I knew Vinod before he joined films. I was a teenager and he was five years elder to me. He used to be a lady-killer, a very good-looking guy. He was extremely popular in his college days. Then Vinod joined films and people were talking about him all the time. He was often compared to Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. I was younger. But in those days, if you were working in the industry you used to meet everybody on and off and we also became friends of sorts. Since Vinod was also doing a couple of films with my wife [Neetu Kapoor], we met at times. I have known Vinod as a colleague [too] and we have done about five films together, each of it having a memory of its own. But, over the years, we have cared for each other a lot.
It was during Amar Akbar Anthony [1977] that we met and shared a lot of time together. The film was a huge hit. But after that we didn’t get a chance to work together. He was doing his films and I was busy with mine. Meanwhile, he was drawn towards spirituality and had left for Oregon [Osho’s ashram in the United States]. After he came back [in 1987], we worked together in Chandni [1989]. It has been too long to recall what and how he had changed, almost 30 years have passed, but I remember that he got very philosophical at times. He was a big Oshoite and a stern believer of the philosophies. He used to talk about many interesting things, about love, life and U.G. Krishnamurty. I wasn’t interested in such things, but I listened to him patiently and out of respect that he was a follower.
He was a very gregarious person, a true Punjabi—fond of eating good food, drinking and hosting parties. He had a very large heart, too. He used to get food for the entire unit from his home and his food used to be really good. I, on the other hand, didn’t get anything. My tiffin used to be made by Neetu and she didn’t give me any food. So, I ended up eating his food mostly. That was one place I cheated Neetu.
My fondest memories of him are from the time we shot Chandni in Zurich, followed by a schedule in Mumbai. We had a lot of fun. We also worked on Eena Meena Deeka [1994]. Then, we did Hema Malini’s Tell Me O Kkhuda [2011], which we shot in Goa. Dharam ji [Dharmendra], too, was a part of that film, but he wasn’t keeping well during those days and used to leave in the evening. So it was strictly Vinod and me spending a lot of evenings together, talking about films, overtimes that we did in the older days, the actors we worked with and a lot of things that I think I have shared only with him.
Over the years, we developed a lot of respect and love for each other. We used to be very warm to each other. He was extremely happy that I had cast his son, Akshaye, for my first directorial venture, Aa Ab Laut Chalen [1999]. He made sure that he told me that.
When I, along with my brothers [Randhir and Rajiv], went to see Vinod a couple of weeks ago in the hospital, we couldn’t meet him till Mrs Kavita Khanna [his wife] came in. We enquired about his health and she told us he is improving and is better. Then, Kavita said, “You know, Rishi, he is reading your book [Khullam Khulla] these days and he is enjoying it thoroughly.” For me, it was some kind of a validation that he has also read the book. There is, of course, mention of him in it, which Kavita said he loved going back to.
Rishi Kapoor is a veteran actor.
As told to Priyanka Bhadani
