Rishi Kapoor will always be my favourite hero, says Chunky Panday

Actor Chunky Panday reveals that he had been binge-watching actor Rishi Kapoor’s old films the past ten days or so and was amazed by the diversity he brought in his acting. But he says never in his wildest dream had he ever imagined that he would be talking about him in the past tense today.

“I’m deeply saddened by the loss. I’ve known him since I was 10 and I remember watching his superhit movie Bobby (1973) and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). I’ve grown up watching his movies and he was my favourite hero. Now that he is gone, he’ll always be remembered and cherished as my favourite hero,” Panday, 57, shares.

Sharing screen space with him was a sheer delight for Panday but he says that receiving a compliment for the performance was no less than an award. “Our first film together was Kasak (1992) and then Housefull 2 (2012). While working with him, I learnt what effortless acting was all about and I loved his sense of humour. He would always make tongue-in-cheek statements. I remember, one day he called me and said that I was a good actor. I was thrilled and this coming from Rishi Kapoor was indeed more than getting any award,” he says.

The actor recalls that after watching his power-packed performance as Rauf Lala in Agneepath (2012), he was so inspired that he decided to experiment with negative roles in his films Begum Jaan (2017) and Saaho (2019). “Because of him, I delved into negative roles. It was purely inspired by Chintuji. What he could do, I don’t think anyone else could. He brought his own uniqueness, whether it was in Agneepath or Kapoor and Sons (2016),” Panday says.

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