'Can't imagine what cinema will be without Ramanaidusaab'

The actor got quite emotional while talking about the producer, who passed away on February 18.

"He used to call me his Mumbai son," Kapoor says.

"He would order his sons to stand up when I would enter the room. ‘He’s my hero, please pay him the respect he deserves,’ Naidusaab would say. Every time we met, he would greet me as his hero. He ate, breathed, lived and died for the movies. Every penny that Naidusaab made in the movies was pumped back into the making movies," he adds.

There was a fifth project that Anil did which was technically not Naidu’s and yet owned by him.

"It was a film called Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai," Kapoor says. "The project plus the cast -- Aishwarya Rai and me -- was put together by Naidusaab. He handed over the project to my brother Boney because Boney’s production house was going through a rough phase.

"'This project is yours,’ Naidusaab said. As simple as that. Not just that, he allowed Satish Kaushik -- who was an untouchable after the double directorial debacle of Prem and Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja -- to direct Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. And it was only because I asked him. That’s how much Naidusaab loved me. His entire family treats me like one of their own."

Anil gets emotional as he recalls his last meeting with the movie mogul.

"When I heard that he was unwell, I flew down to Hyderabad last week to meet him. I didn’t know it would be my farewell meeting with him. He could recognise me but could barely talk. But do you know what he said? ‘Let’s start a Hindi film’. That is what he always said to me whenever we met. He said the same thing when he was dying. That is a true showman for you.

"Naidusaab is the last of the movie moghuls, an independent movie producer who dreamt epic projects like S S Vasan and L V Prasad. I can’t imagine what cinema is going to be like without Naidusaab," Kapoor says sadly.

In the picture: Kajol and Anil Kapoor in Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain