Ranbir Kapoor sure has competition in own family! Rishi Kapoor is one of the few actors who is like (and even likes) wine, as a performer, he is getting better every year. When Rishi Kapoor began as an actor, making his adult debut with his father, Raj Kapoor's Bobby, his chocolate boy looks made him a nationwide pinup boy. Later on, he was part of many superhits in '70s, '80s and '90s, but the film-makers relied too much on his sweet-boy looks and romantic image. Rishi Kapoor might have been a hit star, but he wasn't considered one of the best actors of his generation.
However, after a short break, Rishi Kapoor ditched his romantic lead roles and took on supporting roles from the late '90s. It is during this innings that we finally recognised the versatile range of the actor in Chintuji, as he impressed us in varied roles from protagonist to antagonist, from comedy to thriller. This year itself, he gave two excellent performances in 102 Not Out and Mulk.
In this special feature, we look at seven movies of Rishi Kapoor where he has given some of his career-best performances.
Namastey London
Though Namastey London belonged to Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, Rishi Kapoor was quite impressive as Katrina's London-settled, but desi at heart father. While he might be wrong in insisting for an Indian groom for his daughter, Kapoor's cherubic portrayal did win him a lot of sympathy points from the audience.
Chintu Ji
In this underrated satire, Rishi Kapoor did a self-parody of himself as an ageing star who thinks too high of himself. Definitely, one of the funniest, mean-streaked performance, laced with an emotional twinge, from the veteran actor!
Do Dooni Chaar
The real-life spouses, Rishi and Neetu Singh, have acted in many movies before, but Do Dooni Char is certainly there among the top of the best. Playing a middle-class family with its corresponding set of issues, Rishi and Neetu sell the idea of a couple with real-life goals with immaculate ease. Just ignore the travesty called Besharam that came after!
Agneepath
Sanjay Dutt's Kaancha Cheena may have been the main antagonist in the Hrithik Roshan-reboot of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer. But it was Rishi Kapoor who walked away with the most of the praise. Playing an original character, Rishi Kapoor gave a chilling portrayal as the cruel pimp, that left us disgusted and mesmerised at the same time.
Aurangzeb
This very underrated YRF thriller was Arjun Kapoor's second film and had him in a double role. While Arjun, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Amrita Singh and Jackie Shroff were all good in the film, it was Rishi Kapoor whose two-sided act left the biggest impact. Playing the role of a corrupt cop who wouldn't mind killing off his own kin for selfish gains, this was Rishi's most understated, menacing performance till date.
102 Not Out
After a couple of decades, Rishi Kapoor reunited with Amitabh Bachchan for this heart-warming father-son saga. While Amitabh Bachchan was adorable as the goofy 102-year old father, Rishi Kapoor's son had a more diverse range of emotions to deliver. Needless to say, the actor performed his role with immaculate ease.
Mulk
What could be the gutsiest movie of the year, Mulk is a hard-hitting portrayal of the prejudice Muslims have been facing in India. Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu deliver terrific performance in the movie, that adds so much emotional depth in some of the film's best scenes!
Agree with our feature? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 04, 2018 06:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).