Thaindian News

By Joginder Tuteja
Mumbai, March 28 (IANS) Rishi Kapoor played the role of a young Raj Kapoor in “Mera Naam Joker” way back in 1970 and Russian artist Kseniya Ryabinkina was one of the leading ladies in the film. The two are now set to come together after nearly 40 years in a movie titled “Chintu Ji”.

A comedy partially based on Rishi’s life, “Chintu Ji” is being made by debutant Ranjit Kapoor. And the film’s name is derived from Rishi’s nickname - Chintu.

“Kseniya (Ryabinkina) will be seen again in ‘Chintu Ji’. Incidentally, this will be only her second Hindi film since she appeared in ‘Mera Naam Joker’. In ‘Chintu Ji’, she has a very pivotal role to play as she brings along immense metamorphosis in the life of the character that I play,” Rishi told IANS.

In “Mera Naam Joker”, Kseniya had played a Russian trapeze artist with whom the character played by Raj Kapoor falls in love. However, the two characters don’t unite in the film.

Though in “Mera Naam Joker”, Rishi Kapoor had scenes only with Simi Grewal, his father Raj Kapoor had closer interaction with Kseniya. But ‘Chintu Ji’ will see the two of them sharing screen space.

“It was a surreal experience because I was just a kid in ‘Mera Naam Joker’. I guess it was a great idea to get her on board in ‘Chintu Ji’, which is a film that is part fiction, part reality and part illusion when it comes to being based on my life,” said Rishi, who is currently shooting for “Do Dooni Chaar”, the comeback vehicle of his wife Neetu Singh.

“Chintu Ji” is about a film star (Rishi Kapoor) who wants to contest elections from his hometown but isn’t quite serious about politics. At heart, he is still a brat that he has been throughout his life and his only motive is to mint money and make merry.

Ironically, his entry in his village ends up making life better for all there, even though it is more by default than design.

“When the makers of the film approached me, they were very confident about the script. They specifically told me that that film was written keeping me in mind. They seem to have done thorough research of my life,” Rishi said.

So is the film about Rishi Kapoor, the man who regaled the audience for three decades (1970s to 1990s) as a leading hero?

“No, the film is not about the journey of Rishi Kapoor, a film star. It is about the moment in the life of this film star where he tries to do something new. It’s his stint in politics which is covered in ‘Chintu Ji’. It was nice to see shades of my own life in the film’s narrative,” said Rishi, who was last seen in Zoaya Akhtar’s “Luck By Chance”.