April 29, 2020 morning: Irrfan Khan, an incredibly talented actor in his prime dies in a Mumbai hospital.
April 30, 2020, morning: Rishi Kapoor, veteran actor and wildly popular romantic hero since the 1970s, dies in a Mumbai hospital.
They both contracted cancer about two years ago: Irrfan had a rare form of endocrine cancer while Rishi had leukemia.
Different styles, but both relatable: Rishi Kapoor wasn’t the boy next door like Irrfan, he was from the most famous Hindi film family, the Kapoors, while Irrfan had humble beginnings; of course, they both reached the pinnacle of success doing different types of roles and with different styles; however, both connected with the masses instantly.
Both still had something to offer: at 53, Irrfan’s potential for increasingly realistic and serious cinema was mercilessly cut short, while at 67, Rishi was steadily graduating to serious character roles with admirable ease. and skill, and his tragic death can still be called premature.
Two of India’s biggest celebrity deaths in two days; this is as unprecedented as perhaps the times we are going through. Before the boxed-in, stifled movie fraternity and older moviegoers had time to recover from one another, the other vicious blow was immediately applied. Is this the impact of COVID times? Well, we shouldn’t try to delve into it, because these two off-screen tearjerkers would further accentuate the anguish and helplessness of the Indian people, harassed by the killer virus and lockdown.
His father, the iconic Raj Kapoor, cast his son Rishi Kapoor in 1973 in the jubilee hit film, ‘Bobby’, before which Rishi made his film debut with a small role in ‘Mera Naan Joker’ (1970), where Raj Kapoor performed the title. character. Rishi was immediately accepted by the masses as a charming and handsome young hero despite his youthful appearance, and since 1974 he never looked back, performing in numerous commercial ventures and delivering regular hits. In fact, his initial two films had won him awards: the National Film Award for Best Child Performer in ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his first leading role against Dimple Kapadia in ‘Bobby’ in 1974. He was honored with Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. From 1973 to 2000, Rishi Kapoor played leading romantic roles in 92 films; he married her co-star Neetu Singh in 1980 and appeared against her in 12 films between 1973 and 1981. After 2000, Rishi began to pursue character roles and won several Filmfare Awards for her roles in various films. Among them are ‘Yeh Hai Jalwa’ (2002), ‘Namastey London’ (2007), Love Aaj Kal (2009), Patiala House (2010), ‘Kapoor & Sons’ (2017), and there was an on-screen meeting with his wife in the movie ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ (2010). His last film to be released (December 2019) was ‘The Body’, a mystery thriller starring Emraan Hashmi. The most memorable movie of him in a realistic character role was ‘Mulk’ (2018), directed by Anubhav Sinha.
Popularly known as ‘Chintu’, Rish Kapoor had an immense impact on us as schoolchildren since the early 1970s. Our craze for him increased further due to a rather funny reason: our parents did not allow us to watch ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and ‘Bobby’ since both movies supposedly had some ‘adult’ scenes, and our hunger was only complicit when mother decided to tell us the stories in a dramatic way! Of course, in later years we started to see his movies in theaters and we started to love him for the looks of him, for his smiles and for the comedy or romanticism or heroism of him. Just like his uncle Shashi Kapoor, Rishi also seemed to have an aura or positive vibes to his appearance and personality that made him instantly likable to us.
The film industry and moviegoers believed, according to the news that was circulating, that Rishi Kapoor was getting better and better, after his long medical treatment in the United States. But sadly, that turned out to be false. He was hospitalized due to some complications and went on a mission. His family supported him all the time and released a press report that Rishi Kapoor has always been a cheerful and positive person who never let situations get the best of him, and he didn’t even let cancer bother him, living his life. happily, for his family. , followers and friends. Therefore, the family called on everyone to receive the news with a smile and not with tears as Rishi would prefer it that way. Yes, we look at him smiling, remembering all the decades of his endearing performances and knowing full well that he is destined to influence our hearts forever; sounds amazing, we just said it the day before for Irrfan. Rishi Kapoor leaves behind his wife, actress Neetu Singh, and his son, megastar Ranbir Kapoor, one of the best actors of the younger generation. We pray for the eternal bliss and happiness of the adorable superstar and a super human being.