If you thought you knew Bollywood superstar Rishi Kapoor, you might want to think again. The son of a famous father and the father of a famous son (Raj Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, respectively) has come out all guns blazing in his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored. And he spares no one, not even his father Raj, claiming that he had affairs with two leading ladies of his day — Nargis and Vyjayanthimala — which caused much tension in the Kapoor household.

Kapoor makes many disclosures in this book that has been penned in collaboration with film critic Meena Iyer. If you didn’t know that during the shooting of Mera Naam Joker, character actress Achala Sachdev slapped Kapoor eight times to get the scene right, or that he bought his way into his first-ever Filmfare award in 1974, or that he met Dawood Ibrahim, aka the Don, a few times before the Don became a fugitive in India, don’t worry. Khullam Khulla will definitely increase your knowledge of Bollywood, and if you are a fan of Chintu, consider this his best contribution to Bollywood since Kapoor & Sons.

Chintu, as Kapoor is affectionately known, talks about his films at length, especially Karz, which in his opinion would have done much better had it not been released simultaneously with Feroze Khan’s Qurbani. Rishi discloses that he went into depression after Karz didn’t do well and took time to recover, and thanks his directors for understanding because at that point he had started doubting himself, his marriage and his future in the film industry.

A star who refuses to pull his punches

Kapoor worked with his father for the last time in Prem Rog and tells readers that in one of the romantic scenes, his father instructed him by saying “I want Yusuf in your eyes,” referring to Dilip Kumar’s (real name Yusuf Khan) mastery as a romantic hero. He also offers his perspective into the Coolie episode in which his co-star Amitabh Bachchan was injured moments after lecturing him on how to do an action scene safely.

The book has been written in a simple manner with chapters separating different aspects of Kapoor’s career. There is a chapter on the leading ladies he worked with, a chapter about the playback singers who lent their voices to him, and so forth. He criticises those who claim that Kishore Kumar’s vocals were more suited to his persona as Mohammad Rafi sang quite a number of songs for him, including for the films Laila Majnu and Amar Akbar Anthony. Kapoor also tells readers that when he was offered the multi-starrer Amar Akbar Anthony, he told director Manmohan Desai that he couldn’t play Akbar as his grandfather had played the same character in Mughal-i-Azam, not knowing that the film was a comedy flick about siblings lost and found.

Kapoor discusses all issues in the same frank manner that has helped make him a Twitter celebrity, something his wife Neetu Singh isn’t happy about, as she complains in a chapter written by her. However, the actor blames the 1971 war between Pakistan and India for the failure of Kal, Aaj Aur Kal in which three generations of the Kapoor family (Prithviraj, Raj and Randhir Kapoor) acted together. He also mentions his family’s roots in Peshawar and his father’s dream to make an Indo-Pak film with actors from both sides of the border; however, he doesn’t name the Pakistani television actress who couldn’t clear the auditions for Henna, a role that went to Zeba Bakhtiar. There is also some information about Besharam, the first and only film in which Kapoor, Singh and Ranbir acted together, which will certainly be of interest to fans of all three stars.

Things you didn’t know about Chintu

• No education, no problem: No Kapoor since grandfather Prithviraj has managed to graduate from college, including father Raj and uncles Shammi and Shashi.

• The NFAK connection: In 1980, long before he became famous, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan flew to India especially to perform at the sangeet ceremony of Kapoor and Neetu Singh. RK Films also bought the rights of one of his qawwalis to come up with the song 'Aaja Re Mahi' in the film Henna.

• No to Aaina remake: Kapoor admits he loved the Shabnam-Nadeem starrer, but refused to be cast as father to a 6-year-old in the Indian version.

• Fashion faux pas: Kapoor always bought his own make-up and selected his costumes, but mistakenly wore women’s trousers for the song 'O Hansini' from the film Zehreela Insaan.

• The SSS feud: Kapoor accepts that he was among those who opposed Rajesh Khanna’s possible selection as lead for Satyam Shivam Sundaram and forced his father to let Shashi Kapoor play the lead. While fans of Kapoor might remember him running around in trendy jerseys, going crazy in qawwalis and expertly playing musical instruments in attempts to woo the heroine, readers would be surprised to know that at one time Kapoor owned 600 jerseys, all bought with his own money, and that he doesn’t know how to play any musical instrument at all.

There is also mention of the many parties Kapoor attended, including the annual one at the Raj Kapoor household; at one such event, actors Shammi Kapoor and Feroze Khan fought over the former’s weight issues while on another occasion, things got ugly between Kapoor and Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad. He goes on to add that he is on friendly terms with many Pakistani cricketers, including Wasim Bari, Shoaib Akhtar, Zaheer Abbas and Wasim Akram and expressed condolences when Akram’s wife Huma passed away in Chennai, en route to Singapore.

Kapoor claims in Khullam Khulla that he is a friend of friends, but then mentions a few incidents that could easily have been resolved amongst friends. One mishap he narrates is when Sanjay Kapoor threw a glass at him, which could have disfigured his face. Then he goes on to make some of his countrymen angry by announcing that he is a “beef-eating Hindu,” was the first to oppose the ban on beef, and once had to be rescued from anti-Indian Kashmiris, an incident others might have chosen to hide considering India’s claims of Kashmir being its 'atoot ang.'

If you want to know why veteran actor Pran refused to work in Kapoor’s directorial debut Aa Ab Laut Chalein, what advice his uncle Shammi gave when they faced each other on screen for the first time, why he fell out with his favourite director Nasir Hussain, why he rejected the role of a villain in Darr and why he didn’t let Ranbir act in films until he was 26, you’ll find out from this book. It will also tell you how the superstar feels about current Hindi songs, why he prefers to dub his scenes and what his wife’s comments were after watching him kiss Dimple Kapadia in Saagar.

The reviewer writes about film, television and popular culture

Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored
By Rishi Kapoor and Meena Iyer
HarperCollins, India
ISBN: 978-9352643028
280pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, April 9th, 2017