Late Bollywood superstar Rishi Kapoor was known for his candid comments and quotes on Twitter and even during an interview he never minced his words. He was known for speaking out the truth.
During the 90s, reportedly, the mafia and underworld had an upper hand on Bollywood with many superstars befriending gangsters and dons like Dawood Ibrahim, who operated while staying in Dubai. He was one of the few gangsters who was considered extremely powerful then and was allegedly involved in the killings of a few important people and blasts in Mumbai.
Even today, he is India’s Most Wanted Criminal but has been elusive to the Indian police force despite being very much friendly with Bollywood’s A-listed celebrities.
Narrating one incident during an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, Rishi Kapoor revealed that he once had a tea session with the underworld don sometime in 1988.
Revealing the entire incident, the Karz actor said that he had once gone to Dubai along with Asha Bhonsle, RD Burman, and other members for a show when someone from Dawood’s gang approached him and asked Rishiji to have tea and spend some time with the gangsters.
At that time, Dawood was already labeled as a criminal in India. So, when the interviewer asked him, “Any regrets about that.” To this, Rishiji said, “What is regretful about that?” He added, “I landed in Dubai. In those days there were no mobiles in India. But there were mobiles in Dubai. At the airport, there was a person I did not know. He handed me the mobile without even asking me whether I want to talk or not. “
Dawood introduced himself as Bhai to Rishiji to which the latter said, “Nice meeting you.” He further accepted an invitation from Dawood to have tea with him thinking that he had not created a menace in my country as it was being claimed. At this point, the interviewer interrupted stating, “He was a criminal even in 1988. He might have been a terrorist.”
To this, the Chandni actor said, “So what, I met so many criminals in my life. I might have been one of the criminals. Maybe I did not commit a serious crime. But I met him thinking that I am an actor and I would like to know his story. I played him in the movie D-Day. I was inspired by him. We talked for 3 to 4 hours at length.”