Rishi Kapoor was fed up ‘running around trees’ and decided to quit acting.
Rishi Kapoor transitioned from a romantic boy next door to a brilliant character actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor was one of the most celebrated stars in the industry. While in his younger days, he carried movies on his shoulder, playing mostly romantic leads in the movies. However, in the later years of his career, Rishi took on character roles, giving us the menacing Zulfikar in Fanaa (2006) Rauf Lala in Agneepath (2012), and the beloved Amarjeet Kapoor aka Daadu in Kapoor and Sons (2016).
However, there was a time when Rishi Kapoor quit acting because he was tired of playing the romantic lead and ‘fed up of running round trees chasing girls in Switzerland.’ After a chat with Neetu Kapoor, his wife and a veteran actress, Rishi decided to hang him his boots.
“I was fed up with working continuously for 25 years as a hero, that also with defying the age, body and fat factors. I was fed up of running round trees chasing girls in Switzerland in ornate sweaters. My wife said ‘you are not enjoying your work; you are looking tired and are miserable — I think you had better hang up your boots’. And that’s what I did — I said I am not going to be working anymore. So I told all my producers and gave back all their money,” Rishi said, in an interview with Rediff in 2010.
Fortunately for all of us, the boots were not hung up for too long. “Then I started working as character actor in films like Raju Chacha and Kuch Khatti Kuchh Meethi. Between 2000 and 2010 I have had about 18 films released,” he added.
Rishi’s last film was also him playing a character role. Released after his death (2020), Rishi headlined the film Sharmaji Namkeen. The 2022 film, which featured Paresh Rawal in scenes that the makers couldn’t shoot with the legendary actor, featured Rishi as a retired senior citizen who turned towards cooking as a way to spend his older years. The slice of life film won hearts!
