New Delhi: Rishi Kapoor the husband was ‘infinitely better’ than Rishi Kapoor the ‘boyfriend’. This is what his wife and companion for more than four decades Neetu Singh once wrote in a book. The actor passed away Thursday morning at a hospital here after a two-year long battle with cancer. He was 67.
In ‘Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored’, the autobiography of Rishi Kapoor co-written by Meena Iyer, the actor had penned the ‘afterword’.
Romantic pair
Rishi and Neetu played romantic leads in many films such as Kabhi Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Khel Khel Mein. They tied the knot in 1980.
Neetu took a break from movies after marriage only to return on the silver screen with Love Aaj Kal in 2009 with her husband. They featured together in Do Dooni Chaar in 2010, Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) and Besharam (2013).
Honest confession
“Our dating days were filled with so much tension that it was a relief to finally get married. Before I got married, my daily routine was fixed. I would shoot until 8.30 pm, pack up. Then I will go out for a drive or dinner with my possessive boyfriend,” Neetu wrote in the book. It was published by HarperCollins in 2017.
“Marriage was a way out of this routine for me. I wanted to relax, not have to report for work or have meetings. I got exactly what I wanted – a husband, a home, a family. I made the right choice in every way. Rishi Kapoor the ‘husband’ was infinitely better than Rishi Kapoor the ‘boyfriend’.
Playing pranks
Neetu said as a boyfriend, the Kapoor scion was ‘so brash and incorrigible’ that her colleagues would feel sorry for her.
“For instance, I had no makeup man and enjoyed doing my own makeup. While I was getting ready, he would barge into my room. Then ruin my makeup with an eyeliner pencil and stand there laughing. Or he’d grab my bag and empty its contents on the road. They were silly, bratty little ways of troubling me. And he’d constantly crib about my clothes. Unlike when he was a boyfriend, as a husband Rishi has never given me cause for concern about our relationship,” Neetu had said.
Agencies