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Rishi Kapoor gallantly steps in for Irrfan Khan... Reunites with Juhi Chawla, Shabana Azmi

14 Jan 2016

After a year of near-absence-the ill-fated All Is Well notwithstanding-Rishi Kapoor is back with three back-to-back releases in the first-quarter of 2016. In Divya Khosla's Sanam Re and Shakun Batra's Kapoor & Sons Rishi is cast as characters 25 years older than his biological age.

But in his first release of 2016, director Jayant Gilatkar's Chalk 'N' Duster which looks at the loopholes in our education system, Rishi is cast as a character his own age.

In fact for the first time in his career Rishi Kapoor plays Rishi Kapoor, the actor hosting a quiz show in the climax of the film.

Rishi sportingly stepped in for the cameo role on his old friend Shabana Azmi's request. Shabana and Rishi had once been paired together as the romantic lead in a film called Rahi Badal Gaye . Says Rishi, "Apart from being my co-star Shabana and Javed Saab (Shabana's husband Javed Akhtar who has written the lyrics for Chalk 'N' Duster ) have been friends for years. I normally shy away from guest appearances. But I agreed because of them. I don't know how my appearance has shaped up. But I was told it would form the film's climax." So effective is Rishi in his avatar as a quiz host and he enjoyed the role so much that we now hear he is considering an offer to play a game-show host on television.