Rishi Kapoor-Dimple Kapadia’s Bobby: The film that saved RK Studios, heralded the start of teenage love stories in India

As Sharmaji Namkeen begins streaming, we look back at Rishi Kapoor's first film, Bobby, as a grown-up that made him a national heartthrob.

Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in Raj Kapoor's Bobby.

Written by Sampada Sharma

New Delhi | April 2, 2022 08:03 AM IST

5 min read

Rishi Kapoor started his career as a romatic hero, and for the longest time he stuck to his lane. Until he started his second innings at the movies where he experimented with his roles, Rishi was known as the on-screen lover boy and this journey of the late actor started with the 1973 film Bobby, also starring Dimple Kapadia, which was directed by the famous filmmaker Raj Kapoor, also Rishi’s father.

The 1973 film Bobby became the crowning jewel of RK Studios as it was this film that brought the studio back to life. “Bobby was made because Raj Kapoor had to be bailed out. He had this studio mortgage. Bobby was made at a time when Raj Kapoor needed a successful film,” Rishi once told Bollywood Hungama. RK Studios was in severe losses after the box office failure of Mera Naam Joker, and Bobby was the film that brought them their fame and glory back.

At the time, Bobby was seen as a film that redefined romance for the younger generation. Starring Rishi and Dimple, who were both fairly young, the film represented rebellious teenage love that does not hold parents’ words as sacred. Unlike the romantic films of the era, where parents’ approval was often seen as the big conflict in a love story, Bobby saw the lead couple eloping, and even trying to kill themselves. There are elements here that seem too far-fetched when you watch it in 2022, but one can’t forget that for a society like ours, where the concept of love has been taboo for decades, Bobby seemed like a rule-breaker that spoke to the younger generation, and of course, good music made the deal even sweeter.

Bobby was Rishi Kapoor’s first role as a grown up.

For the unversed, Bobby follows Rishi’s Raj and Dimple’s Bobby who fall head over heels for each other, only after a few short exchanges. What follows is the class divide between their families that don’t approve of this union. Raja, 18, and Bobby, 16, want to get married to each other, but since that is not an option legally, they decide to run away to be together, even if it means they have to embrace death. As you watch the film today, it is evident that the two characters here are essentially kids, who have thrown themselves into adulthood of their own will. Their actions are quite fitting for their age, they are childish because that’s what they are supposed to be. But it is also very obvious that these two individuals come from a world where men and women of a certain age don’t necessarily mingle with each other so an innocent crush can be hyped up into love pretty quickly.

Rishi’s Raja is a boy who was sent to boarding school as punishment but as he as returned as a grown man, he still wishes to be coddled. In the absence of any love and warmth from his parents, he finds love in Bobby who sees him as no one has ever seen him before. From being a meek guy, Raj turns into a confident young man who carries himself with a hint of style, and is more assertive with his decisions as the plot moves on.

Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in Bobby.

Rishi Kapoor, who won the Filmfare Best Actor award for his performance in the film, admitted years later that he had, in fact, bought the award for Rs 30,000. In his memoir Khullam Khulla, Rishi wrote, “I think that Amitabh was sulking because I had won the best actor award for Bobby. I am sure he felt the award was rightfully his for Zanjeer, which released the same year. I am ashamed to say it, but I actually ‘bought’ that award. I was so naïve. There was this PRO, Taraknath Gandhi, who said to me, ‘Sir, tees hazaar de do, toh aap ko main award dila doonga.’ I am not the manipulative sort but I admit that I gave him the money without thinking.”

Rishi might have bought the most popular award of the time but staying fresh in the audience’s mind even 49 years later is not something anyone can buy. Bobby certainly wasn’t the best performance of Rishi Kapoor’s career but it gave him the right platform to meet his audience, who recently got their last glimpse of the actor in Sharmaji Namkeen.