Actor's candid conversation

Ram Kapoor, known for television roles in 'Bade Acche Lagte Hai' and 'Kasam Se', has opened up about the death of his father, Anil “Billy” Kapoor, after a long battle with cancer. In a conversation with entertainment journalist Nayandeep Rakshit, the actor discussed the emotional circumstances surrounding his father's final days and the reactions he experienced.

Kapoor said he felt a surprising sense of relief at the moment of his father's death. 'I was super thrilled that his pain was over. So, in that process, I was happy about the death. I was smiling at the death. So, when you start smiling at death, how can you fear it? So, now it's a joke to me,' he explained.

The actor described his father's final period as extremely difficult. 'It was not easy. Cancer is a very bad way to go. It's a very bad disease. Sometimes he's in severe pain, sometimes he's hallucinating, sometimes he's… So I had to deal with all of that,' he told Rakshit.

A decade-long fight

Kapoor's father, a businessman, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of 63. According to reports, doctors said the cancer was inoperable, but Anil Kapoor underwent 18 rounds of chemotherapy and eventually went into remission. He lived for another decade until the cancer returned when he was 73.

The recurrence came during the COVID-19 pandemic while Anil was in Singapore. Ram Kapoor said he received a call from his father who made a startling request: 'Can you help me die?' Kapoor said he was initially stunned, but his father convinced him, adding, 'Obviously, my reaction was the same as anyone else's. But he managed to convince me that if I didn't do it, he would die alone.'

Kapoor made a promise to keep the decision to himself and remain by his father's side in the intensive care unit. There was no treatment left by then, and his father wanted only his son present, asking that no one else be informed. Kapoor recalled his father saying, 'I don't want anyone to cry at my funeral. If I die, I want you to cremate me the very same day.'

Family rift and no regrets

The actor's choice to honour his father's wishes led to a prolonged family estrangement. His mother and sister did not speak to him for five years, learning about the father's wishes only after his death. Kapoor acknowledged that standing by his father took an emotional toll on his own family as well, but he expressed no regret over his decision.

'I had my hands full with this dying man,' Kapoor said. He described seeing his father waste away as a life-changing experience, and said he was glad to help his father retain a semblance of dignity at death. 'He lived like a king and I wanted him to die like a royal,' he added.

Kapoor has recently been seen in the reality show 'Lock Upp: Sach Ya Saza' on Netflix, as well as the web series 'Mistry' and the film 'Jolly LLB 3'.