were a great combo in AAA, Naseeb, Coolie, Kabhie Kabhie.
Yes Ratnakar I was looking forward to Dogs mysef.Mukul Abhyankar was supposed to make his filmy debut as diretor with this one.Apprarently the financiers of the movie wanted a change in the principal cast and since Mukul and the producer- Ausaja coudlnt accept any change, they had to dro it.
Lets hope we get to see them onscreen again sometime soon.
I think Rishi Kapoor is one of the most underrated actor in the Hindi film industry and thank you RK for writing such a wonderful piece on him. I would also like add his role in Damini where the entire focus was on Sunny Deol but Rishi had a difficult role and the last scene where in the court room he says ” Mujhe garv hai ki main Damini ka pati hoon” was just fantastic.
Sanjeev,
True about Damini.
That is a problem with Hindi film Audience. Majority, often go for obvious characters.
That is sometimes funny to listen that Amitabh overshadowed Dharmendra in Sholay. or SRK defeated Sunny in Darr or Sunny just stole the show from Rishi Kapoor in Damini.
Dharam ji in Sholay, Rishi Kapoor in Damini and Sunny in Darr lived the charateristics of their respective characters in a very honest way. It can not happen that they jump on to something which is not part of their character just to score over other co-actor who is honestly playing his character.
If Dharmendra had played Jai and AB Veeru in Sholay then people would have said same thing about Dharmendra over shadowing AB.
Sunny Deol should know it better as he was on both the sides (Damini and Darr).
In nature His Darr role was not very different from Rishi Kapoor’s role in Damini. They were not doers but they were playing the game in a defensive mode.
This has to be mentioned that few editors of daily newspapers had written editorials on Sunny’s character and his performance in Darr.
Not just with Indian audience but its the problem with audiences around the world. Joker scores over Batman, Daniel Plainview scores over Eli Sunday, Hans Landa scores over Aldo Raine, Amon Goeth scores against Oskar Schindler.
On a second thought though, the characters of the so called second fiddle either didn’t perform as good as his counterpart or their parts were not written well.
We have numerous occasions where both leads have scored. Thakur and Gabbar, Tyler Dulder and Narrator, Beatrix Kiddo and Bill, Vincent Vega and Jules are some examples.
There are films based on two characters where one actor has performed better in comparison to what other actor has done to his role.
But most often it happens that both the actors have done full justice with their respective roles and if there is a conflict between these two characters then audience start saying that one actor over shadowed other actor while in reality they talk about the characters.
How we can say that who overshadowed whom between Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole in Becket?
or Who defeated whom in Namak Haraam?
or in Anand?
or Omar Sharif was better than Petter Toole in Rainbow Thief?
or Kabir Bedi was better than Omar Sharif in Ashanti?
or Dilip Saab and Pran Saab in Madhumati?
Good looks better when bad does bad things in a good manner and vice versa.
Sometimes awards are also given on the basis of characteristics of a character and not on the performance of the actor. e.g. Deewar. Shashi Kapoor was given award but AB was kept devoid of any award inspite of a very good performance matching with whatever characteristics were included in his character by the writers.
or AB was awarded in AAA but Rishi Kapoor and VK were avoided.
This is a great post on the qawalli master himself, no one could work or make a qawalli fabulous as he so often did. Chintu-ji Zindabad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sljg2joUnw8
very true. he has decorated many qawwalis in many films with his high voltage performances.
Shirdi Wale – AAA
Hoke mayus – Laila Majnu
Eid Ka Din Hai – Deddar e yaar
even the male duet Mere Dildaar ka baankpan allah had a little effect of qawwali on it.
even hai agar dushman.. dushman..qawwali from hum kisi se kum nahin was equally good and chintu ji expressions brought right kind of energy in the song…
Even hain agar dushman.. dushman.. qawwali from hum kisi se kum nahi was equally good and chintu ji expressions brought right kind of energy in the song…
Perfect tribute to one of the unsung hero of hindi cinema…
jaane se pehle soch lo itna, ek din wapas aaoge.. which RK starrer movie is this song from? nice hummable song..