Shahrukh Khan

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan who came into fame from his debut film, ‘Deewana’, shared some warm-hearted memories of working with Rishi Kapoor. The actor sharing on his Instagram handle said that in the initial stage of his career he felt too insecure and afraid. It was Rishi Kapoor who on the sets of film ‘Deewana’ cheered him by saying ‘‘yaar tujhme energy bahut hai’’ (you have got lots of energy). He also recalled about the way Rishi used to pat his head whenever they met.

Shahrukh sharing a still from the film ‘Deewana’ wrote, “As a young man entering the daunting world of films, I was insecure about the way I looked and afraid that I was not talented enough. The thought of failing meant nothing though, because even if I failed, I would have worked with the greatest actor I knew of – Rishi Sahib.

“On the first day of the shoot, he sat for my scene to finish after pack up, then with that famously radiant smile on his face he said ‘yaar tujhme energy bahut hai!’ That day in my head I became an actor,” Shah Rukh said.

He further said he met Rishi a few months ago and thanked the senior actor for accepting “me in that movie, he had no idea how he had encouraged me”.

“Few men have the capacity for grace as he did, fewer still have the large heartedness of feeling genuine happiness for the success of others. I will miss him for many things, but more than all of them, I will miss him for his gentle pat on my head every time we met.

“I will keep it in my heart always, as the ‘Ashirwaad’ that made me who I am today. Will miss you Sir, with love, gratitude and immense respect…forever,” Shah Rukh concluded the statement.

Rishi Kapoor who acted in over 150 films during his five-decade long career died on Thursday at HN Reliance hospital here after a two-year-long battle with leukemia. He was cremated at the Chandan wadi crematorium in the evening.