Late Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor once wrote about meeting Dawood Ibrahim twice in Dubai in the late 1980s. The actor shared the account in his autobiography ‘Khullam Khulla’, in which he recalled an invitation to the underworld figure’s home, a long conversation over tea, and a second-chance meeting at a shoe store. The story has returned to the public eye because it offers a rare look at Bollywood’s links to the underworld during that period.
Rishi Kapoor’s first meeting with Dawood Ibrahim
According to News18, Rishi Kapoor first met Dawood Ibrahim in Dubai in 1988. The actor was there for a show when a stranger handed him a phone at the airport. Dawood was on the line and invited him to his house for tea.Kapoor later wrote that he agreed to go because this was before the 1993 Mumbai blasts, when Dawood had not yet become one of India’s most wanted fugitives. He and a friend were taken to Dawood’s home in a Rolls-Royce. The route was reportedly kept unclear so they could not identify the location.At the house, Dawood served tea and biscuits. Kapoor wrote that Dawood did not drink or serve alcohol. The two spoke for several hours. Before Kapoor left, Dawood offered help, saying, “If you need anything at all, any money, anything, just feel free to ask me.” Kapoor declined the offer.
Rishi Kapoor’s second meeting in Dubai
Kapoor met Dawood again in 1989 while shopping for shoes with Neetu Kapoor at a Lebanese store in Dubai. He recalled that Dawood entered with “eight or ten bodyguards” and had a mobile phone, which was rare at the time.Dawood again offered to buy Kapoor something, but the actor refused. He also gave Kapoor his number, but Kapoor could not share one because mobile phones were not common in India then.Kapoor later wrote that Dawood was “always extremely nice” to him, though he could not understand what happened afterward. The actor said he had no further contact with Dawood after the shoe store meeting. Kapoor later played a character inspired by Dawood in ‘D-Day’.
