Bollywood choreographer and filmmaker Farah Khan recently visited Riddhima Kapoor Sahni’s Delhi home for her cooking vlog with Dilip. During their conversation, Farah opened up about the time she broke down after hearing about Rishi Kapoor’s cancer diagnosis, while also remembering the actor’s optimistic spirit.
Farah Khan recalls crying after hearing the news
Riddhima, who is preparing for her Bollywood debut with Kapil Sharma, spoke about how difficult it was to leave her daughter Samara for 45 days during that period. She said, “I never left Samara for three years. The first time I ever left Samara was when Dad got sick. Before Covid, when he was diagnosed.”
Farah then revealed her own emotional response. “I remember when I got the news, I called Chintu and started crying on the phone, and he was so positive, he kept saying, ‘are chup beth yaar hota rehta hai, kuch nahi hai, main theek hojaaunga (Hey, calm down, yaar. These things happen, it’s nothing, I’ll be fine).’”
She also shared another memory from her early career, recalling how Rishi Kapoor initially tried to intimidate her on set. “The last film that Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) did as a hero, Hum Dono, was one of my first movies as a choreographer. He tried to bully me left and right. Then I had to give it back to him. And once you do that, he’s fine. Plus, he worked with my dad in Raffuchakkar.”
Rishi Kapoor’s diagnosis and passing
The veteran actor was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2018 and underwent treatment in New York for nearly a year. After returning to India in 2019, he resumed working on films but his health deteriorated again in 2020. On April 30, 2020, Rishi Kapoor passed away at the age of 67.
