Yesteryear actress Simi Garewal shot for the first episode of her show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal with Rishi Kapoor and his wife Neetu Kapoor. The couple spoke about their lives together, Rishi’s innate ability to bully and his not-so-close relationship with his superstar son Ranbir Kapoor.
Rishi said that despite there being much love between the father and son, there was often a semblance of a ‘glass wall’ the two. “We can see each other but not feel anything,” he said. Rishi attributes it to the relationship he shared with his father and hero, Raj Kapoor. “I had a fear of my father. I was in awe of him. I had great respect for him. It took him a long time to say have a drink in front of me. I used to call him ‘sahab’.”
Rishi also admitted to being overly analytical of his son’s performance. So much so that he doesn’t watch his movies. “I don’t watch his films. I have stopped watching his films. I become very analytical of him and therefore I don’t follow the film, just his acting.”
Needless to say, the two don’t discuss the Ranbir’s films either. Given a choice however, he would’ve had an opinion about Barfi and Rocket Singh. “If I were his manager, I’d have asked him to not to do Barfi. (In retrospect) I am glad he did it.”
Ranbir moving out of the house however, seems to have worked for the two. “Now that we don’t live under one roof, there’s more communication. But he talks to his mother more than me. But I don’t think Ranbir will be a father like me.”
Neetu attests to the fact the two are awkward when she isn’t around. “They need me to break the ice,” she says. Recounting an incident, she adds, “I was away for a few days and Ranbir was home. I kept calling him to ask how’re you doing. He said ‘I’m fine, I’m having dinner with papa’ and all that.
“So when I got back, I was like how was it? He said, ‘We had a few quiet moments. Koi baat hi nahin huyi. Hum dinners pe jaate thhe aur khana khate thhe.’ I have to be there in the house for a conversation to happen between them.”
