#Throwback: Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh’s Love Story | It Wasn't "Love At First Sight"

The evergreen couple Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh are touted as one of the most iconic pairs of Bollywood both on and off the screen. Their love story has turned out to be a source of inspiration for people from all quarters and even the millennials.

Rishi, at that point, broke a million hearts when he declared his love for Neetu. From a teenage love to a rock-solid marriage, they deserve to be listed in Top 20 Bollywood Power Couples.

One was a sought-after heroine, and the other was once a blue-eyed boy of Bollywood, they are one of the most powerful couples of that time. It’s no secret that their incredible chemistry and blossoming love were visible in the films they teamed up. The fact that the magic they generated on the screen was not only good acting but also true love.

Today, let’s take a look back at their saga.

How everything started

They started their relationship at a very young age when Neetu was just a 14-year-old girl. Rishi was a well-established name and also a Bollywood heartthrob already, while his ladylove was a new kid on the block and took baby steps into the entertainment industry. Film Zehreela Insaan witnessed their first on-screen collaboration in the year 1974.

Little do we know that their romance wasn’t love at first sight as Chintu was a prankster and he liked teasing Neetu on sets. He usually smeared her face with a bit of kajal shortly after her make-up was on-point. However, the fact that the young starlet at that point fell in love with the co-star who frequently irritated her.

The wedding

The fact that the proposal of marriage came out of the blue. It was when Rishi Kapoor left for Delhi to attend a wedding of one of his friends and his sister had invited both the families in secret for the event. Two families already knew about their relationship and allowed them to get engaged.

Chintu didn’t have a ring to give to his beau so he took it from his sister and later gave it to Neetu. Meanwhile, Jhootha Kahin Ka’s director who was also present at the of the hush-hush ceremony took off his ring and give it for Neetu to give to her husband-to-be.

Neetu stopped her career at the age of 21

Soon after the engagement, Neetu took the plunge to give up her acting career. While the rumours had it that her husband Rishi asked her to leave the industry and become a part of his family. However, the actress went on to clear the air that this was completely her decision.

For those unversed, Neetu stepped her foot into the industry when she was only 5. By the time she started a family with Rishi, she was 21. According to her, she had seen it all and decided to give it all up.

Months ahead of their wedding, the star sent letters to her industry friends to announce that she wouldn’t be in the fraternity anymore.

Controversies

Even the most wonderful fairy tale always comes with a lot of twists and turns and this perfectly exemplifies for the case of the Top 20 Bollywood Power Couples lister Rishi and Neetu. As the actress decided to give up the career and become a full-time housewife, it triggered a storm of controversies around it.

The fact that leaving the industry and becoming a homemaker is a practice of the Kapoor family, gossip mills were abuzz that Neetu was forced into this early retirement.

Children

Their daughter Riddhima now enjoys a happy marriage and becomes a successful fashion designer. Meanwhile, their son Ranbir Kapoor has followed in his parents’ footsteps. He is now touted as one of the chocolate boys of Bollywood like what his father used to be in the past.

It’s not far off the mark to say life couldn’t be more perfect for this golden couple and Top 20 Bollywood Power Couples lister Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh.