Rishi Kapoor- Best Of All The Kapoor's

As if to say Indian cinema hadn't already lost too much, as the hours went by mourning Irrfan khan's death the month of April ended with another Legend gone. Amitabh Bachchan's tweet which said “Rishi Kapoor gone…. Just passed away… I am destroyed” broke the entire nation. He was a scion of scion of Bollywood's most famous Kapoor family.

Born on September 4, 1952 to a Punjabi Hindu family in Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Rishi Raj Kapoor was the second son of the actor/director Raj Kapoor. His grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor was also an actor. His brothers, Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor and paternal uncles, Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, were also actors. He was born to a family of outsized legends nonetheless Rishi Kapoor grew up to be one of Bollywood's greatest and most humble actors. Kapoor attended Campion School in Mumbai and Mayo College in Ajmer.

Kapoor first appeared on screen at the age of three in the song "Pyar Hua, Iqrar Hua Hai", in his father Raj Kapoor's film Shree 420. He made his debut in Bollywood when he appeared in the 1970 Raj Kapoor film Mera Naam Joker where he portrays the childhood of the lead character. His outstanding performance in the film won him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. He played his first role as lead actor in the 1973 teen romance film Bobby, appearing alongside Dimple Kapadia. The movie went on to become the decade's biggest hit in the country and also won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. During a 2012 interview Rishi says that the film Bobby was made to pay the debts of his previous film, Mera Naam Joker.

As the years went by Rishi began starring in several light hearted comedies like —Rafoo Chakkar alongside Neetu Singh (whom he later married), Amar Akbar Anthony with Amitabh Bachchan, and Hum Kisise Kum Naheen with Zeenat Aman among others. He first worked with Neetu Singh in the 1974 film Zahreela Insaan. They went on to star in multiple movies together like Kabhi Kabhi in 1976 and Doosra Aadmi in 1976 till they finally tied knots on January 22, 1980.
 
During the 1980's Rishi Kapoor began to take up more diverse roles, he starred in Subhash Ghai's reincarnation thriller Karz which failed at the box office but went on to become a cult classic and has since then had another remake.

In 1986 he played the role an abusive younger brother who marries his sister in law after her husband is killed in the thriller Ek Chadar Maili Si which was adapted from Rajendra Singh Bedi's novella of the same name. Kapoor's other film roles have been mainly romantic. Between 1973 and 2000, he had starred in over 90 films where he played the romantic lead. Some of these include movies like included Raaja, Laila Majnu in 1976, Prem Rog, Coolie in 1983, Saagar in 1985, Chandni in 1989, Bol Radha Bol in 1992 and Damini in 1993. Kapoor made his directorial debut in the movie Aa Ab Laut Chalen which released in the year 1999.

As the 21st century began Rishi Raj Kapoor transitioned to character acting in the early 2000's. A character actor is basically a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters in a film. He appeared in many decade defining films as a supporting role which included movies like the 2012 Agneepath where he was the antagonist. He also played the role of a homosexual character in the movie Student of The Year starring Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra. His performance in Do Dooni Chaar was phenomenal. He plays a middle-aged father trying to buy his own car. The movie was critically acclaimed and it won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Kapoor's contribution to Indian cinema led him to win the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Some of his other well-known character roles include Hum Tum, Fanaa, Love Aaj kal and Namaste London among others. He also played Dawoon Ibrahim in the movie D Day in 2013 alongside Irrfan khan who passed away on the 29th of April,2020 a day before we lost Rishi Kapoor.  In 2016 Kapoor won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Kapoor and Sons. After almost two decades, he acted alongside Amitabh Bachchan in the movie 102 Not Out, where he portrays the character of a 76-year-old son of Amitabh Bachchan.  His last film was The Body which was a mystery thriller and starred alongside Emraan Hashmi.

In 2018, Kapoor was diagnosed with leukemia and travelled to New York City for treatment. After a successful treatment, Kapoor returned to India after a year. He was admitted to Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai on 29th April 2020 after he had trouble breathing. The following day, India lost one of its greatest actors ever.


-Namira khan
Namira khan is a student of journalism and mass communication in Amity university, Kolkata and is an avid reader and writer, with a passion for art and photography.