Rishi Redone

However,his biggest challenge till date has been the character Rauf Lala in the remake of Agneepath. For the first time in his career,he plays an out-and-out negative character in this January 20 release. “I was wary of the audience accepting me as an antagonist and rejected the offer,” says Kapoor. But director Karan Malhotra was insistent. “On my wedding reception,when he came to congratulate me,my wife thought he would be perfect as Rauf Lala,” says Malhotra,who has created this new character for the remake.

Agneepath is not the only experimental ground Rishi is treading upon these days. In Sajid Khan’s Housefull 2,he dabbles in slapstick comedy for the first time. He has also attempted serious reinvention by playing a gay professor in Karan Johar’s Student of The Year and a tattooed biker in David Dhawan’s remake of Chashme Buddoor. “I have now become a salesman,” Rishi declares. “I have to sell my wares carefully. My shop is open and I want my audience to enjoy my roles,” he says. Imtiaz Ali,who directed him in LAK,agrees with his new salesmanship. “For LAK,I wanted an actor who could play the old-fashioned romantic with a young heart. Rishiji is a superior actor with the sense of romance still intact. What appeals most to me is his enthusiasm for the characters he portrays.”

Kapoor started out as a romantic hero in 1970. With his second film,Bobby,setting the cash registers ringing,he was labelled as “the chocolate boy”. This moniker stayed with him for the next three decades of his career. “I sang songs in the best of valleys,chased girls in the most stylish sweaters,fought villains and danced to various numbers,” he says. Towards the late 1990s,he started losing interest. “I was fed up of doing the same kind of films. I had put on weight and my wife started telling me that I am doing films out of boredom.” One day,he decided to give it all up. He returned the signing amounts and said a firm ‘no’ to everyone who offered him lead roles.

Following this,he directed Aa Ab Laut Chalein in 1999. It was a box-office dud and he realised that acting was his only calling. During that time,Rahul Rawail and Veeru Devgn approached him to play the father’s role in Raju Chacha and Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi. “I did not give much thought to it and decided to take up these offers.” Kapoor played the patriarch in many of the films that followed. Now,father’s roles do not appeal to him anymore. “I don’t even want to play father to Ranbir (Kapoor) on screen. The only time I will take up a project with him is when we both have challenging roles,” he confirms. Are the filmmakers listening?