Rishi Kapoor

Biography

Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 – 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards, in a career that spanned 50 years.

Born into the Kapoor family, he made his debut, as an adolescent, in his father Raj Kapoor's film Mera Naam Joker (1970), for which he won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. As an adult, his first lead role was opposite Dimple Kapadia in the teen romance Bobby (1973), which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

Between 1973 and 2000, Kapoor starred as the romantic lead in 92 films. Some of his notable films during this period include Khel Khel Mein (1975), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Sargam (1979), Karz (1980), Prem Rog (1982), Chandni (1989), and Deewana (1992).

Since the 2000s, Kapoor played character roles to critical acclaim in films such as Hum Tum (2004), Fanaa (2006), Namastey London (2007), Love Aaj Kal (2009), Agneepath (2012), Aurangzeb (2013), Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), 102 Not Out (2018) and Mulk (2018).

For his performance in Do Dooni Chaar (2010), he won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics), and for his role in the ensemble family of Drana Kapoor & Sons (2016), he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was honored with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His final film appearance was in Sharmaji Namkeen (2022), which was released posthumously.

Kapoor met his wife, actress Neetu Singh while working in films on a film set. They have 2 children. He died of leukemia on 30 April 2020, aged 67.

Kapoor was born on 4 September 1952 at his family's home, Raj Kapoor Bungalow, in Matunga, South Bombay, in the then-Bombay State of India, into a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family of the Kapoor clan, from Peshawar and originally from Samundri, to parents Raj Kapoor and Krishna Malhotra. He attended Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun, Campion School in Bombay, and Mayo College in Ajmer.

Being part of the Kapoor family, he was the second son of legendary actor-director Raj Kapoor and Krishna Raj Kapoor (née Malhotra). Likewise, his family encompasses a successful line of actors, including brothers, Randhir and Rajiv Kapoor; grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor; paternal granduncle Trilok Kapoor, maternal uncles Prem, Rajendra, and Narendra Nath, as well as Prem Chopra; paternal uncles Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor.

Rishi Kapoor's two sisters, on the other hand, include the late Ritu Nanda, who was an insurance agent, and Rima Jain. The actresses Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the actors Armaan Jain and Aadar Jain, and Natasha Nanda and the businessman Nikhil Nanda are his nieces and nephews.

Kapoor, married actress Neetu Singh, from New Delhi, also of Punjabi Khatri descent in 1980. The couple had two children— a son, actor Ranbir Kapoor, and a daughter, Riddhima Kapoor. Kapoor's autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored, was released on 15 January 2017. Kapoor wrote the book along with Meena Iyer, and the title was published under HarperCollins.

Kapoor was known to make controversial socio-political comments. In March 2016, he criticized the Nehru–Gandhi family over the naming of roads, buildings, and national assets in the name of Gandhi and Nehru. In September 2017, he again took on the Gandhi family by slamming Rahul Gandhi over dynastic politics.

In March 2020, he expressed anger and criticized the Indian Judiciary with the "Tareekh Pe Tareekh" dialogue of his film Damini over the delay in the execution of the four perpetrators who were convicted in the Nirbhaya case due to loopholes in the laws.

Kapoor was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 and went to New York City for treatment. After successful treatment for a year, he returned to India on 26 September 2019.

However, he was admitted to Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital on 29 April 2020 owing to breathing difficulties. He died on 30 April 2020 at 8:45 AM IST from a recurrence of leukemia. Kapoor's last rites were performed at Chandanwadi Crematorium and his ashes were immersed in Banganga.