Rishi Kapoor forbid son Ranbir Kapoor from making acting debut before he turned 26, as he felt there would be a ‘drought of suitable heroines’

Rishi Kapoor wrote in his autobiography that he didn't want Ranbir Kapoor to experience the same difficulties that he did with finding a 'suitable heroine' to star opposite.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: July 6, 2023 01:54 PM IST

3 min read

Ranbir Kapoor opened up about the death of Rishi Kapoor. (Photo: Express Archives)

Listen to this article

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Even though Rishi Kapoor worked with dozens of leading actresses in his time, he admitted that he didn’t ‘pair well’ with most of them, because he looked too boyish on screen. This is precisely why, he wrote in his autobiography Khullam Khulla, he forbid his son Ranbir Kapoor from making his acting debut until he turned 26.

“The drought of suitable heroines also meant that I could never benefit from being cast with an established lead actress,” he wrote, mentioning Zeenat Aman, Moushumi Chatterjee and others, and noting the circumstances under which they were able to work together. He said that Zeenat wasn’t paired opposite him even though they worked together Hum Kisise Kum Naheen, and Moushumi was already married by the time they worked together Zehreela Insaan.

Also read | When Raj Kapoor revealed why he never married Nargis, said wife Krishna Raj ‘understood’: ‘Nobody cheated anybody’

He continued, “I didn’t pair well with most of the reigning queens of the time. Hema Malini was a little older than me and I could only work with her in a non-mainstream film like Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986), which was about the old Punjabi custom of a young devar (brother-in-law) having to marry his older brother’s widow. Rekha, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman were around the same age but, pitched against my boyish looks, appeared older. Any actor who starts his career very young encounters this difficulty. Shahid Kapoor and Imran Khan also found it difficult to pair with a suitable lead actress. It was one of the reasons I made Ranbir wait till he was 26 years old before acting in his first film.”

Ranbir eventually made his debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya, which was released in 2007. He was paired opposite fellow newcomer Sonam Kapoor in the film, which failed both critically and commercially. But Ranbir was able to bounce back with a series of major hits such as Wake Up Sid, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Barfi, Rockstar and Rajneeti. He delivered the biggest hit of his career in 2018, with Sanju. Ranbir last starred in the romantic comedy Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, which earned more than Rs 200 crore worldwide. He will next be seen in the action film Animal.

From the homepage