Rishi Kapoor had high hopes for the film Karz and was sure it would be a big hit. However, when the movie didn’t do well at the box office, he was deeply disappointed. Its performance took a hit just a week after release because of Feroz Khan’s Qurbani, and Karz ended up being only an average success. But over time, the film became a cult classic, especially praised for its music. Its story about reincarnation inspired many other movies. Rishi saw the film’s growing popularity during his life, but director Subhash Ghai expressed sadness that Rishi isn’t here to celebrate its 45th anniversary this year.In a chat with Radio Nasha, Ghai talked about Rishi’s doubt and how he had to prove his musical skills to the actor. For the song “Dard-E-Dil, Dard-E-Jigar Dil Mein Jagaaya Aap Ne,” there was no choreographer on set. Rishi was unsure if Ghai could shoot the song well without help, but after seeing the final version, he was amazed. “He was wondering if I have a sense for music,” Ghai said.Talking about Rishi’s reaction after the film’s release, Ghai shared, “The poor guy had worked very hard, and he had a lot of expectations from the film. He was sure it would be a roaring success. But another film came along, Qurbani, and became a huge hit. Our film took a hit for a few weeks. He thought that the movie had flopped. He fell ill. His father, Raj Kapoor, called me up and told me to knock some sense into him. ‘Dost ko samjhao yaar, filmein chalti hain aur nahi chalti, yeh paagal hogaya hai’.”Eventually, Karz picked up popularity. Ghai said, “He’d have been celebrating the 45th anniversary with us had he been alive.”Rishi Kapoor passed away in 2020 after fighting cancer for two years. He spent several months in treatment in New York and had completed parts of his last film, Sharmaji Namkeen.In his autobiography ‘Khullam Khulla’, Rishi wrote about how disappointed he felt when Karz didn’t succeed. He expressed, “I felt every ounce of confidence drain out of me. Karz had held great promise, I had thought it would do wonders for my career. It had wonderful music, and some great work by the cast and crew. I believed it would be a resounding success and earn rave reviews. When that didn’t happen, I was shattered.”Ghai also revealed his worries about Rishi’s health. He said, “On Sunday, I learnt that he had been admitted to the hospital for depression. He had worked hard on every scene and was so proud of the film, requesting several preview shows for his friends before its release. The no-show came as a shock and I had to get Raj saab (Kapoor) to reassure him that we’d made a good film irrespective of its commercial failure.”
