I shot with Chintuji when I started my career: Dabboo Ratnani

The passing away of Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor this morning has seen a steady stream of tributes paid to him. The ‘Bobby’ actor charmed his way into people’s hearts in a career spanning four decades.
Speaking to BT, fashion photographer Dabboo Ratnani who worked with him said, “I shot with Chintuji when I started my career. One of my first few films’ publicity that I did was for ‘Prem Granth’ with him and Madhuri Dixit.I travelled with him to South Africa for three weeks and that was where we connected. It was my first experience with him. He was an amazing human being; great fun to be with and so nice to the whole unit – the spot boys, everyone used to just love him. The film was a home production - an RK film - that Chimpu (Rajiv Kapoor) directed. Randhir was there and Neetuji was there as well and it was a whole family thing. After that we have always been in touch and I shot with him a few times for a few other films’ publicity and for magazines. I used to also meet him otherwise, I’d go for Ganpati to his house annually. I have done few shoots of Ranbir at his house and Chintuji used to be around.”
Dabboo adds that Rishi had his own unique persona, which was so endearing. He says, “He was what he is. What you see is what you get; he was that kind of a person. He was very honest and spoke from his heart. I said hello to Rishi ji when he was in New York as we were there for our summer holidays."
‘For our generation, his music is something we grew up to’
Dabboo adds, “He was so charming on screen and that apart, he was one of the actors who has had the best music in his films. All the songs from ‘Karz’ to ‘Yeh Vaada Raha’, were so amazing. In our school days, we used to watch so many movies, but the songs we listened to, were all Chintuji’s songs. For our generation, his music is something we grew up to, from ‘Bobby’ to ‘Karz’ and ‘Chandni’. He was a real charmer and epitomised romance on screen. He was really an icon for us.”