When Rishi Kapoor Stopped Acting As He 'Couldn't Compete With Younger Lot': 'I Gained Weight And...'

Late veteran actor Rishi Kapoor is among the most prolific names in Indian cinema. He has played various diverse roles in his illustrious career. However, at a certain point in his career, he felt that he could not compete with the younger generation of actors.

Rishi Kapoor told Firstpost in 2011, “I’ve no regrets in my life – even though my name is not there in the top names. I didn’t wait for stardom – Bobby was an instant hit in 1973 and it was after that, that I had to struggle to match its success. I’ve been working for 25 years as a leading star from 1973-1998 after which I got bored, gained weight and felt I couldn’t compete with the younger lot.”

Rishi Kapoor stopped acting for a brief period and ventured into direction. He recalled, “I gave the money back to filmmakers I was going to work with and sat at home for three months. Then I decided to direct Aa Ab Laut Chalein with Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and Akshaye Khanna.”

He reminisced about how he started his career as an actor and said, “I’ve been working for 39 years. I started at the age of 16 with Mera Naam Joker… It was my uncle Shashi Kapoor who noticed I wanted to be an actor because I used to take pencils and make fake moustaches on my face and pull faces and loved hanging around RK studios.”

“I got a zero in my English exam when I was doing my Senior Cambridge as I wrote 14 full scap sheets for a précis! Those days our papers were marked in England and so naturally, I flunked! I was very disheartened so my father (Raj Kapoor) told me not to lose heart and work as an assistant director in Kal Aaj Aur Kal. And then acting followed. I was a hero by default,” he added.

However, Rishi Kapoor did not like watching his past films on TV. “I switch the channel. I am not underplaying it or anything, but I am embarrassed watching myself on screen. I don’t know if there is an opposite word for narcissist… but that’s how I feel watching my films. I can admire my physical self as an actor, but not my body of work,” he concluded.