Rishi Kapoor reminisces about working with Sridevi

Khullam Khulla by Rishi Kapoor, with Meena Iyer  - [Uncensored], is easily the most enjoyable, unfiltered, informative, entertaining and un-putdownable celebrity memoir out of Bollywood in decades. Without holding back, without self-censoring, without being PC, its so refreshing to read the account of one of India's most underrated and phenomenal actors of ALL TIME. We are ardent fans of Rishi Kapoor - Chintuji - who is the most versatile and gifted human beings on earth.. with a unique temperament, as witnessed by all those who follow him on Twitter!

Please buy the book for an introspective look at a remarkable career, a deep insight to the ways of how Bollywood functions and his keen observations on stars, fame, talent and luck that governs actors of all shapes and sizes in India.

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Excerpt regarding Sridevi:

Rishi Kapoor says, "There was only one heroine who was a little reluctant to work with me, very likely because she was the bigger star at the time. Sridevi was making waves and I had hit a plateau when we worked together in Nagina. She was also very reclusive. I was later told that she was an extremely shy person and very inhibited.

Nagina

One of our most embarrassing moments together happened when we were shooting a song for Nagina at RK Studios. When you are in the midst of a 'take' and the assistant cameraman suddenly says the magazine has run out (when the camera needs a new roll of film), it's a very awkward moment for actors. The lights are on, you are in postilion, and you have to hold it, looking odd and static, while new film is loaded. During Nagina, Sridevi and I found ourselves in that awkward situation... just standing there, waiting, when she suddenly spoke to me and said, 'Sir, I have seen  Khel Khel Mein four times.' I was so taken aback, I could only mumble something about a film of hers that I had seen, and that was it. That was the only conversation I had with Sridevi all through the filming of Nagina. Otherwise, it was always 'Namasteji' and 'Good nightji'.

Chandni

It was during the making of Chandni that we became friendly. She opened up to me, and the new level of comfort also improved our performance. Yashji gave us a free-hand in the film, leaving a lot of room for improvisation. It worked well since I like to be spontaneous and improvise on set, and so does Sridevi. She contributed a great deal towards making scenes work. The 'Cognac sharab nahin hoti' sequence, for instance, was entirely improvised. it was not in the original script. It was made up on the spot by Yashji, Sridevi and me.

Sridevi is a terrific actor who balances method acting (which she picked up from Kamal Haasan) with spontaneity. She has also evolved over the years. When I saw her in English Vinglish, I was floored. She has flowered into a highly intelligent actor.

....For the most part, Sridevi kept her personal life away from public scrutiny and professionally, she was wonderful to work with, a fabulous actor. I had two huge successes with her, Nagina and Chandni. We also did Banjaran, which was an average film."

Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in Gurudev