Rishi Kapoor Had A Run-In  With  Manoj Kumar

Rishi Kapoor worked only once with Manoj Kumar  .And that  didn’t go too well.

The film was   Manoj Kumar’s Jai Hind  , the writer-producer-director-lyricist ‘s last film,and differences  between  Rishi and Manoj Kumar  cropped up  on Day 1 of shooting, so  much so that Rishi  would have walked  out of  the  film if a mutual friend  had not intervened.

 Rishi had  shared  this experience with me in an interview. “I had problems with the  shooting style  in Manoj Kumar’s Jai Hind. The first scene required me to do a 12-page scene in one shot.And he wanted me to move all across the frame while saying those lines.I asked him why was I shuffling  all over the place. There is a difference between a play and a film.It became a battle between two schools of acting.”

But  the situation  was  all sorted. “ That evening Mr Manoj Kumar   called up our mutual friend Prem Chopra .Things were sorted out. From the next day Mr Manoj Kumar first asked me how I want to do a shot and then set up the camera.”

Rishi Kapoor  is  not the only actor Manoj Kumar has a problem  with.Asha Parekh during Upkaar,  Jaya Bhaduri(Bachchan) during Shor ,Moushumi Chatterjee during Roti  Kapada Aur Makaan  and Hema  Malini  during Kranti were some  others actors  Manoj Kumar had a problem with.

But yes, Rishi  was the only male actor   Manoj had a problem with. Manoj and Rishi had come face-to-face when Rishi  was  14  in Mera Naam Joker  where   Manoj had stolen Simi Garewal from  the besotted  adolescent Rishi.