The sudden demise of Rishi Kapoor on April 30 came across as a major blow to Bollywood and his near-dear ones. The veteran actor who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 breathed his last at the age of 67 at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai at 8.45 am. Now, as the Kapoor family is coping up with the irreparable loss, Rishi's friend and renowned distributor Raj Bansal recalled his the phone call his 'Chintu' made to him after the cancer detection. Raj, during an interview with a portal, told that the deceased actor addressed him as 'Thakur'. Choked while talking, Rishi informed Raj that had to fly to New York for further treatment.
“His cancer was detected in 2018. No one knew about it, except for the family. It was September 2018. He was to fly to the US for treatment that evening. He rang me up the same day. He used to fondly call me ‘Thakur’. I took the call and greeted him. He said, ‘Thakur tere se baat karni hai’. And then, he choked up. I sensed something was not right. Then he told me, ‘Thakur paanch minute mein call karna’. I waited for exactly five minutes and called back. I asked him, ‘Chintu sab theek toh hai?’ He was choking again. ‘Thakur, achchi khabar nahin hai. I have been diagnosed with cancer. I’m flying to New York for treatment this evening,’ he told me,” Raj revealed during the interview.
Raj, on the day of Rishi's death, penned a heartbreaking tweet. "Tears roll down while I write. I have lost my dear friend who was like an elder brother to me," he wrote on Twitter.
Tears roll down while I write. I have lost my dear friend who was like an elder brother to me. #RishiKapoor
— RAJ BANSAL (@rajbansal9) April 30, 2020
Rishi and Neetu Kapoor were in New York for 11 months for the former's treatment. The couple returned to Mumbai in September last year. The Chandni actor is survived by wife Neetu and children Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and Ranbir Kapoor.
(Source: Writersball)