Rishi Kapoor 'Gaali Bohot Deta Tha', Says Nana Patekar: 'He Would Only Give One Take And...'

Nana Patekar and Rishi Kapoor worked together for the 1995 film, Hum Dono. While both actors have a reputation for being short-tempered, Nana Patekar recalled that Rishi Kapoor would abuse on set and refused to give more than one take. Hum Dono was an action thriller, directed by Shafi Inamdar and starring Rishi Kapoor, Nana Patekar, and Pooja Bhatt in the lead.

In an interview with The Lallantop, Nana Patekar remembered Rishi Kapoor and said, “Gaali bohot deta tha woh (he would abuse a lot).” The veteran actor added, “He would get annoyed a lot. He would give only one take and not more and say, ‘We are extempore, not like you theatre guys, kya bakwaas baat karta hai, chal.’”

Nana Patekar recalled that he once asked Rishi Kapoor to have take shot as the first shot was not good, the latter asked, “Who is the director here? Shafi or you? Hatao yaar isko.” Nana Patekar said that Rishi would get so annoyed by the fifth take that he would even hit Nana. However, the fifth take would be the best one and would be included in the film.

Nana Patekar spoke about several industry colleagues in the same chat. Nana recalled his experience working with Vidhu Vinod Chopra on the film Parinda in 1989, describing it as having “bad memories.”

He explained, “I don’t like Vidhu Vinod Chopra. I have no control over my anger. I am still the same. That aspect of my life hasn’t changed yet. Every scene has its setting, tune, and note, there is a way to talk. Now, I don’t know if you watched Parinda, I was in the character, so when the director says, ‘Lights, camera, clap’, if you aggressively say ‘action’, it starts to linger in your ears. It echoes and hurts your ears.”

Nana Patekar was supposed to play Jackie Shroff’s role in the film. He said, “I was initially going to do Jackie’s role. Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) was supposed to play Anna (the part eventually played by Nana). Then Naseer backed out. Anil and I did a lot of rehearsals. I prepared for six months. I recently asked Anil, ‘You asked Vinod to drop me from the film?’ He said, ‘I thought Nana ko kyu star banau main (why should I make Nana the star)? It was obvious that you’d become a star had you played Jackie’s part.’ I told him, ‘Didn’t I tell you that whatever role you give me, I’d become the star anyway. Nobody would look at you’.”

Meanwhile, Nana Patekar, known for his outstanding roles in films like Parinda and Krantiveer, recently made a comeback with Vivek Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War.