RISHI KAPOOR
A NEW BEGINNING

Strange isn't it (how many strange stories can I tell you? But then I have to go on telling them whether you like it or not because these strange, some of them very very strange stories about some very very very strange men and women who make this place such a wonderful place, a world full of wonders).

Thirty-eight years ago I sat in a broken seat (five annas only, 50 paise today) of a ramshackle theatre and watched his father singing Aa ab laut chale. His father was the legendary Raj Kapoor and he was singing that meaningful and purposeful song (as I now see it) for Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, one of the most outstanding films made under his banner, RK Films. I was a little boy. I loved films madly and I loved the films of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand the most. I could beg, borrow or steal to see every film starring these three heroes but fortunately I didn't have to do anything so sinister because I had a mother who also loved Dilip, Raj and Dev and never missed any of their films.

Today, thirty-eight years later I am anxiously awaiting the release of a film called Aa Ab Laut Chale. It has been directed by Rishi Kapoor, the second son of the same Raj Kapoor. The son also says he has made a film about love and universal love and peace and harmony but he has made it his own way, he has made a film which has only followed the dictates of his heart. He has not followed anything stylistic, he has not followed any method, he has not followed any guru, any leader, any teacher who has taught him what cinema is all about. Cinema he says is his life, his breath without which he would find it very difficult to breathe, to live the way he wants to. The son talks like his father used to talk, talk after the release of every new film. The father was as nervous and numb and almost nearing a breakdown everytime a film of his was to be released. His son is feeling the same today when there are just a few days to go before the release of his first ever film, Aa Ab... And even as I get ready and lakhs of people like me get ready to sit back in air-conditioned comfort in some or one of the most lavishly-built theatres (see how times have changed) to see what wonders this second son of Raj Kapoor has done. I think it is time for a little breather to take a look with him at how this happened, how this second son of Raj Kapoor took a big leap and took to direction.

It was just a few years after Raj sang Aa ab laut chale. He was sitting at one of his many parties. He called his son Rishi upto him and introduced him to his friends. "Watch this son of mine. He will grow up to be a great director one day" Raj said and Rishi didn't know what to do. He just touched his father's feet in reverence.

Rishi joined his father as an assistant, even before he was fifteen. He assisted him and worked as a child artist (the boy Raj Kapoor) in Mera Naam Joker. Then by sheer stroke of circumstances and a strange decision taken by Raj, Rishi was selected to play the hero in Bobby. And the little Rishi who wanted to be a director "with all my heart" became the heartthrob of the entire nation. He was "the darling", "the beloved", "the young man of a million dreams" and "the young man who gave girls of all ages all the reasons to dream about him". Raj was surprised. He was a little disturbed that his son couldn't make it as a director but he was gloriously happy with the success of his son as a star (which father wouldn't?).

And believe it or not Rishi Kapoor, the romantic hero, was the romantic hero for the next twenty-six years! He worked as the lover boy in hundred and six films. He had the rare privilege of working with all the directors other actors were "dying" to work with. And he had a record number of twenty-five heroines in his twenty-six year old career. His association with pretty girls, beautiful women didn't leave him even after he had decided to give up films. He was one of the judges at the beauty contests in Goa at which Sushmita Sen was chosen to represent India at the Miss Universe contest and Aishwarya Rai at the Miss India contest. How correct he was in his judgement could be judged by the fact that both Sushmita and Aishwarya won and gave India a pride of place, "a planet of beauty" someone called it because of the two girls.

It was somewhere around this time that the actor in Rishi Kapoor was getting restless, feeling frustrated, fighting desperately for a change of image. Just imagine playing the same romantic hero, singing the same old songs, mouthing the same old syrupy romantic dialogues from one film to another. How long could he go on with this? There was a limit to his tolerance, so what if it was even with the greatest feeling called romance people crave for, cry for. Rishi was sick of romance (strange, isn't it? How can anyone get sick of romance?) and no one was willing to take him seriously in serious roles. A time came when he was forced to play the lover boy to girls whom he used to carry in his arms and who once called him uncle. This, indeed, was the limit. He could take it no more.

He stopped signing any and every film. He literally threw out filmmakers who came to him with the flowers and flower girls stories of romance. The films stopped coming to him. It was clearly a time to clean the cob-webs of the mind, take stock and think over. It didn't take him long. He remembered his first love — direction. He had learned the basics of direction from "the greatest director of India", his father. He had watched all kinds of directors good, bad and indifferent at work during his twenty-six years as an actor. Filmmaking was in his blood. He had to try and things could happen, would happen. He would not imitate any director, not even his great father. He would create "an identity of his own, an identity created by my own soul, my own heart, my own sincerity, my own dedication, my own determination to work hard like no other director worked". He talked to his brothers, Randhir and Rajiv about his dream to make a film, sought their blessings. They gave Rishi the green signal to direct a film for RK in its fiftieth year, a great privilege, according to Rishi, a privilege which gives him goose-pimples when he thinks of it.

He looked for subjects. He didn't want anything ordinary. He wanted something that would be extra-ordinary romantic, sensible, sincere and with a social message for every Indian today, a message without being "preachy". He wanted to be an entertainer who could try and enlighten, a director who could make an effort effortlessly, an out and out effort to excel. He wanted to make a memorable film for the people who had given him so much love, ever since he was a little boy in school.

It was time to start work seriously,tense times which gradually vanished and Rishi found the strength, the zest, the enthusiasm to face tough times any time. He got together a team of writers. He told them what he wanted and to his good luck he realised he vibed very well with his writers. He wanted everything to come spontaneously. There were no strict rules, no guidelines, no methods. He was a director who told his team what he wanted from them and then gave them the freedom to grow as much as they could. "I realised this was the best method. When I saw the results I saw actors from whom I had expected nothing great come up with nothing but everything great. The technicians also came up with their best. And what happens when everyone in the team goes out of his or her way to give his best? That's what I have seen. It's great to see, to feel. I am satisfied, more than satisfied. There may be some flaws here or there, I am human and a first-time after all. Some of the flaws I have repaired after having a show for all my distributors. They liked the film and I slept peacefully after several nights. They went back gloriously happy. They congratulated me for keeping up the RK tradition and as they congratulated me I could see my father smiling and blessing me from above. I felt I had lived upto his expectations and really great expectations they are. My greatest moment was when I showed the film to my mother. She had tears in her eyes and she blessed me. That one blessing was enough. It was much more than a million blessings for me. My father's blessings from above and mother's blessings from below, what more could a son desire? I only hope and pray that I live upto their expectations? How will I face them otherwise?

Rishi is sure he would not get the results he looked for if he didn't have a full-fledged team of eighteen artistes "who were ever eager to do their best for RK, for me". It is only with their cooperation that he could complete such a big film in just fourteen months. He could have finished it earlier if the American weather didn't play havoc with his schedule. The original release was planned for Diwali. It is now being released on Idd. How's that for secularism, something the Kapoors have been known for since the days of Prithviraj Kapoor!

Nadeem's arrest could have created problems but luck was on Rishi's side again. Nadeem, Shravan and lyricist Sameer had already composed the music of the film. Music strictly in the rich RK tradition with that little touch of Rishi Kapoor which was a must. It's all there in the music.

Rishi feels he is very lucky about finding his romantic pair. He saw just three scenes done by Akshaye Khanna in a flop film called Himalayputra, made by his father Vinod Khanna and he rushed to his brothers Randhir and Rajiv to tell them that he had found his hero. They asked no questions. They stood by him. He saw Aishwarya Rai in his friend Rahul Rawail's Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and that was it. He had already visualised Akshaye and Aishwarya as great lovers.

And Rishi swears he would not be able to make a film like Aa Ab Laut Chale without his brothers. Three were joint producers. Randhir looked after the money and any other money-made problems. Rajiv was the editor who at times worked thirty-six hours without a wink to give his brother his best.

Rishi is the first director who has shot inside hearts and souls and minds. He has shot America like very few Indian directors have. He has shot India like only a man in love with his country can. He has lived with Aa Ab... Nothing else has mattered to him during the last fourteen months. Rishi knows he is a director who will face the greatest trial of his life come January 22, a trial tougher than a trial by fire. He is scared, still not scared. He is nervous, still not nervous. He is numb and not so numb. He doesn't know what he is, who he is. He has almost forgotten who he is. And what about Rishi Kapoor the great romantic actor? Give him good roles, some good directors, and he is game. He is still trying to find the real Rishi Kapoor. Half of him he has found during his twenty-six years as an actor. The other half? There is a long way to go for one of the most talented actors whose thirst for new directions can never end, will never end. Will he do something like what his father did? Will he surpass him? Will he? Wait and watch this man. You'll not be disappointed, never.