Rishi Kapoor & Nitu Singh in Khel Khel Mein(1975).
As a kid born in a film loving family (read masala Hindi films), films was our form of entertainment, especially in small town India (yeah, till then Lucknow was considered a small town!). I am told that at age 4 (somewhere in the 70s, let’s not get into semantics now!), I saw a film and came home and went mad hearing the song “Khullum Khulla pyar karenge hum dono”, by this actor called Chintu Kapoor. It was Khel Khel Mein. Everytime his name was mentioned, and I was all up happy (I was 4, happy is how it was described then!).
At the time, whenever I did not want to see a film (that was basically the family outing then), I was lured to the cinemas by the refrain “Chintu Kapoor ki film hai.” And so, the love story began and my watching him on full screen!
Film after film, Anjaane Mein(1978), Duniya Meri Jeb Mein(1979), Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin(1977, where he was not the hero, but dahhh who cared, he still danced like a dream!) Amar Akbar Anthony(1977), Naseeb(1981) etc etc. were all special because they had Chintu Kapoor in them.
After watching Hum Kiss Se Kam Nahi at Mayfair cinema, Lucknow I was taken in by the aura of Chintu Kapoor that I used to dress up like him, the way he was in the famous qawwali, "hai agar dushman koi zamana ghum nahi..." and sing it as well. This became my penchant "ha" ka gaana for antyakshari and it is that even today. For the first time I had seen qawwali with so much flamboyance. It was the magic of Chintu Kapoor. As it was in the Amar Akbar Anthony's qawwali.
Rishi Kapoor in Amar Akbar Anthony.
For the world they were Amitabh Bachchan films, but for me, they were Chintu Kapoor films! His effortless acting, his dancing panache, his smile, his aura had me hooked. And then came Karz! The dance, the music, the guitar…. The style…. and then of course the now iconic EK HASEENA THI and his attitude still makes my hair stand on end.
Karz
He became not just an actor but a reference point for relationship of others. Shashi Kapoor, Chintu s uncle, Neetu SIngh, his wife, Raj Kapoor his dad etc. etc. He was the center point for me as a kid for years to come.
His films stood for breezy light rom coms mostly and easy on the eye.
Later in life he proved his versatility as a negative guy, but one thing remained constant. His aura. The one that had drawn a 4-year-old child and even now watching his films is a pleasure. The man was stood his own ground despite sharing space with stalwarts and icons! Speaks a lot of the man’s stature. He was responsible for a lot of my childhood and when he passed away in 2020, it was the end of my childhood.
Will miss him forever!
Mitu is a Mumbai based creative director of big ticket television shows, producer & short filmmaker.
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