E-Paper
Rishi Kapoor says Jeetendra and Rakesh Roshan never got their due, Ekta Kapoor says ‘friends like these are gems’
Rishi Kapoor has spoken about how his friends and veteran actors Rakesh Roshan and Jeetendra never got their due in Bollywood.
Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor gave a joint television interview with wife and actor Neetu Singh in New York recently. In it, he talked about spending a whole year in the US, watching the seasons change, and also about Bollywood and how it does not give veteran actors their due.
Speaking to Times Now, he said, “Jeetendra my dear friend, Rakesh Roshan my dear friend, they have never been acknowledged. Bechare 50 saal se upar woh log kaam kar rahe hain aur kiya hai. Aaj nahi kar rahe toh kya hua but kiya hai and jo unka samaya hai (Poor guys, they worked for 50 years. So what if they aren’t doing it now. What ever they have done...), they have worked so much for this country. What about them?”
“And I am not bothered about myself. Jeetendra ne kitna...how much entertainment he has given this country,” he added. Jeetendra’s daughter and television and film producer Ekta Kapoor was touched at Rishi’s words for her father.
“Friends like these r gems ! Rishi uncle on why dad or Guddu uncle never get acknowledged for their contribution to Entertainment ! Duaaas n love for this powerhouse of an actor and amazing friend ! May he b healthy n happy always,” she wrote in a tweet.
Rishi and Jeetendra and worked in several movies together like Sindoor, Ghar Ki Izzat, Dosti Dushmani and Ameeri Gareebi. He has worked with Rakesh Roshan in Aap Ke Deewane and Khel Khel Mein (which also starred Neetu).
Rishi has been in New York for an entire year now. He is receiving treatment for cancer there since September 2018. He celebrated his 67th birthday on Wednesday and is expected to return to India soon. Even Rakesh Roshan was diagnosed with cancer last year. He underwent a surgery in January, which his son and actor Hrithik Roshan confirmed went well.
Talking about Rishi’s cancer diagnosis, Neetu said in the same interview that she was devastated. “My first reaction was, obviously very bad, I was devastated, my kids were devastated. We didn’t know what to do. But then we thought to ourselves that this is it, we have to deal with it. Where he (Rishi) is concerned, he was in denial. For 4-5 months, he was not himself. I think when you start accepting that this is your issue, then you are stronger. I feel he is much stronger for the past, maybe 5-6 months,” she said.
Rishi added, “The thing is, people think and we dramatise in films, that cancer is a dreaded disease. Yes, it is. But today, it is all treatable, if diagnosed at an early stage, it can be dealt with. Cancer is curable and also, you have to have family support. Filmon me humne background music daal ke itna kharab kiya hai naam cancer ka (We have given a bad name to cancer with all the background music that we used in films)! Today it its treatable, people are dealing with all kinds of cancer …just have to be positive.”
Follow @htshowbiz for more