Rishi Kapoor, who died in 2020 and was one of the most talented performers in Indian cinema, would have turned 71 today. Neetu had previously spoken about how she and her kids, Ranbir Kapoor and Riddhima Kapoor, wish to always celebrate Rishi. “This is the way I am, this is the way I’ll be, this is the way I’ll heal. Some people cry and heal, some people are happy and heal. I cannot forget my husband, he’ll be here, with me, with my children all our lives. Like, even today when we meet for a meal (where) half of the time we’re only discussing him, that’s how we miss him.”
Ranbir misses his father the most, she revealed, “Ranbir still has him on his (phone’s) screensaver. That’s the way we miss him, we don’t have to be sad to miss him, we can celebrate him. We remember all the good times and what a great person he was. The way he was with my children, I can’t even tell you, the way he’s nurtured them. He’s never ever screamed at them, he never raised his voice at them. He was so good.”
Ranbir has spoken up frequently about the strained bond he had with his father. In his book, Rishi in fact, wrote,“The distance that exists between us is similar to the one between my father and me. Ranbir and I see each other through this space but can’t feel each other. At least, I can’t. There are times when I feel I’ve missed out on being a friend to my son.”
Neetu expressed the following about Rishi’s friendship with Ranbir and Riddhima: “He was intimidating to the children but he never said anything to them directly. Maybe he said it through me, like ‘tell your children…’ I also used to do something like that, when I would sign their report card, I’d tell them, ‘now next year, get your father to sign your report cards,’ so I used to scare them also. These things keep happening between a husband and a wife, but he was a very very good father, he instilled some great qualities in them for which I’ll always be thankful to him. The qualities he had were amazing, besides his brash behaviour and loudness, inherently he was a very very good human being.”
After Rishi passed away, Neetu found consolation in talking about her spouse and returning to the world of cinema.