On a rainy Thursday, while the city got teary-eyed as it bid goodbye to its favourite bappa, the Kapoors (Rishi and Randhir Kapoor) couldn't contain their emotions either. The brothers lost their cool on a few members of the press during the visarjan procession of their family Ganpati in Chembur. The video, which captured their anger, evoked a massive response. While some blamed the Kapoors for their inappropriate behaviour, others accused the media for being too intrusive. Though Randhir denied slapping the reporter, nonetheless, he offered his apologies on a television channel. A rather upset Rishi Kapoor gave his side of the story to Bombay Times. Dismissing reports of him slapping a TV reporter, he urged the media to be responsible and not sensationalise the incident by making a mountain out of a molehill.

Rishi said, “For those saying I slapped the guy, show me the footage. Why cut the shots? Show the entire video. You cannot shove the cameras in our face while we are trying to make our way through the large crowds, chaos and incessant rains. I am thankful to our fans for showing allegiance to our Ganpati and RK's tradition for all these years. However, certain TV channels show no restraint. Also, everyone has a camera phone these days. The Ganpati idol needs to go along and if you stay stationary in front of us, how do we move ahead? We gave time to the press for pictures before the procession began. Those claiming we invited the media and then misbehaved should know that we don't have a publicist, and we didn't invite anyone. We don't need this kind of publicity.“

Talking about the claims that he raised his hand on the reporter, the actor added, “Jaise police logon ko danda dikhati hai, maarti nahin, just to keep them in check, I too tried to give them hool (signalled them to move forward). I didn't hit anybody. It's sad that we are being condemned.“

RK senior was outraged that his son Ranbir, who was part of the procession was also dragged into this controversy. He said, “I may be the tyrant in the family, but how can they blame the boy? He had nothing to do with it.“ He concluded, “I am saddened. Jaise RK Holi bandh ho gayi, if this continues, we may have to rethink about having our Ganesh procession as well.“