Rishi reveals dad’s affairs, mum about his own

Rishi Kapoor makes some telling points in his pointedly blunt autobiography Khullam Khulla. The title comes from an Asha Bhosle-Kishore Kumar number in a Rishi Kapoor-Neetu starrer Khel Khel Mein (which incidentally was directed by Raveena Tandon’s father Ravi Tandon). It is meant to reflect the bindaas no-holds-barred mood and tone of the confessional biography.

A fair affair?

However there are points in the narrative where the candour gets conditional and selective. While Rishi speaks about his father Raj Kapoor’s extra-marital relationships with Nargis and Vyjayanthimala (the latter denied any relationship beyond the professional in her memoir, and Rishi had responded by openly calling her a liar), there is not a word about his own link-ups, rumoured or real.

The living vs the dead

Says an industrywallah who has been very candid in his biography, “Are we to presume that the only woman Rishi Kapoor has ever been involved with is his wife Neetu Singh? If not, are we to presume that Rishi didn’t want to hurt any living person with his confessions? Is it all right to be candid about the relationships of the dead and not all right to speak honestly about relationships with people who are living?”