‘And, damn it, I survived’: late Indian actor Rishi Kapoor on playing the romantic hero without being tall or buff, until he smelled the coffee
- Interviewed at Hong Kong’s India by the Bay festival in 2017, the Bollywood actor, who recently lost his battle with cancer aged 67, looked back over his career
- Explaining why he never fancied acting in Hollywood, Kapoor said ‘I’d rather be a king in my own domain. Why go somewhere and be a nonentity?’
Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor died on April 30 after succumbing to a two-year battle with leukaemia. One of India’s most cantankerous, humorous, outspoken and brilliant actors, he appeared in more than 100 films in a career spanning 50 years. Kapoor was in Hong Kong for India By the Bay back in 2017, when he spoke to Post Magazine.
Child star: I’ve always wanted to be an actor. Four generations of our family have been in the business. Of the 108 years of Indian cinema, the Kapoors have been in it for over 90 years, starting with my grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor (in the 1920s). I started off as a child star in my father’s film (Mera Naam Joker, 1970) and when I was first told I’d be doing the movie, I ran into my room and started practising my autograph (Kapoor won a National Film Award for his role). My first film as a lead actor was Bobby (1973).
The good, bad and very bad: I haven’t seen all my films – some embarrass me. We’ve done all kinds of films: bad, very bad and the very, very bad! There are some that give me a lot of pride, but I’m not a narcissist who dwells on his own films. I don’t have any favourite performance. If a movie of mine comes on TV, I’d rather change the channel. The reason I can’t watch them is I start analysing them; I am very critical of myself and I do that with my son (actor Ranbir Kapoor) as well. I’ve been told he’s a brilliant actor – and I believe it.
Pluses and minuses: The box office is an important aspect of a film. This is true for any actor, be it in India, Hong Kong or worldwide, because there is an arithmetic involved; you can’t be in the minuses all the time. You’ve got to break even, you’ve got to make additions. People have to make money from you – and you have to earn. This is not my hobby; it is my profession. I’ve treated it with reverence. I’m very sincere, I’m very dedicated.
No small roles: I believe in the totality of the film. There have been several films in which my leading ladies have had a better role but I had prominent performances in them. I’ve never shied away from these smaller roles. I don’t have that kind of a complex – if a film is good, it’s good in its entirety. There are actors who are concerned about the length of their role in a film – how big or small it is. That’s how big or small they are as people. There are no small roles; you can make an impact in five minutes or none at all in three hours.
Romantic hero: There are certain films I wish had done better at the box office because they were good films but for whatever reason, they didn’t work. In a country like India, if we have continuous rain, bad weather, it affects the box office. If it’s cricket season, it affects the box office. If it’s a major religious festival, then people are with their families. If there’s no attendance because people are watching cricket at home, praying at home, then it affects the movie business. I’ve also suffered because of the times. When cinema became very violent, it was the era of the “angry man” as the lead character, but I was a romantic hero. I made romantic musicals. I’m not tall, I wasn’t a gym buff action hero – I made love stories. I had to make my own space, and, damn it, I survived.