Rishi Kapoor debuts his talk show Khullam Khulla in Dubai

For those who came for the show, it was some of the best 'inside stories' they would have probably ever heard about the legendary Indian film family, the Kapoors.
The debut of Khullam Khulla - Live with Rishi Kapoor  which kicked-off on Friday night at Dubai World Trade Centre, was a unique and intimate live interactive session, where Rishi dug deep into his life, to provide startling anecdotes while making public unheard tales from his colourful life.
There were stories from his first appearance on screen as a child actor in his father's (Raj Kapoor) movies, to why he does not want to produce/direct his son's (Ranbir) movies.
Rishi clearly had the audience in his grasp as the went on in his inimitable witty style recollecting past memories - some happy ones, some sad, and some from his brash, bratty young days.
As promised, his opener tackled nepotism. "People think  there's nepotism in the industry. There's nothing like that. I may have it easy getting a break, but what after that? You are only what you are on your own merit. Amitabh Bachchan and myself hit success in the same year. But after that things were very difficult for me. I can only say that I was blessed and lucky. It wasn't easy to survive against stalwarts in the industry."
Explaining about his days as a star kid he said, "You know I started taking bribes when I perhaps just a two-year-old. I had to give a shot for my dad's movie and it was raining and I had closed my eyes because of the water coming on my face. I was just not ready to face the camera. It was then the late Nargis Dutt came with an idea to bribe me with a chocolate to make me face the camera in Shree 420 in 1955," Rishi said.
Talking about his favourite roles the actor candidly said, "I having been fooling people all this while by playing those romantic characters in the past. But now, in the second phase of my career, I am doing good roles. Meaningful roles and I am enjoying it."
The actor's narration was substantiated by clips from his movies - right from his great grandfather's days (the Kapoors have been in showbiz for more than 100 years).
 
The actor also opened up on faux pas, including one during an IIFA awards when he and his son Ranbir took to the stage to perform Om Shanti Om. During the act, their jackets got swapped by mistake, and they landed up wearing each other's jackets. Ranbir with the oversized one and Rishi a skin-fitting one. "It was embarassing, but we went on with the show without  interruption."
Once, he said, he actually shot a movie wearing female trousers. "You know I went shopping to Beirut and picked up these black bell-bottom trousers which were in vogue those days. I wanted to wear it for a song in my movie so I turned up for a shot only to be told they were women's trousers because the zip was on the hip side.  It was embarrassing, nevertheless I shot the entire song in it." The talk show was peppered with many such stories and each and every anecdote was applauded by Rishi's wife Neetu (Singh) Kapoor who was seated right in front of the stage.
The show, originally slated for 90 minutes, got so engrossing and engaging that no one realised it was the morning of April 1 until the show's host Kiran Kotrial gave the opportunity to an audience member to ask Rishi a question. Here Rishi wanted to play a prank on the questioner. "I must tell you that since you are the last person to ask me a question, do you know you have won yourself a 90-inch TV?"
The questioner, and the audience, was taken aback and surprised with this grand prize until Rishi explained: "You started your question with 'good morning' right. This means it's April 1 right. Did you know it April Fool's Day today," the actor joked.
This also meant that the show had gone well past its allotted time. It was 1.30am but the audience was not ready to call it a day, because Rishi was in his element, revealing some of the most interesting chapters from his life.
Amit sings Rishi's hits

Ahead of Rishi's appearance on stage, legendary singer Kishore Kumar's son Amit enthralled the audience with some memorable songs from Rishi's films. He started off in a slow fashion but upped the tempo later for some foot-stomping songs such as Om Shanti Om, Bachna Ae Haseeno (also sung by Amit's  half-brother Sumit, in Ranbir's Kapoor's movie of the same title). Amit was backed by a full live band and female crooner Manisha. The duo mesmerised the audience with some fine duets from Rishi-Neetu starrers. Amit too narrated stories revolving around the songs and the film



industry.

For those who came for the show, it was some of the best 'inside stories' they would have probably ever heard about the legendary Indian film family, the Kapoors.
The debut of Khullam Khulla - Live with Rishi Kapoor, which kicked-off on Friday night at Dubai World Trade Centre, was a unique and intimate live interactive session, where Rishi dug deep into his life, to provide startling anecdotes while making public unheard tales from his colourful life.
There were stories from his first appearance on screen as a child actor in his father's (Raj Kapoor) movies, to why he does not want to produce/direct his son's (Ranbir) movies.
Rishi clearly had the audience in his grasp as the went on in his inimitable witty style recollecting past memories - some happy ones, some sad, and some from his brash, bratty young days.
As promised, his opener tackled nepotism. "People think  there's nepotism in the industry. There's nothing like that. I may have it easy getting a break, but what after that? You are only what you are on your own merit. Amitabh Bachchan and myself hit success in the same year. But after that things were very difficult for me. I can only say that I was blessed and lucky. It wasn't easy to survive against stalwarts in the industry."
Explaining about his days as a star kid he said, "You know I started taking bribes when I perhaps just a two-year-old. I had to give a shot for my dad's movie and it was raining and I had closed my eyes because of the water coming on my face. I was just not ready to face the camera. It was then the late Nargis Dutt came with an idea to bribe me with a chocolate to make me face the camera in Shree 420 in 1955," Rishi said.
Talking about his favourite roles the actor candidly said, "I having been fooling people all this while by playing those romantic characters in the past. But now, in the second phase of my career, I am doing good roles. Meaningful roles and I am enjoying it."
The actor's narration was substantiated by clips from his movies, right from his great grandfather's days - the Kapoors have been in show business for more than 100 years.
The actor also opened up on faux pas, including one during an IIFA awards night when he and his son Ranbir took to the stage to perform Om Shanti Om. During the act, their jackets got swapped by mistake, and they landed up wearing each other's jackets. Ranbir with the oversized one and Rishi a skin-fitting one. "It was embarassing, but we went on with the show without interruption."
Once, he said, he actually shot a movie wearing female trousers. "You know I went shopping to Beirut and picked up these black bell-bottom trousers which were in vogue those days. I wanted to wear it for a song in my movie so I turned up for a shot only to be told they were women's trousers because the zip was on the hip side.  It was embarrassing, nevertheless I shot the entire song in it."
The talk show was peppered with many such stories and each and every anecdote was applauded by Rishi's wife Neetu (Singh) Kapoor who was seated right in front of the stage.
The show, originally slated for 90 minutes, got so engrossing and engaging that no one realised it was the morning of April 1 until the show's host Kiran Kotrial gave the opportunity to an audience member to ask Rishi a question. Here Rishi wanted to play a prank on the questioner. "I must tell you that since you are the last person to ask me a question, do you know you have won yourself a 90-inch TV?"
The questioner, and the audience, was taken aback and surprised with this grand prize until Rishi explained: "You started your question with 'good morning' right. This means it's April 1 right. Did you know it's April Fool's Day today," the actor joked.
This also meant that the show had gone well past its allotted time. It was 1.30am but the audience was not ready to call it a day, because Rishi was in his element, revealing some of the most interesting chapters from his life.
Amit sings hits from Rishi's movies
Ahead of Rishi's appearance on stage, legendary singer Kishore Kumar's son Amit enthralled the audience with some memorable songs from Rishi's films. He started off in a slow fashion but upped the tempo later with some foot-stomping songs such as Om Shanti Om, Bachna Ae Haseeno (also sung by Amit's  half-brother Sumit, in Ranbir's Kapoor's movie of the same title). Amit was backed by a full live band and female crooner Manisha. The duo mesmerised the audience with some fine duets from Rishi-Neetu starrers. Amit too, like Rishi, narrated many stories revolving around the songs as well the film industry.