Rishi Kapoor: I feel very lucky on my birthday

Rishi Kapoor turned 61 on Wednesday, September 4, with a big smile on his face.

"I am shooting a song with my wife Neetu and my son Ranbir," he says. "Which actor gets this privilege on his birthday? I feel very lucky. By the grace of God, my son’s career is doing very well. I too am finally getting the kind of roles that challenge me as an actor."

He has sung some of the biggest chartbusters like Om shanti om and Bachna ae haseenon on screen for Subhash Ghai’s Karz . But when it came to re-creating the Karz aura through its chartbusting Laxmikant-Pyarelal compositions in Ghai’s new film Kaanchi, Rishi put his foot down.

Apparently, the adamant star refused to dance to his old songs, not just for Kaanchi but also in Abhinav Kashyap’s Besharam.

Says a source, “Ghai

and Kashyap were most keen to get Rishi to recreate his old hits but Rishi refused. He argued that it’s up to the new generation of actors to do retro versions of his old songs, like Ranbir did in Bachcha Ae Haseenon where he danced to the song of that title from Rishi’s Karz. Rishi insisted that if he must dance, it must be to fresh new original songs.”

Rishi says he has not danced so hard for a very long time. “Both the numbers in Besharam and Kaanchi are peppy original compositions. Mar gaya dance kar-kar ke iss umar mein but I am enjoying the experience immensely.”

Adds Subhash Ghai, “At 61 Rishi is as good on the dance floor now as he was in the 1980s. It is a disco number that Rishi has performed on a set representing a palatial home with 60 chorus dancers. It is quite an amazing experience.”