Rishi Kapoor has made many iconic Bollywood films in his 50-year-long career and has left a lasting impression on audiences with roles like Raj in Bobby, Dev in Prem Rog and Raju in Sargam. He debuted as a leading actor in the 1973 film Bobby opposite debutante Dimple Kapadia. In the year 1977, he got an offer for a big film. At first, Rishi Kapoor rejected this offer. Later, something happened that made him sign the film. This film turned out to be a blockbuster.
The film we are talking about here is Amar Akbar Anthony, released in 1977. Directed by Manmohan Desai, this film was a multi-starrer in which Rishi Kapoor appeared along with Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna. He played the role of Akbar in this film. Earlier, he had refused to act in this film in clear words saying, “I cannot do this film”. But then after meeting Desai Sahab, he agreed.
When Manmohan Desai was doing Amar Akbar Anthony, he called Rishi Kapoor and said, “I am doing a film called Amar Akbar Anthony, and I want to see you in the role of Akbar in this film”. When Rishi Kapoor heard this, he was stunned and said, “Manji sir, how can I play this role, it was played by my grandfather. I will not even fit in this role”. And with these words, he rejected the offer.
After Rishi Kapoor refused to listen, Manmohan angrily disconnected the call saying, “This stupid boy has no sense”. When Rishi Kapoor returned to Mumbai after shooting Laila Majnu, Manmohan Desai called him to his office.
Rishi Kapoor said, “When you told me the name of the film Amar Akbar Anthony, I thought that the name of the eternal lover Krishna would be Amar, the name of Caesar Cleopatra would be Mark Antony and the name of Mughal-e-Azam would be Akbar, so I rejected the offer. Manmohan Desai said that this film was the story of the Taporis of Bombay and when Rishi Kapoor heard this, he agreed to do the film.
The film was a huge success at the box office. The songs and dialogues of the film were also well received. The film was based on a true story.
As Rishi Kapoor stepped into a new role in this film, he completely changed the image that was created about him back then that he was only a romantic hero and could only act in romantic films. This film proved to be the biggest turning point for his film career. Even today, people like this film very much.
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