Senior actor Neetu Kapoor did most of her films in the 1970s with Rishi Kapoor as her co-star. She was head-over-heels in love with him. Yet, she never considered him to be an outstanding actor. That impression changed when they both got back together for the year 2010’s surprise hit — Do Dooni Chaar (DDC). “I saw a different side to him.

He had transformed into this wonderful actor who I was in awe of,” she says.

Convey this to Rishi and he readily agrees with his wife. “Experience in a field teaches you a lot. Over the years, you feel more challenged to take up diverse roles,” says the 59-year-old actor. In recent times, Rishi has played several quirky characters, each different from the other— a school teacher in DDC; an eccentric filmmaker in Luck By Chance; an old-fashioned romantic in Love Aaj Kal (LAK) and an over-the-top politician in Chintuji.

However, his biggest challenge till date has been the character Rauf Lala in the remake of Agneepath. For the first time in his career, he plays an out-and-out negative character in this January 20 release. “I was wary of the audience accepting me as an antagonist and rejected the offer,” says Kapoor. But director Karan Malhotra was insistent. “On my wedding reception, when he came to congratulate me, my wife thought he would be perfect as Rauf Lala,” says Malhotra, who has created this new character for the remake.

Agneepath is not the only experimental ground Rishi is treading upon these days. In Sajid Khan’s Housefull 2, he dabbles in slapstick comedy for the first time. He has also attempted serious reinvention by playing a gay professor in Karan Johar’s Student of The Year and a tattooed biker in David Dhawan’s remake of Chashme Buddoor. “I have now become a salesman,” Rishi declares. “I have to sell my wares carefully. My shop is open and I want my audience to enjoy my roles,” he says.

Imtiaz Ali, who directed him in LAK, agrees with his new salesmanship. “For LAK, I wanted an actor who could play the old-fashioned romantic with a young heart. Rishiji is a superior actor with the sense of romance still intact. What appeals most to me is his enthusiasm for the characters he portrays,” says Imtiaz.

Kapoor started out as a romantic hero in 1970. With his second film, Bobby, setting the cash registers ringing, he was labelled as “the chocolate boy”. This moniker stayed with him for the next three decades of his career. “I sang songs in the best of valleys, chased girls in the most stylish sweaters, fought villains and danced to various numbers,” he says.

In late 1990s, he started losing interest. “I was fed up of doing the same kind of films. I had put on weight and my wife started telling me that I am doing films out of boredom,” he says. One day, he decided to give it all up. He returned the signing amounts and said a firm ‘no’ to everyone who offered him lead roles.