Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has said that his uncle, actor Randhir Kapoor, is in the early stages of dementia.
Ranbir made the revelation during an interview with NDTV, where he talked about his late father Rishi Kapoor’s final movie ‘Sharmaji Namkeen’.
After watching the movie, Randhir asked about his late brother, who died in 2020.
“My uncle Randhir Kapoor, who is going through an early stage of dementia, came to me after the film, said, ‘Tell dad that he is amazing, and where is he, let’s call him’,” Ranbir said. “Art crosses the boundaries of medical conditions and a good piece of storytelling really embodies that.”
According to Cleveland Clinic, dementia is a general term that represents a group of diseases that affect a person’s thinking, memory, mood and reasoning, and impacts their daily life and activities.
Rishi was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2018 and underwent treatment in New York City, before returning to India in 2019. However, the veteran actor died on April 30, a day after being admitted to a hospital in Mumbai.
The beloved star died in the middle of filming for ‘Sharmaji Namkeen’ and Paresh Rawal stepped into his role to complete the movie, which is out now on Amazon Prime Video.
“After his demise, we thought the film wouldn’t get completed,” Ranbir said in another interview. “We thought of trying VFX or I could wear prosthetics and complete the role but nothing was working out. It was a tough time for all of us. And that’s when Mr Paresh Rawal stepped in. It was very generous of him to take up this challenge.”
Randhir, 75, is the father of Bollywood actresses Karisma and Kareena Kapoor and is known for starring in movies such as ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’, ‘Jawani Diwani’ and ‘Lafange’.
In an interview with Times of India in April 2021 on the occasion of Rishi’s first death anniversary, Randhir expressed his grief at not only losing his brother but a number of other family members in a short span.
“In a matter of 10 months, I lost both my darling brothers — Chintu [Rishi Kapoor] and Chimpoo [Rajiv Kapoor]. Also, I lost my mother [Krishna Kapoor] and sister [Ritu Nanda] in the last two-and-a-half years,” he said. “We — my three brothers and two sisters — were extremely close to each other... There’s not a single day that I don’t think about them... Life will never be the same again.”