There can be no smoke without a fire. Now the story can be told. Even while the ruins of the iconic R.K Studio in Chembur were still smoldering from Saturday’s Level 2 blaze that devastated a major portion of it, Rishi Kapoor allegedly received a threatening phone call at the studio in which the veteran actor was warned of worse things happening to him if he continued badmouthing religious gurus and saints on social media.

Police sources refusing to be quoted say that the outraged Kapoor family has demanded a high-level probe into the incident. Suspecting this to be a case of arson, the Kapoors are convinced that there is a major conspiracy behind the fire that caused the studio huge financial losses and left the family emotionally drained.

Fire Brigade sources and Rishi Kapoor himself confirmed that several priceless costumes and other memorabilia from Raj Kapoor’s 1970 drama Mera Naam Joker and also other outfits worn by all RK Film heroines from Nargis to Aishwarya Bachchan were destroyed in the fire. A rough estimate of the damage was put at Rs. 45 lakh. The cause of the fire was suspected to be a short circuit. Now with Rishi Kapoor’s allegation, the case is taking a sinister turn.

According to Rishi Kapoor, news of the R K Studio blaze was heartbreaking to the family’s matriarch, Krishna Raj Kapoor. “My mother is devastated. She keeps indifferent health and we asked her not to come to the studio because the fire was quite bad" he told a daily. 

The veteran actor has been a vociferous critic on Twitter of self-claimed god men in India and has tweeted strongly against several of them. When Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Ram Rahim was recently awarded life imprisonment in a rape case, Rishi Kapoor had tweeted, "Frauds. Blind faith in con people. Government must punish these fraudsters. Sukhwinder Kaur, Radhema, Gurmeet, Asaram, Nityananda. All Criminals!"