Ranbir Kapoor has taken a road less travelled: Rishi Kapoor

Rishi Kapoor has praised his son Ranbir for taking the unconventional route to film stardom without his help. Kapoor says he is happy and that “films are our family business”.

“I am very proud that my son is trying to keep the flag of the Kapoor’s flying. I always encourage him and want him to do better work,” he said.

Rishi wants Ranbir to be successful while being level-headed.

“I want his head on his shoulders. I want him to be very realistic about the fact that films are not just a joke, it’s our family business and I am happy that he is serious about his career and his work,” said Rishi.

Although Ranbir, 30, had a dull start with Saawariya, later choices of roles in Wake Up Sid, Raajneeti, Rockstar and Barfi have allowed him to carve a niche for himself in just six years.

“He is an actor who has taken a less travelled route. He is choosing different films and doing films that are not the staple diet of film heroes. For that I give him credit. The choice of his films is totally his, all creative decisions are his, I have no contribution to that at all. People feel I chose his films, but it’s not so. I am just his father, not his manager,” said Rishi.

Was Ranbir a sure shot in the business after becoming an actor?

“He knew his family business is such, so you are inclined to get into it, which is very natural. That must have influenced him. He wanted to go to a film school, so he went there and got trained as an actor. And God has been kind, he has given him some kind of strength to maintain his name,” said Rishi, whose family has been a part of Indian filmdom for the past 85 years.

Ranbir, the great grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor, represents the fourth generation of the Kapoors with cousins Karisma and Kareena.

Although his son was experimenting a lot in the beginning, in his heyday Rishi stuck to romantic roles in Bobby, Khel Khel Mien and Karz.

He didn’t get to experiment much during that time, but recently films like Do Dooni Chaar and Agneepath have given him a chance to make up for lost opportunities.

“I never got to play these kind of roles when I was younger. When you are young, you want to do romantic roles. Now I am playing all kinds of roles and I am happy that they came my way. I love to experiment with different roles,” said the 60 year-old who was tagged “cholcolate hero” and “lover boy” in his prime in the 1980s.

Although his father Raj Kapoor was an actor and director par excellence and established RK Films, Rishi – who burnt his fingers behind the camera for Aa Ab Laut Chalen in 1999 – has no plans to wear the director’s hat.

“I am not planning to direct any film. I have so much work. God has been kind and I am happy with the work I am doing right now. I want to be focused,” said the actor busy with D-Day, and two more films to be directed under Yash Raj Films banner, Kaanchi and Besharam.

In an interview, Rishi had said that when his first film Bobby came, his actor uncle Shashi Kapoor had arranged for a grand welcome for him at an airport. But the new trend of promotional activities are different and stressful, he says.

“Promotions these days are very stressful. I see my son doing it more than me. He is right now promoting Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and I see him running around here and there – sometimes in London, sometimes in Dubai. It is very stressful,” he said.