Rishi Kapoor says that he always learns something new from his co-stars, senior or junior. And, it was no different when he scared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan, after 27 years, for Umesh Shukla’s upcoming film, ‘102 Not Out’.
In an exclusive interview to BT, he said, “Our journey began 42 years ago with ‘Kabhi Kabhie’. Thereafter, we have played brothers, friends and now, father and son. When I heard the story idea, it was very exciting to see how a father sends his son to an old-age home. Later, when I heard the whole script, I was bowled over. To have Amitji as a co-star is always a dream. I don’t even need to say it; he is such a wonderful co-artiste, friend and relative. We worked together after 27 years, but the moment we rehearsed, we knew that we were on the same wavelength. Of course, we are older and our reflexes might have jaded, but I learnt another lesson from Amitji while working on this film. Generally, when I am working, I tend to learn from my seniors and juniors. Every time, I take a lesson home from some actor or the other, and this time, it was him. It is amazing to see how he enters into a character, and how he romances and flirts with it. That is how he fine-tunes it and brings out the nuances. After the first few shots, it is bingo! Throughout the film, he conversed with our director Umesh Shukla, in the little Gujarati that he knows. The script of this film was endearing and new. For me, the challenge was how I can develop this character and what his body language should be. I am not playing Rishi Kapoor anymore, so I had to look different, too.”