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EXCLUSIVE: Sharmaji Namkeen producer Honey remembers Rishi Kapoor; They bonded on Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan
Honey Trehan informed that Rishi Kapoor would often say that one should learn professionalism from Amitabh Bachchan.
On April 30, 2020 the world lost one of the finest actors of Indian cinema - Rishi Kapoor. After spending nearly a year in New York for his cancer treatment, the actor had returned to Mumbai in September 2019, and soon after had resumed working on his yet-to-be-released film, Sharmaji Namkeen. Unfortunately, the actor couldn’t complete the shoot, and later Paresh Rawal stepped in for the balance portions. Filmmaker Honey Trehan who is producing the movie with Abhishek Chaubey and Excel Entertainment informs that they will be retaining Rishi Kapoor’s portions in the film.
“How and why we are doing it, is for you to see in the film. Sharmaji Namkeen is a tribute to Rishi ji. In 2020, we first lost Irrfan and then Rishi ji, and it was more of a personal loss for me. I got to know Rishi ji closely while working with him on Sharmaji Namkeen, while with Irrfan I had worked on 6 films. In fact, he was also supposed to be a part of my first directorial debut,” says Honey, adding that Kapoor defined what a ‘full of life person’ could really be like.
“Rishi ji was always present in the moment. He would often give life a chance to react, rather than reacting to life, which I loved about him. I remember after he returned from New York, I once messaged him asking if I can come to meet him during the day time that week. He responded questioning, ‘Tu theek hai na? (Are you ok?)”. I told him I was absolutely fine and just wanted to meet him to check on his health. He laughed and said, ‘Don’t do all of this, if you want to meet me, then come over for drinks.’ In fact, whether you meet him for the first time or the tenth, he would always make your first drink. That’s the kind of host he was,” Honey remembers fondly.
He further adds, “Whenever someone would try to reach him for a photograph or an autograph - however busy he was - he would always make time for them. In fact, he would get up from his chair to greet the person - old or young - ask them their name, about their health, well being and would shower them with lots of blessings. Rishi ji was very rich with his thoughts and upbringing,” says the filmmaker.
He had a lot of regard for Mr Bachchan, and would tell us stories about his professionalism. He would insist one should learn that from Mr Bachchan
Honey Trehan
Honey is a big fan of Rishi’s actor-filmmaker father, and they bonded on Raj Kapoor while shooting for Sharmaji Namkeen. “Rishi ji would share such interesting stories about Raj Saab. He said what he learnt from his father is to listen to your gut. Raj Saab had worked with many great musicians including Shankar Jaikishan, SD Burman, Laxmikant–Pyarelal and Kalyanji–Anandji, but the music in his films would always be referred to as ‘Raj Kapoor’s music’. Rishi ji would say that Raj Saab as a filmmaker would live his characters, understand the music of their lives and then incorporate that in the compositions of his films. That’s how involved he was,” states Honey.
Rishi Kapoor would also often speak about his friend and frequent co-star Amitabh Bachchan. “He had a lot of regard for Mr Bachchan, and would tell us stories about his professionalism. He would insist one should learn that from Mr Bachchan. Rishi ji was a huge fan of his and spoke very fondly about him,” Honey signs off.
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