Khullam Khulla by Rishi Kapoor and Meena Iyer

Khullam Khulla by Rishi Kapoor and Meena Iyer

Audiobook

Narrated by Salmin Sheriff

Non fiction autobiography

Rating- 3/5 in parts 2/5 in parts and 4/5 in couple of chapters

Long post beware!

Listening time is around 6 hours which can be reduced to 4 hours or so by increasing the narration speed to 1.2 without any loss in diction or understanding.

The first thing which is a glaring omission of sorts is that the narration is not by Rishi which is sad since his voice is good and very recognisable. In fact in some places if it was his voice then the effect would have been amazing! Also the narrator lacks the energy and enthusiasm to narrate, it is obvious that he is just reading a book without any emotions whatsoever! Another irksome issue with the audio book is that the recording has been done in parts with different sound settings that in some places the voice is loud and blaring while in some it is bland. Suddenly the emotion and timbre increases jolting you without any reason! Having listened to so many audio book I must say that the narration on this is the worst I have ever heard. It would have been better if a text reader read the text! To top it all, the last chapter is supposed to be from the heart by Nitu SIngh! But even that was narrated by the same narrator which made the whole experience alien to say that least!

I was planning to rip or burst against Rishi after listening to the book which unfortunately I did not read when he was alive! There are umpteen things in which I had a big difference of opinion and would have ripped the book apart! But to write or say something against someone who cannot reply or defend himself or herself (of course even when he was alive, I may not expect any retort from him!) is not ethical as far as I am concerned.

This review is simply a summary of the book and not my point of view.

Rishi is the only Kapoor my Mom and me used to like so a little bias will creep in though the things he says in the book may have changed my mother’s opinion!

Rishi starts with a big thanks to everyone! Though the book starts with a Forward by Ranbhir Kapoor (again in the narrators voice which starts getting irritating even at that time!); how much time it takes to record a narration of a single forward? Does the son not have even this much time?

Rishi talks about so many things which you must listen to enjoy! Narration apart in line with the title, it is frank and open! Some chief revelations were

• How he was cast in Mera Naam Joker and his experience in shooting those scenes and how he got the national award for his acting.
• How that movie almost destroyed RK films and Raj Kapoor and how then Raj made Bobby
• A brief about Rishi Kapoor’s grand father and great grand father and how they were also very romantic and adventurous! Even those escapades are fun to listen!
• How Bobby changed everything! His life and how he arrived with a bang!
• His first girlfriend and how he broke up with her
• His equation with Dimple and subsequently Rajesh Khanna and how Rajesh was actually scared that Rishi and Not Amitabh may have been the successor of super star Rajesh!
• How he bought the award for Bobby almost stealing from Zanjeer and this may have been a point of contention between him and Amitabh
• How his subsequent movies flopped and how he slipped into depression and how he recovered with the help of his family
• How even Karz was a flop but then his other movies were big hits like Laila Majnu and how he finally established himself as a romantic star!
• How his characteristic Jersey and moves were a thing in all his movies
• His close friendship and fights with both Jeetendra and Rakesh Roshan
• How music played an important part in his movies and how he actually did not have the flair of recognising good music!
• A major chapter on RaJ Kapoor, his drunken episodes and his fear and respect. His affairs and how one almost wrecked the family including both Nargis and Vyjayantimala. (The above incidents have been narrated with very open and frank demeanour and that’s praiseworthy!)
• His meeting with Dawood and him subsequently playing his role!
• How he used to miss the music meeting and how music and films are so essential since we are Bollywood! How the music of today is crap and how there is no relation of music to movie! How singers and actors are independent to each other! How auto tune and other synthetic music has robbed the Industry of its creativity! It was a big chapter in the lines of “in our days…”
• Then he talks about his second innings and that was like a challenge to his friend and how he did many different movies!
• He also talks about how he was responsible for the introduction of many heroines and leading ladies because or with him!
• He talks about Randhir Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Prem Nath and Rajendra Nath who are all related to him! He talks about Pran and many other actors
• He talks about positives of modern shooting methods and also the negatives!

All in all it is a very entertaining, gossip filled and frank book in the life of an actor who openly accepts that he drinks and smokes and eats meat of every kind like there is no tomorrow! How he was a very possessive boyfriend and how he was true to his wife though they do have fights and times of silence running to months!
In the end of course you realise that he is a mortal and the son of a famous father and subsequently famous son while being quite famous himself!

In terms of Autobiography the one written and Narrated by Kabir Bedi is much better and deep with so much more revelations and it helped that Kabir did the narration is his amazing voice! So that’s the point of reference and this pales in comparison to that but then sometimes it is better not to compare!

For movie buffs, this is a must read or listen and for others if you want to just listen without thinking too much! You will like it if you are open or Khullam Khulla!