Bollywood’s chocolate hero Rishi Kapoor to be missed

Pakistan News & Features Services

Rishi Kapoor, who remained the heartthrob of millions for decades, went down fighting as he too lost the battle against cancer in a Mumbai hospital on April 30. He was 67.

For the second day running, the entertainment industry was robbed of a legend. Irrfan Khan, the star of Hollywood and Bollywood, had passed away at the age of 53 in the same city due to cancer. 

Rishi was a part of the great Kapoor dynasty which ruled the Bollywood for decades, starting with Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor yesteryears to Kareena Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor of today. 

The Kapoor family had their origins in city of Peshawar in Pakistan where Rishi’s grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor and his father Raj Kapoor were born. 

The family migrated to India after the partition in 1947. Rishi had visited his anecstors’ residential building, called Kapoor Haveli, in Peshawar in 1990. 

Being the youngest son of the great Raj Kapoor, Rishi had made his debut in movies as a child artist but he rose to prominence with the blockbuster Bobby, in which he played his first-ever lead story, at the age of 20. 

He continued charming and mesmerizing the audience with his soft mannerism and unmatched elegance to emerge as the real chocolate hero of Bollywood during the times when the baton of superstar changed hands from Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan. 

Rishi excelled in playing role of the romantic lead in dozens of films for over two decades after which he succeeded in making a successful transition to character roles. 

He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 and returned to India last September after a year-long course of treatment in New York. Upon his return, he was hospitalized a few times but recovered. He, however, lost the battle when taken to hospital on the morning of April 29 after he had complained of breathing difficulties.