Ranbir Kapoor wowed the audience yesterday with the teaser of the Sanjay Dutt biopic Sanju which was released yesterday. On the other hand, his father Rishi Kapoor is also gearing up for his big release 102 Not Out with Amitabh Bachchan. The senior actor in a leading daily spoke at length about his legacy, his son and the passion that they share for movies and acting.

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Rishi Kapoor is playing a 75-year-old in his next movie 102 Not Out, and is pairing up with Amitabh Bachchan once again after ages. Although he had played a 90-year-old in Kapoor and Sons, he said that at that point, “he had relied more on prosthetics”, but, “this time it was just a wig, moustache and Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) complementing me with his getup.”

When Rishi was quizzed about his father, the legendary Raj Kapoor and the relationship they shared, he said, “He wasn’t just my father but also my guru who taught me the ropes and introduced me twice, in Mera Naam Joker and Bobby. I was in awe of him which was born out of love, respect and admiration. He was Raj Kapoor; there was a halo around his head. Till we completed school, we hardly saw him because he was busy making films. We didn’t know he was a popular actor-director, but we knew he was an important man because everywhere we went, people would look at us. Even in this hotel, if we came for dinner without a reservation, we got a table easily because of him. We never misused that privilege but he remained an awe-inspiring figure even when I was working with him.”

Rishi did not shy away from talking about the passion that he shares for acting along with son Ranbir. He said, “That’s the family trademark (Being passionate about acting). Ranbir is the fourth generation of Kapoor males in the industry. In 107 years of Indian cinema, our contribution has been 90-plus years. Films are our livelihood, that’s the only thing I know how to do, but I also enjoy it and I am a hardworking actor.”

Rishi is enjoying immensely the new phase of his career in Bollywood, now that he is no longer relegated to playing romantic male leads and dance around trees with the leading actress but is actually getting to play character roles which are interesting and integral to the film.