Remembering Rishi Kapoor: Ali Zafar pens heartfelt tribute for cinema icon

While the film world mourns the death of legendary actor Rishi Kapoor who ruled the cinema for more than 50 years, Ali Zafar also shares his memories of the veteran actor.

Ali Zafar who shared the screen with Rishi Kapoor in Bollywood film Chashme Baddoor took to social media writing a heartfelt tribute for him.

Taking it to social media, Ali Zafar wrote:

My first childhood memory of Rishi Kapoor was the song “Jeevan ke din”. The lyrics resonated with me and I imagined myself singing it one day around a piano the same way he did.  But I never thought I would one day be dancing with the great man himself on a film set.

I still remember the feeling I had when I was about to shoot my first scene with him in the film “Chashme Baddoor.” We met in Goa on set. Given his stature, he had no airs and graces about him, a thorough gentleman and a professional. We would chat about music and art and he was curious about Pakistan. One day he made me try Goan prawn curry that he was very fond of, which I love till today”.

“When I found out that I would get to dance shoulder to shoulder with the legendary dancer, in the title song of the movie, I could hardly believe it till I saw myself standing on a table dancing with Rishi Kapoor himself. It was like being in a movie within a movie. At that age with an injured knee he danced like there was no tomorrow. That’s how I remembered him for years to come.

One day I was most touched when he told me that somehow he saw his young self in me and would like me to play him in his youth in a movie he was considering.

Many years later, I found out he wasn’t well. I reached out to him to check in on his health. One night I saw him in my dream and told him so. He was most thrilled, most gracious and in high spirits and asked how grown up my children were now. I can see him now just as I saw in my dream. Happy, healthy, and dancing… and that’s how I remember him. RIP Rishi Sir.

Chashme Baddoor is a 2013 Bollywood comedy film directed by David Dhawan and written by Sajid and Farhad Samji. 

It was an official remake of the 1981 film Chashme Buddoor, starring Ali Zafar, Taapsee Pannu Divyenndu, and Siddharth in lead roles.