NEW DELHI: While describing Amitabh Bachchan as among the ‘greatest actors of Indian cinema’, chocolate boy of 70s and 80s, Rishi Kapoor said that he and other actors of that time were ‘small rungs in Big B’s ladder of success’. ”Mr Amitabh Bachchan is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He changed the entire trend of cinema in the 70s to action films. ”However, actors like me have been small rungs in his ladder of success. ”All of us were sporting enough to play the second lead in his films. When compared to this, where does one see the ‘khans’ working with each other in films today,”the actor, speaking at the release of his autobiography ‘khullam khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored’ in the capital last evening, said while stressing the role played by Mr Bachchan’s co-stars in making his films a success. Rishi Kapoor, who managed to carve a niche for himself as an A-list actor during the reign of the Big B as the ‘Angry Young Man’, however admitted that establishing himself as a romantic hero in an age of the ‘angry young man’ was difficult. ”I had the image of a quintessential romantic hero after ‘Bobby’. However, nobody wanted to make romantic films at that time. As a result, many actors became jobless,” Rishi said. Rishi Kapoor, however, managed to carve a niche for himself as a romantic hero in films like ‘kabhi kabhi’, ‘khel khel mein’ and ‘jhootha kahin ka’. Written by Rishi Kapoor in collaboration with writer Meena Iyer, ‘khullam khulla :Rishi Kapoor uncensored ‘ is a frank account of Rishi Kapoor ‘s life in his ‘Characteristically candid’ style. In the book, Rishi writes about growing up in the shadow of a legendary father (Raj Kapoor), skipping school to act in ‘Mera Naam Joker’, the working of the musical hits of the era, his streak of rotten luck with awards, an encounter with Dawood Ibrahim, his heroines (their working relationship, the gossip and the frisson that was sometimes real), his approach to his craft, his tryst with clinical depression, and more. A heart-warming afterword by Neetu Singh rounds off the autobiography. (AGENCIES)
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