‘You’re a 10th fail, I’m a graduate’: What Poonam Dhillon told ‘irritable’ Rishi Kapoor when he’d pretend to be well-read | Bollywood News

Late actor Rishi Kapoor often spoke about what a misfit he was in the film industry, playing romantic heroes at a time when action was the preferred genre. However, Rishi made a place for himself and continued to play romantic lead roles until the 1990s, and switched to playing supporting roles when he became older. During his innings as a lead hero, Rishi worked with many female actors, and in a recent interview, his co-actor Poonam Dhillon, who worked with him in films like Yeh Vaada Raha, Biwi O Biwi, Zamana, remembered him as an “effortless” actor who would sometimes be very “irritable” on set.
Talking to Hindi Rush, Poonam said that Rishi was an “understated, natural actor.” Poonam said that she would sometimes complain about Rishi to his wife Neetu Kapoor, who also worked as an actor before getting married in 1980. “I used to complain to Neetu because he would get so irritated, scold us. Because we were kids in front of them,” she said. Poonam was 10 years younger than Rishi, although they played romantic couples in their films. She recalled that Rishi would show off his language skills as he often assumed that people around him were not well versed with English.
“He was this very English type… He would pride himself on his English. He would read TIME magazine. So, he would often think that I am the only well-read person on this set. At first, we were scared of him. Later, when I got a little comfortable with him, and I gained some confidence. Then I would tell him ‘Len, you are 10th fail, I am a graduate.’ He had not even finished his 10th standard. So I would tell him, ‘Don’t show off your English’,” she recalled with a smile.
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Poonam said that they would often play Scrabble on set and many of his female co-actors would be impressed his vocabulary, but she was the only one who’d notice that he was making up words. “We used to play Scrabble on set and he would show off his English, that I know more than you and maybe. Some heroines, who didn’t know, were impressed with him. I used to argue with him that ‘there’s no such word’,” she said. Poonam recalled him as someone who was “irritable sometimes, but in a good way, not in a nasty way” and added that his wife Neetu described him as “sadu (bitter).”
While recalling her memories of him, Poonam shared that while he was writing his memoir ‘Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored’, he called her to thank her for her contribution in his career. “He said ‘I just wanted to thank you’. I asked ‘for what?’ He said ‘I am actually writing my book and I am recalling all the heroines I have worked with, they all contributed to my life, to my career, to everything so I just wanted to thank you for being part of my journey’. This was so sweet. I was so touched about it.”
Rishi Kapoor passed away in April 2020 at 67.