Neetu and Rishi Kapoor were on the first episode of a fresh new season of Rendezvous With Simi Garewal that took place in Melbourne and aired on October 1, 2016, not in 2019! (So, it was a typing error, after all).
The couple was at their candid best and spoke about everything ranging from their imperfect marriage, ego issues, their son Ranbir Kapoor and a lot more.
Here are a few excerpts from the interview:
Rishi Kapoor said he did not agree with a few roles Ranbir chose in his career:
My son is a very good actor. Sometimes I don’t agree with his choice of films. But he’s corrected me. If I was looking after his career, which I don’t, because I’m his father, I’m not his secretary, I would have never allowed him to do a film like Wake Up Sid or Rocket Singh or Barfi. Before and after Barfi, people told me ‘tere bete ko kya ho gaya hai? (What’s wrong with your son?) He’s going the Amol Palekar way’. He should be a star. But he proved me wrong and I’m happy that he proved me wrong.
On his relationship with Ranbir, the senior Kapoor said:
There’s a wall between us. There’s a glass between us. We can see each other but not feel anything. I had a fear of my father. I was in awe of him. I had great respect for him. It took him a long time to say ‘have a drink in front of me’. I used to call him ‘sahab’. Now that we don’t live under one roof, there’s more communication. He (Ranbir Kapoor) talks to his mother more than me. But I don’t think Ranbir will be a father like me.
Neetu Kapoor shared an incident, further explaining the awry father-son relationship:
I was away for a few days and Ranbir was home. I kept calling him to ask how’re you doing. He said ‘I’m fine, I’m having dinner with papa’ and all that. So when I got back, I was like ‘how was it’? He said ‘we had quite a few quiet moments’. He said ‘koi baat hi nahin huyi. Hum dinners pe jaate thhe aur khana khate thhe’. I have to be there in the house for a conversation to happen between them.
On their 36-year-old marriage going through ups and downs, she said:
When we fight, we don’t talk for days. Because if I say something then, he gets very angry. So I wait for him to calm down and then say what I have to.
They also spoke about Neetu having issues with her husband’s love for alcohol, Rishi not being very friendly with Ranbir and losing out on something in life because of that. The entire interview is a must watch for their endearing take on marriage, parenting and above all, building their life despite the troubles.