Legendary Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor experienced severe emotional distress, intense paranoia, and depression early in his career following the unexpected box office failure of his 1980 musical thriller, Karz. Released just a week before Feroz Khan’s massive blockbuster Qurbani, the film was initially overshadowed, triggering a deep professional and personal crisis for the romantic star.
In his candid autobiography, Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored, the late actor detailed the heavy toll this professional setback took on his mental health. He revealed that he became so demoralised that he literally trembled on film sets and struggled to face the camera. The intense anxiety manifested as physical paranoia, making him constantly fear that large studio lights would collapse on top of him. To cope with the overwhelming insecurity and mask his fears, he began relying heavily on alcohol, attempting to drink away his worries during late-night sessions with friends.
The crisis deeply strained his personal life, particularly his marriage to Neetu Kapoor. Having tied the knot just five months before the film’s release, a panicked Rishi Kapoor unfairly blamed their marriage for his sudden decline in popularity, fearing that transitioning from an eligible bachelor to a married man had destroyed his charm as a romantic hero.
Neetu Kapoor bore the brunt of his emotional breakdowns during a highly vulnerable time, as she was pregnant with their daughter, Riddhima. The situation escalated to the point where Rishi’s father, the legendary filmmaker Raj Kapoor, had to step in. Concerned for his son’s well-being, Raj Kapoor requested Karz director Subhash Ghai to speak with Rishi and help pull him out of the destructive spiral.
Supported by his family and colleagues, Rishi Kapoor eventually overcame the depression and returned to complete his pending film projects. Ironically, while the initial box office run traumatised the actor, Karz went on to achieve cult status over the years, with its reincarnation plot and chart-buster soundtrack cementing it as a timeless classic in Hindi cinema history.
