Rishi Kapoor: Today's actors are instant noodles

Mumbai, Jan 18: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, who has been a part of the Indian entertainment industry for over four decades, said that compared to earlier times, actors today are more professional, disciplined and like 'instant noodles'.

"The boys (actors) today are very professional. They are all very updated and have so much exposure. Today when I see a six-year-old kid, there is a whole lot of difference from what I was at that age. They are well informed and look after their bodies. They have learned all emotions," Rishi said at the launch of his autobiography 'Khullam Khulla - Rishi Kapoor Uncensored' at The Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi, on Tuesday.

"Whereas in my grandfather's (Prithviraj Kapoor) time, everything was learned by experience. But today's kids are instant noodles. They are well prepared, they know their lives, and are very professional and punctual," he said.

"But we were all very bad. We never came on time. We were quite in-disciplined and never knew our lines. We always had secretaries around," the actor added.

However, Rishi feels the content and quality of songs was better earlier. "Today there is no content. We don't have any value of music. We have multiplex audience. Still we do see better films being made today which couldn't have been made 10 years ago," Rishi said.

"Films like 'Neerja', 'Kapoor & Sons' and 'Pink' would have never worked 10 years back. But there is audience today who want to see better Hindi cinema," he added.

Rishi, whose family has been part of the Hindi film industry for the past 85 years, was tagged 'chocolate hero' and 'lover boy' in his prime in the 1980s. The actor is known for films like 'Bobby', 'Khel Khel Mien', 'Karz', 'Do Dooni Chaar' and for the more recent 'Kapoor & Sons'.

The 64-year-old has dedicated his second innings as an actor to actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan. "When I started my second innings as an actor, one day Rakesh Roshan called me and said, 'Listen I have a role for you and it's a two day part. I just want you to play Hrithik's father in a film called 'Krissh' or whatever he was making'. I said, 'No I don't think so. It will be a wrong move in my career'," Rishi said.

"Suddenly he started laughing and asked me what kind of career was I looking at. Those words hit me. Then I said to him that now I will prove it to you that at this age also you can work. I hold the success of my second innings to Rakesh Roshan," he said.

In his autobiography, Rishi has revealed some of the unknown aspects of his life, right from his and his late father Raj Kapoor's affairs with co-stars to his belief on father-son relationship and his passion for acting.