Rishi Kapoor's death anniversary: 'I was the 16th new heroine acting opposite Chintu,' recalls actor's Henna co-star Zeba Bakhtiar

If I were to describe the

Kapoor

family in one sentence, I would say they are all heart. Rishi Kapoor was, by far, one of the greatest actors and one of the most amazing human beings I have known, the more I think about it through time, the

more things

I realise things about him that were not obvious to me during the times we were filming together and the years after that, when we were in touch and met occasionally due to the fact that we lived in different countries.

I was tremendously in awe of Rishi from the moment I met him. This was because the first few Indian films I saw were Rishi Kapoor-starrers: 'Kabhi Kabhie', 'Bobby' and 'Karz'. The impact and impressions left by such epic films early in life outline your future ideals. When I came to Bombay (as it was called then) for the first time in the fall of 1989 for the screen test of 'Henna' and met Rishi for the first time on the evening of my arrival at RK studios, it was a surreal experience that is clearly etched in my memory.


Rishi entered the studio floor where Daboo (Randhir), my mother and I were, walked up to us with a warm greeting, and introduced himself saying, “I’m Rishi Kapoor". I remember nodding dumbfounded as to why a star of his magnitude could be so modest as to introduce himself.


The day after we met we were doing the first photoshoot of 'Henna' with the legendary

JP Singhal

sahib, Rishi said, "Don’t call me Rishi sahib and Rishi ji, just call me Chintu!" It took me a long time to absorb and build up the courage to say Chintu to this huge star and larger-than-life person. What I mean when I say larger-than-life, to be specific, is that everything about Chintu was larger-than-life--the energy he carried, the focus he put into his work, the interest he had in everything, the perfection and hard work that went into every little gesture executed to perfection, his laser-sharp observation of minutest details and the total effortless appearance of it all was so much larger-than-life.


I was the 16th new heroine acting opposite Chintu. He taught me so much while working together yet never made me feel like a newbie who was struggling to learn the ropes. I cannot believe that one year has passed since Chintu left us, the world will never be the same without him. I am very fortunate to have known Chintu closely, his kindness, sincerity, modesty, care, and astronomical talent. Chintu, my love, and prayers will always be with you.--As told to Bharti Dubey