Rishi Kapoor: Veteran Bollywood's romantic hero dies in Mumbai at 67 (1952-2020)

           

             Sadly, Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor died in a Mumbai hospital this morning. He was admitted in Shri HN Reliance Foundation hospital on Wednesday and was earlier diagnosed with cancer. 

Belonging to the legendary Kapoor family of Indian Bollywood, Rishi Kapoor may have had an easy entry to the film career, but the actor worked hard to create his future. Here are some little-known things to know about life and work.

Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh became good friends after they worked together in the film Zahreela Insaan 1974. But Kapoor Family realized that their relationship was beyond that when during an outstation shoot he started missing her. According to some news reports, he sent her a telegram saying “yeh sikhni badi yaad aati hai”.

 

 The couple married in 1980 and had two children actor “Ranbir Kapoor” and designer “Ridhima Kapoor”. Kapoor had a fraught relationship with his son in the early days. Ranbir Kapoor confessed that once his father had slapped him for wearing shoes in the Pooja area at home. Rishi Kapoor debuted as the romantic hero in the 1973 film Bobby. The super hit movie brought many changes in pop culture and filmmaking. Not only did Kapoor's and Kapadia's fashion replicated by people, it also introduced new techniques in cinema. 

According to some reports the movie changed the way lip-syncing was done for songs. Director “Raj Kapoor” had instructed Rishi Kapoor to sing all the songs loudly instead of just enacting them. This created a sense of realism in song sequences with the visible popping of veins and made it seem as if Kapoor was really singing it.

Rishi Kapoor was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and returned to India last September after a year-long treatment in New York.

While visiting New York for his treatment Rishi Kapoor met a Russian fan at a salon who recognized him and played he actor's popular song "Main shayar toh nahin" from the 1973 film Bobby. The actor tweeted about the incident My song played in a salon while getting a hair cut. Russian recognized me and played it from his notebook. Thank you Sergie.

Just two days before Kapoor's death, Director Karan Johar paid a tribute to the veteran actor on social media by sharing a video in which he made an edited version of the song Main Shayar To Nahin using face mapping. The clip shows Karan's face mapped on to Rishi's, while the filmmaker happily lip-syncs to the track. 

 

 

A huge loss to the Indian - Bollywood industry as one of the versatile actor of the era, A legend who never failed to thrill the world with his great work and talent. My deepest condolences to the family. May God give them strength to bear the loss. RIP LEGEND - You will always be remembered.

Irrfan Khan, one of India's best crossover actors, dies at 53 (1967-2020)

His Last word – Amma (Mother) has come to take me.

Khan, who fought a long battle with cancer, carved out a stellar career in Bollywood, Hollywood and other Western films.

 

The Bollywood star was among the first Indian actors to make a consistent mark in Western cinema and had appeared in several Hollywood pictures, including "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Life of Pi."

Bollywood star ‘’Irrfan Khan’’ has died at the age of 53 (1967 – 2020) after a prolonged battle with cancer, his publicist said on Wednesday.

"Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him," his publicist said in a statement.

Khan's international movie career included Hollywood hits such as Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Alongside Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth and Om Puri, Khan was among the first line of Indian actors to leave a mark in Hollywood and Anglo-American cinema.

"I never knew I would be so sad — I felt a punch in my heart," Adil Hussain, who was in Life of Pi with Khan, told DW. "He was able to express himself with the utmost vulnerability and where he embodied the character in a wholesome way to give access to the audience to look at his soul."

Long illness

The actor, who was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor in 2018, was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital earlier this week with a colon infection.

After revealing he had been diagnosed with the tumor in 2018, Khan received extensive treatment and recovered well enough to shoot Angrezi Medium, the film which would turn out to be his last, and whose release this March was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reported.

 

Breaking into mainstream cinema

He was born Saahabzaade Irfan Ali Khan in Jaipur, the son of a tire seller, and went to drama school after failing as a cricketer.

The now globally acclaimed Hollywood and Bollywood actor struggled to make headway in the film industry in his early days, only finding regular work in small TV soap operas.

Khan's breakthrough role came with the feature debut of then-unknown British director Asif Kapadia, whose 2002 low-budget film The Warrior was shot in India.

The Warrior went on to win the BAFTA award for best British film and was selected for the prestigious San Sebastian film festival.

Khan subsequently broke into mainstream films and alongside Bollywood, maintained a career in British and Hollywood cinema.

"He will be remembered as one of the finest actors in India, for sure, and for his contribution to world cinema, as well," said Adil Hussain. "He will remain as one of the most revered actors, most respected actors. He's going to be an inspiration to new kind of actors in India to portray roles with a lot of realism, which generally wasn't the case in the so-called Bollywood film industry."