Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor passes away at 67

Rishi Kapoor, a Bollywood actor well known for his role in the 1973 film Bobby has passed at the age of 67. According to Indian media outlets, the actor died in a Mumbai hospital due to cancer.

The Indian Express reported that Rishi spent a week in the ICU at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital before breathing his last breath this morning. His family released a statement saying that the beloved actor died at 8:45am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia.

It was reported that the veteran actor had kept the doctors and medical staff entertained. He had to go through two years of treatment across two continents and yet Rishi remained jovial and determined to live. The Bollywood legend was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2018 and was in New York for close to a year before going back to India last September. His brother, Randhir Kapoor told India TV that the Bollywood star was sent to the hospital due to difficulty breathing.

Fans of Rishi as well as the Bollywood community have been posting tributes on social media. Amitabh Bachchan, a popular Indian actor said on Twitter that he feels ‘destroyed’ with the news of his friend’s death.

Born on 4 September 1952, Rishi Raj Kapoor was an Indian actor, director and producer in Bollywood. He won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist after starring in his father Raj Kapoor’s 1970 film Mera Naam Joker. In 1973 he acted opposite Dimple Kapadia in the film Bobby where he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1974. From the 70s up to 2000, Rishi acted as a romantic lead in 92 films. The actor won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor in 2011’s Do Dooni Chaar. In 2017, he won Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Kapoor & Sons. He was given the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Rishi starred opposite his wife Neetu Singh in 12 films from 1973 to 1981.

Rishi was born in Chembur, Bombay to a Punjabi family. His parents are actor-director Raj Kapoor and Krishna Raj Kapoor. His grandfather is actor Prithviraj Kapoor. His brothers, maternal uncles and paternal uncles were all actors although his two sisters did not join the film industry.