Rishi Kapoor’s career remains an important chapter in the history of Hindi cinema. Born on September 4, 1952, the actor came from the celebrated Kapoor family. He eventually established himself across multiple generations of Bollywood. However, one of the most difficult phases of his career followed the release of ‘Karz’ in 1980.The Subhash Ghai directorial featured Rishi Kapoor alongside Simi Garewal and Tina Munim. The film revolved around reincarnation and revenge. Rishi Kapoor played Monty, a musician who begins experiencing mysterious visions connected to a previous life.
‘Karz’ faced Amitabh Bachchan’s action-film wave
Reincarnation had already become a popular theme in Hindi cinema. Films including ‘Madhumati’, ‘Mehbooba’ and ‘Kudrat’ had explored variations of the concept. Subhash Ghai developed ‘Karz’ partly from the 1975 film ‘The Reincarnation of Peter Proud’.The story follows Monty’s journey after he starts recognising locations from his visions. His search takes him to Ooty, where he discovers that he is the reincarnation of Ravi Verma, played by Raj Kiran.Ravi had been killed by his wife Kamini, portrayed by Simi Garewal. Monty then decides to uncover the truth and seek justice for Ravi and his family.Despite its combination of mystery, revenge, romance and popular music, ‘Karz’ did not deliver the expected theatrical impact. Rishi Kapoor was also attempting to maintain his position during Amitabh Bachchan’s hugely successful ‘angry young man’ phase.
Rishi Kapoor said ‘Qurbani’ overshadowed ‘Karz’
Rishi Kapoor later reflected on the film’s performance in his autobiography ‘Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored’. According to the actor, ‘Karz’ did “decent business”. However, ‘Qurbani’, which arrived a week later, became the bigger talking point. During a 2017 event with Subhash Ghai, Rishi Kapoor discussed the contrasting fortunes of the two films. “When Karz released, it was accepted well, but it wasn’t a big film in the sense that Qurbani was,” he said.Rishi Kapoor pointed to the strong star cast of ‘Qurbani’, which included Feroz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Amjad Khan and Zeenat Aman. The film also featured international locations, glamorous sequences and popular music. “Qurbani shook us a bit,” he said. The Laxmikant-Pyarelal music of ‘Karz’, meanwhile, went on to become one of its most loved aspects. Its famous hook tune was also criticised for being plagiarised.
‘Karz’ pushed Rishi Kapoor into a personal crisis
The film’s performance had a severe impact on Rishi Kapoor. He revealed that he entered a period of deep emotional distress and became unable to work normally. “I was so demoralised that I couldn’t face the camera anymore. I would tremble on the sets and feel faint. I’d sink into my chair, go to the makeup room and ask for water,” he wrote.Rishi Kapoor described himself as “shattered” by the response. He began wondering whether his career had reached its lowest point. He also felt that his “acting days were numbered” and believed he had “hit rock bottom.” His difficulties affected several projects that were already underway. He was working on ‘Naseeb’, ‘Deedar-e-Yaar’, ‘Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai’ and ‘Prem Rog’. Yet he stopped appearing on their sets for several days.“The entire cast and crew of these films would wait for me to turn up,” he wrote and added, “I just couldn’t get up and look at the camera.”
Rishi Kapoor blamed his marriage to Neetu Kapoor
Raj Kapoor became concerned about his son’s condition. He was directing ‘Prem Rog’ at the time and sought professional help for Rishi Kapoor.“Doctors were called in to analyse my condition, psychiatrists were consulted,” he wrote. Raj Kapoor also took Rishi Kapoor to their farmhouse in Loni, Maharashtra. They later travelled to Shirdi, while Raj Kapoor would read passages from the Bhagavad Gita. Rishi Kapoor recalled that he was too “traumatised” to respond positively at the time.He also began drinking with friends in the evenings. Rishi Kapoor said alcohol temporarily helped restore his confidence. On film sets, however, his anxiety returned. “I would regain some of my lost confidence when I had a drink in the evening with my friends. But on set the next morning, I would tremble with fear. I became paranoid and kept fearing that one of the big set lights was going to fall on me. But in my brief moments of clarity, I also knew that I had to pick myself up and get back to normal. And although the process was slow, I managed to climb out of it and regain normalcy,” he wrote.Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor had married five months before ‘Karz’ released. He later admitted that he unfairly connected his declining popularity with his marriage. “The Karz vs Qurbani stand-off at the box-office happened in June 1980, five months after Neetu and I had got married. I now began to blame my marriage for my diminishing fan base,” he wrote. He further explained his thinking at the time.“I blamed Neetu for it (his films flopping), believing marriage had robbed me of my charm. I went into a depression and could not bring myself to face either the public or the camera,” he wrote.Neetu Kapoor was pregnant with their daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni during this difficult period. “Neetu was pregnant with Riddhima and had to endure my breakdown in that fragile condition,” he said.
‘Karz’ eventually became an enduring classic
Although ‘Karz’ initially struggled against the impact of ‘Qurbani’, its reputation strengthened over the years. The film’s music, reincarnation plot and revenge-driven narrative continued to influence Hindi cinema. Himesh Reshammiya later starred in the 2008 remake ‘Karzzzz’.