By Muhammad Luqman
Bollywood’s veteran actor Rishi Kapoor died in the Western Indian city of Mumbai on Thursday , just a day after another veteran , Irrfan Khan died. He was 67.
The actor had been fighting cancer for the last two years.
“Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8.45 am in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukaemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last,” Rishi Kapoor’s family said in a statement, according to NDTV.
“In this hour of personal loss, we also recognise the world is going through a very difficult and troubled time. There are numerous restrictions around movement and gathering in public. We would like to request all his fans and well-wishers and friends of the family to please respect the laws that are in force. He would not have it any other way,” his family said.
Actors from the film fraternity came out to convey their condolences, with Akshay Kumar tweeting: “It seems like we’re in the midst of a nightmare. Just heard the devastating news of Rishi Kapoor ji passing away. He was a legend and a great co-star and good friend of the family. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Rishi is survived by his wife Neetu, along with son and actor Ranbir Kapoor and daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahani.
Kapoor belonged to the ‘First Family’ of Bollywood with four generations of actors in the family, including grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor, father Raj Kapoor and son Ranbir.
Rishi made his debut as a child artist in his father Raj Kapoor’s 1970 film Mera Naam Joker, for which he also received an Indian National Award.
However, his first role as a lead actor was opposite Dimple Kapadia in 1973, when the duo starred in Bobby. Rishi bagged the Filmfare Best Actor trophy for his role in the film.
Over the years, Rishi went on to become one of the leading names in Bollywood, with notable films such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Karz, Yeh Vaada Raha, Saagar, Aap Ke Deewane and Khel Khel Mein. The last film also starred Neetu Singh, who would soon become his girlfriend and later, his wife.
Rishi starred in more than 50 films between 1973 and 2000, with the notable ones being Damini (Lightning), Chandini and Gurudev. He turned to direction in 1999 with Aa Ab Laut Chalen starring starring Rajesh Khanna, Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna in the lead roles.
In 2017, the actor released his biography, Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored.
Rishi was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and went to New York City for treatment. After a treatment that lasted more than a year, the actor returned to India.
Just a day before , Irrfan Khan a versatile Bollywood actor died of endocrine cancer in Mumbai. He was 54.
Khan was among the first Indian actors who were able to make mark in Western cinema.
He was born as Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan in the western state of Rajasthan, in a conservative Muslim family .
Inspired by India’s vibrant cinema of the 1980s, young Irrfan Khan decided to make a career in the field and moved to the capital, New Delhi to study theatre.
He then moved to Mumbai in search of acting jobs, but the Bollywood films of the 1990s did not present opportunities to the actor.
Khan worked in serials for Indian television for about a decade and got some extra roles in films.
In 2001, as he was close to giving up, British filmmaker Asif Kapadia offered him the lead role in “The Warrior”. The film won a BAFTA for Best British Film and was Britain’s entry to the Oscars. It also opened the doors to Hollywood, which appreciated Khan long before Bollywood claimed him.
He went on to act in indie hits such as Mira Nair’s “The Namesake” based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s book as well as more popular fare, including “Jurassic World”.
In “The Namesake”, he won praise for his sensitive portrayal of a man who moves to the United States and grapples with the crises of identity that first-generation immigrants can face. The movie Slumdog Millionaire brought him the fame , he had always been struggling.
Khan acted in filmmaker Ritesh Batra’s debut, “The Lunchbox”. An intimate story about a cantankerous man and the woman who mistakenly sends him her husband’s lunch box one day, the film won worldwide acclaim, including in India.
In March 2018, Khan announced that he had been diagnosed with a neuroendrocrine tumour. He subsequently returned from London, where he was being treated, and shot a film “Angrezi Medium” (English Medium), which released in Indian cinemas last month.
His mother Saeeda Begum , 95, died in her native town Jaipur in Rajasthan state last week but Irrfan Khan could not attend the funerals due to COVID-19 lockdown in India.
