The untimely demise of veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor on Thursday brought in a barrage of reactions on social media. The actor went to the HN Reliance hospital with his family on Wednesday morning after he complained of breathing issues.
He died of cancer at the age of 67.
His family released a statement after his death:
“Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45 am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last.”
“He remained jovial and determined to live to the fullest right through two years of treatment across two continents. Family, friends, food, and films remained his focus and everyone who met him during this time was amazed at how he did not let his illness get the better of him.”
From actors to politicians, eminent personalities, including the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu, and West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee; mourned the loss of the legend.
While Amitabh Bachchan wrote that this information “destroyed” him. Akshay Kumar termed the news “heartbreaking”. Rajinikanth prayed for his “dearest friend” to rest in peace.
Others who expressed their condolences were his fellow stars in film Hema Malini, Simi Garewal, Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene; Sanjay Dutt, Preity Zinta, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, and Sonam Kapoor among others.
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Rishi Kapoor debuted as a child actor in 1970 in his father Raj Kapoor’s film, Mera Naam Joker. Several of his films in the 1980s and 90s – Khel Khel Mein, Karz, and Chandni – became massive box office hits.
He was a skillful dancer and some of his films had songs that are massively popular even today.
Kapoor made a successful on-screen pair with actress Neetu Singh. In one of Bollywood’s most enduring love stories, they took that romance off-screen as well when they got married in 1980.
He passed on the acting gene to his son Ranbir Kapoor, who is now also a Bollywood star.
He played the romantic lead in a total of 92 films between 1973 and 2000. The quintessential Bollywood star sang, danced, and charmed his way into millions of hearts and he will remain in those hearts forever.