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Rishi Kapoor Recalls The Dramatic 'Tea Date' He Had With Fugitive Dawood Ibrahim

D-Date.
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Rishi Kapoor, one of Bollywood's most flamboyant actors, has had quite a dramatic life. A life that has seen dizzying highs and depressing lows and everything in-between.

In his upcoming memoir, penned by senior entertainment journalist Meena Iyer and published by HarperCollins, Kapoor narrates an amusing episode, which entailed him going to Dawood's Dubai residence for tea.

Kapoor makes it clear that the incident took place in 1988, well before the 1993 Mumbai blasts which made Dawood India's enemy number one.

He mentions that Dawood has a 'man' stationed at the Dubai airport whose job involves informing the Don about celebrities entering Dubai.

On one such day in 1988, Rishi Kapoor arrived in Dubai with his close friend Bittu Anand for a concert. On spotting him, Dawood's man approached Kapoor and handed over the phone. Dawood was on the line. "If there is anything you need, just let me know," Dawood told Kapoor, before inviting him over for tea.

Kapoor recalls that he didn't think there 'was any harm' in meeting the Don since the impression he had of him was just of a gangster, not a terrorist.

"That evening, Bittu and I were picked up from our hotel in a gleaming Rolls Royce. While we were being driven to his home, a conversation went on around us, in Kutchi. I don't understand Kutchi but my friend did, and he realized that we were being driven around in circles, so we wouldn't know the exact location of his house. Dawood, immaculately dressed in an Italian ensemble that wasn't exactly a suit, greeted us warmly and apologetically explained, 'I called you to tea because I don't drink or serve alcohol," Kapoor recalls in the memoir.

The trio had a tea-and-biscuits session that lasted for about four hours where the dreaded gangster spoke of a number of things, including some criminal activities which he didn't regret doing.

"I have carried out petty thefts but I have never killed anyone, though I have got someone killed,' he revealed. He claimed to have had someone shot in a Mumbai court for lying," Dawood told Kapoor.

He also praised the actor for his performance in the movie Tawaif (1985) because the actor's character was named 'Dawood' and the Don felt in a way, the film glorified his name.

But this wasn't the only encounter Kapoor had with Dawood.

A couple of years later, they bumped into each other at a shoe store in a Dubai mall. Dawood was accompanied by 10 bodyguards and offered to 'buy whatever' Kapoor wanted from the store.

"I appreciate your gesture but I'd like to do my own shopping,' Kapoor curtly told Dawood.

Dawood then gave the actor his mobile number, but he couldn't offer one in return because this was in 1989 when mobile phones were yet to arrive in India.

Ever since that meet in 1989, Kapoor swears that he hasn't met or heard from Dawood.

Interestingly, the actor ended up playing the role based on him in Nikkhil Advani's 2013 espionage drama, D-Day.

Also see on HuffPost:

Shraddha Kapoor's Stunning Ramp-Walk

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.