Nostalgia: When average box office run of Subhash Ghai's Karz send Rishi Kapoor into a depression
By Rajesh Ahuja
Subhash Ghai's Karz may be seen today as a cult movie for its chartbuster music and its reincarnation theme but at the time of its release, it was a moderate success.
For the film's lead actor Rishi Kapoor, the less-than-expected success of musical thriller was quite demoralizing, sending him in a state of depression.
Writing in his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored, the late Rishi Kapoor revealed that Karz, on which he had pinned a lot of expectations, not turning out to be the kind of success he had expected it to be left him shattered.
'To our regret, Karz wasn't the huge hit we had expected it to be, though it did decent business. The reason: Feroz Khan's lavishly made Qurbani which released just a week after Karz. Both films had great music. Qurbani boasted the cult 'Aap jaisa koi meri Zindagi mein aaye' by Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan and we had 'Om shanti om'.
But Karz had just one star, Rishi Kapoor, and was a small film in comparison (to Qurbani). Tina Munim(Karz's female lead) was a promising newcomer and the director had not yet become 'The Subhash Ghai'. Though Karz had a strong supporting cast in Prem Nath, Pran, Durga Khote and Simi Garewal, we didn't really stand a chance against Qurbani, a stylish action oriented film that starred Vinod Khanna and Zeenat Aman. Shot in London, it had sex, music and slick cinematography, and all the trappings of a blockbuster, 'Rishi Kapoor said.
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| Rishi Kapoor said in his autobiography that less than expected success of Subhash Ghai's Karz send him into a depression |
Rishi Kapoor said that at a time when a film relied a lot on word of mouth publicity to become a success, Feroz Khan's Qurbani released before the word of mouth could fan interest in Karz, leaving him shattered. .
'These days a film can recover its investment in the first three days but the movie business was very different in the 1980s. A film grew slowly and collected its investment over several weeks. By the time word of mouth could fan interest in our film, Qurbani came along and swept everything in its wake.
And I lost my nerve, sinking into a deep depression. I was so demoralized that I couldn’t face the camera anymore. I would tremble on the sets and feel faint. I'd sing into my chair, go to the makeup room and ask for water.,'Rishi Kapoor said.
In his state of depression, Rishi Kapoor felt that his acting career was nearing its end.
'The Karz vs Qurbani stand off at the box office happened in June 1980, five months after Neetu and I had got married. I now began to blame my marriage for diminishing fan base. I believed that my acting days were numbered, that I had hit rock bottom. 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 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, 'Rishi Kapoor said.
Rishi Kapoor's state of depression affected the shooting schedules of his under production films, including Manmohan Desai' Naseeb, H S Rawail's 'Deedar-e-Yaar, Raj Kapoor's 'Prem Rog' and Nasir Hussain' 'Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai'.
'It dawned on me much later that my breakdown was the direct result of Karz's unfortunate fate at the box office. I would regain some of my lost confidence when I had a drink in the evening with my friends. But on set the next morning I would tremble with fear. I became paranoid and kept fearing that one of the big set lights was going to fall on me,Rishi Kapoor said.
At some point of, however, the actor realized that he had to pick himself up and get back to normal.
'In my brief moments of clarity, I also realized that I had to pick myself up and get back to normal. And although the process was slow I managed to climb out of it and regain normalcy.
As harrowing it was for everyone concerned at the time , I realized that the situation was largely a product of my imagination. In reality, my life was in perfectly good shape. I was working on the biggest projects of the day with the biggest directors of the time, and marriage had not dented my career in any way. My biggest learning from the experience was that problems are often created in one's mind and are usually less overwhelming than they appear to be, although the fear and trauma are all too real and crippling while you are going through it, 'the actor said.
Directed by Subhash Ghai, Karz is a romantic thriller which stars Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim in the lead roles with Simi Garewal, Prem Nath and Pran featuring in pivotal roles. With its chartbuster music and its performances, Karz is today considered a cult classic.
However, at the time of its release, Karz was an 'average' grosser. Feroz Khan's mega budget Qurbani, which released a week after Karz, crashed it at the box office.
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