Happy Birthday, Neetu Kapoor: How This 1975 Amitabh Bachchan Movie Saved Her Career

Bollywood actress, Neetu Kapoor, has turned 66 years old today. Apart from being a popular actress, she is the wife of late actor Rishi Kapoor and the mother of superstar Ranbir Kapoor. She was one of the leading actresses in Bollywood throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.

Before starting her career as a leading actress, Neetu Kapoor worked as a child actor in films like Suraj, Do Dooni Char, Do Kaliyaan, and Waris. She started her career with the film Rickshawala in 1973. It was directed by K Shankar and starred Randhir Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor and Mala Sinha in the lead roles. After some memorable cameos and films, the actress started giving a series of flops. Her career needed a breakthrough from the spiral of failures and it came in the form of the film Deewar. It reportedly ran for over 100 days in theatre.

After starting her film career as a lead heroine with Rickshawala, the actress played a cameo in the superhit film Yaadon ki Baaraat. She won the audience’s hearts by playing the role of a dancer in this film. The Amitabh Bachchan starrer Deewar helped the actress to reach the superstar’s pedestal overnight. It is one of the most successful films of Neetu’s career so far. Deewaar was written by the duo Salim-Javed and directed by Yash Chopra. It starred an ensemble cast of Sashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Neetu Kapoor and Praveen Babi in the lead roles. Neetu Kapoor was paired with Sashi Kapoor in the film.

As per reports, the film was such a hit among the audience that it remained in theatres for close to two years. It became one of the 13 films that earned more than Rs 1 crore in every region of India between the 1970s and 1980s.

The film grossed Rs 7.5 crore at the Indian box office at that time. In Mumbai, the film grossed Rs 1 crore. It sold an estimated 3.10 crore tickets at an average price of Rs 2.40. Upon release, Deewaar became the fourth highest-grossing film of 1975. It was made on a budget of Rs 1.3 crore (equivalent to Rs 37 crore in 2024).

Neetu Kapoor is famous for films like Kabhi Kabhie, Dharam Veer, Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Kala Patthar, Yaarana, and Ek Aur Ek Gyarah. The actress was last seen in the film Jugjugg Jeeyo in 2022.