Professionally too, 1979 was a good year for Rishi Kapoor as his two films, Sargam and Jhootha Kahin Ka went on to become blockbusters
Shubha Shetty Saha (MID-DAY; June 24, 2016)

Sargam, produced by NN Sippy, was a remake of a South Indian film and it marked the debut of South star, Jayaprada. Rishi, who was known for his urbane, polished lover boy roles, essays the character of a young musician who also is a pro at dancing. Kapoor says it was one of the most challenging roles that he had played.

He says, “It was a very difficult film for me as I am not a professional dancer. I had to dance, sing and play dafli… it was a tough task to co-ordinate all of those things. I enjoyed this role, because it was fulfilling. The choreographer of the film, PL Raj, had to struggle a lot to get me to do the dance steps properly. The most difficult dance I had to do was on the number 'Roko mujhe jaane do…'. In that, I had to play daffli, lip sync, dance off-beat and then on-beat. It was a challenge to synchronise all that. In this film, I copied one small gesture that my father (Raj Kapoor) did in his film, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai (1960). I would pick my jacket off my shoulder before starting to play dafli.”

There is one more reason why Kapoor remembers this film. “I remember being upset throughout the making of this film. I had suffered a bout of jaundice just before the shoot for this film had begun and I was advised by doctors to stay away from alcohol for six months. Everyone would drink in the evenings and I couldn't. The doctors had said that after six months, I could start with mild drinks like beer. Those were the days when beer cans and all were not easily available. We were shooting in Rajahmundry and the Kakinada port was nearby. At this port, some smuggled goods like cans of coke and beer would be brought. I remember buying loads of cans of beer and stockpiling them, so that I could start consuming soon after my six months of jaundice recovery were over. In those days, we would get one can of beer for Rs 25 or Rs 30. Sargam went on to become a hugely successful film and ran for 50 weeks.”

Kapoor acted mostly in friends' films and Jhoota Kahin Ka was his friend Ravi Tandon's second film with him after the super successful Khel Khel Mein (1975). Kapoor says, “It was not a great film but it was loads of fun. I was a lazy actor and would only work with people who mattered and people who were on top. I would just do two or three films a year. I was lucky. I entered at a time when action films were ruling the roost and I was not an action hero by any standards. I don’t know if the Khans would have survived if they had to compete with a hurricane of a talent like Amitabh Bachchan. My claim to fame is having survived in spite of Bachchan.”