Ranbir-Rishi in 'Awaara' remake
Raj Kapoor-Nargis in Awaara (1951)
Remaking classics is a tricky job. When you remake a successful film, audiences expect the refreshed product to bring more to the table, but at the same time, to not mess with the original and the essence of what made it a classic in the first place. Remaking Awaara though, with the father son combo of Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor sounds like a genius idea. The original starred Rishi Kapoor's grandfather and father (Prithivraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor), so who better to reenact their parts than this generation's happening father-son duo.
What's even more exciting is that with the speculated remake, the Kapoors' home banner RK Films would be also be revived. The last film from the banner was the 1999 dud Aa Ab Laut Chalen which starred Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai.
Before the remake, however Rishi and his talented wife Neetu would be seen on screen for the first time with their son Ranbir in Abhinav Kashyap's Besharam, which hits cinemas this October.
"Besharam was the testing ground for the two of us together on the screen. We would now like to do something deeper. A remake of my father's Awaara is on our minds. And in all likelihood, we will be doing it for our banner R.K .Films," said Rishi to IANS.
Rishi will not direct the remake.
Akshaye-Aishwarya in Aa Ab Laut Chalen
"No thanks. Direction is a thankless job. I don't want to get into that space at all," said the veteran actor.
"I am very comfortable and happy as an actor. I just want to act. I am at peace with myself. I don't have to think about anything except acting. I am having a ball. I've received loads of messages for my performance in Aurangzeb. I can't be happier. The best most touching message came from Mrs Pam Chopra. I'll treasure it forever," said the 60-year-old.
With regards to Besharam, Rishi-Neetu's roles are being increased so that the audiences don't feel cheated by the Kapoors coming together in a film for the first time.
Said Rishi: "Both Neetu and I enjoyed working with Ranbir thoroughly. I had fun working with my wife and son. But I still feel there should be more of Neetu and I in Besharam. My only grouse in this otherwise-enjoyable experience was the length of our roles and Ranbir knows it. So they're trying to expand our roles. Neetu and I play cops. Our characters are seen off and on."
"The director is trying to increase Neetu and my roles. Of course, Ranbir and I have scenes together in Besharam, including the climax of the plot. But they're trying to create scenes where all three of us can be together," said Rishi.
Rishi added that Ranbir has no qualms about sharing the screen with his parents.
"'Yeh aaj kal ke bachcha nahin baap hain'. In any case, Besharam is not a film that requires great histrionics from either of us. It's light, bubbly and frothy and a little dramatic," he said.