Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Rishi Kapoor - Kuch Chocolatey ho jai

In the year 1973 I was living in Bangalore.  There was a huge house right next my friend Aruna's house that belonged to a film distributor.  He had put up a large poster of a young teenage couple in a clinch with the name of the film 'Bobby' written across.

Shortly after, Aruna and I went to see the movie first day first show.  Needless to say, I fell in love with the movie and the lead couple, Dimple and Rishi.  In those days, if you liked a movie well enough, you just went and saw it again.  I think I saw the movie 2 more times right then.  I knew the scenes by heart, and wrote down the lyrics of all its songs in a notebook.



Dimple went and married Rajesh Khanna and left movies and Rishi high and dry.  For a while poor Rishi tried to find his feet until he hit jackpot with Rafoo Chakker.  Believe it or not I did not see Rafoo Chakkar and Khel Khel Mein, the movies that established his lifelong jodi with Neetu Singh.  I did see Laila Majnu and loved the movie, the songs, Rishi and Ranjeeta.



I saw Ham Kisi se Kam Nahi, Kabhi Kabhie and Doosra Admi.  All wonderful movies with loads of romance, songs and dances.  I liked Doosra Aadmi for its bold theme and simply great acting by Rishi, Rakhee and Neetu.



He was stylish in Karz, rustic in Sargam, and back with Dimple in Saagar.



Ek Chadar Maili Si saw him paired with Poonam Dhillon and Hema.  It was based on the custom in Punjab of marrying off a widowed daughter-in-law with the younger son to make sure that she was looked after well.  It was a difficult role but Rishi and Hema did full justice to it.

Shriman Ashique was a sort of a remake of Shagird, a fun filled film starring Rishi and Urmila Matondkar. Henna was another beautiful film, with a plausible story on Indo-Pak love story.



With Deewana Rishi handed over the baton of the young romantic lead to Shahrukh Khan.  He lingered in the hero mode for a while after this, but things were ending for him soon.



 Not being the first lead has actually improved Rishi's performances.  He works excellently in character roles.  He has been lucky to get some really meaty roles in movies like Chintuji, Do Dooni Chaar, Fanaa, Hum tum, and my favorite - Luck by Chance.

I have picked some random movies from his vast repertoire.  There are several songs and films of his that are more famous or perhaps more worthy of mention, but I have picked the ones that struck me at the particular time.  These are the movies I have seen and liked.

September 4 is Rishi Kapoor's birthday.  Happy birthday Rishi!  You have been a part of my growing up years. 



14 comments:

  1. Not just your growing up years, mine too! :-)

    Very nice post, Ava. Only when I read it I realised that he has actually had a fair number of hit films in his career. Without ever seeming to dominate the scene. Maybe it is because Amitabh was always such a dominant factor that others just "existed" on the side.

    Nice choice of songs too. Love all of them.

    Maybe "hoga tumse chocolatey kaun, humko to tum se hai..he Rishi, he Rishi..pyaar". ;-)

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  2. Rishi Kapoor! I never thought of him as handsome and in fact as a small kid (I not Rishi). Though I liked his Khel Khel Me, which I saw on DD in the 80s. His first film, which I remembered seeing in the cinema hall was Kabhi Kabhie and even at the age of 6 (or was I 7?) found his double-timing Neetu very, very bad! EVIL!
    But what I liked about his films was the poora escapist fare! He never failed to deliver! good romantic fare he promised and he delivered it, just like his uncle Shammi Kapoor.
    He always was the lover boy. Poor thing never got anything else to do. His angry young man film 'Zehreela Insaan' bombed at the box-office.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAwZVUOPrSA
    He was good in Prem Rog, they say, but I haven't seen the film.
    RDB gave music to many of his films. YEh Vaada Raha is one such film.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMUorZkMBow
    In Badalte Rishte he had a role of a sort of villain, who would like to kill the husband of his ex-girl-friend.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seTm-CnhQh8
    Jeetu and he were in fact fast friends. But their other film Deedar-E-Yaar was the biggest flops in Hindi cinema history.
    Happy Birthday Chintu!
    He was a phenomenon in his own right!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evZduymAChQ

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  3. Echoing you & Raja, Rishi was part of my growing up :)
    Here are some of my favorite Rishi songs :-
    1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAwZVUOPrSA
    2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFr2f6ZTUw
    3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-o2QmyYU0
    I could go on & on, but will stop for now :)
    He was better than his elder brother Randhir, but I am not sure if he reached the level of his father & uncles. Perhaps there is something to be said about all those who did not have a celebrity in their family to smooth their career.

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  4. Great post, Ava! And yes, I guess Rishi Kapoor has been part of my growing-up years too: Bobby was the first film I ever saw - I was a baby, and my parents took me along. I sat up all through, eyes riveted firmly on the screen, totally mesmerised. :-)

    Rishi Kapoor is actually one of the very few stars of the late 70s and early 80s for whom I'd see a film, without knowing anything more about it. His films were invariably so much fun and had such great music. :-)

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  5. Bobby as a baby! That rhymes, Madhu!
    :)

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  6. Haan Raja :) Hamara wala Rishi!

    Trust you to come up with a line like that "Hoga tumse ..."

    :)

    But seriously, he was really chocolately.

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  7. Harvey,

    Somehow I never thought of Rishi as very handsome either. Chickna, YES.

    He does not really two time Neetu in Kabhi kabhi, the girl throws herself at him and he tries to make Neetu jealous. I like the way Neetu is so sure of his love in this movie. Akhir uski khatir hi to woh uske baap ke yahan naukri karta hai. :)

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  8. yeah, but it is evil to play with the other girl's feelings like that!
    Achhe ladkon ka kaam nahin hai yeh!

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  9. Haan.. wo to hai.

    Sahi bola.

    I would have been heartbroken.

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  10. Samir :)

    Yes.

    I do think he deserved his success. Sure he got a break because of his dad. But so did Abhishek.

    Not all star kids become successful.

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  11. When I first saw your post, I thought he too had passed away. Then I realized...

    My growning years were spent obsessing over Bachchan, and no other hero of that time even existed for me, but looking at those videos you posted, I got to admit he has done some nice films...and with great songs.

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  12. Really Nishita :)
    That's funny. Bechara abhi chhota hai :)

    well, nothing wrong with Bachchan Sr. I guess every generation has its own icon.

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  13. Sweet! I was also somewhere near Bangalore when Bobby was released. I was 7 or 8. I remember my friends and I would giggle over the popular songs of this movie :-)

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  14. Thanks Giribala :)

    The movie and the songs were such big hits!

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