Rishi Kapoor & Harmesh Malhotra Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rishi Kapoor and Harmesh Malhotra appeared together in 3 Hindi films between 1986 and 1991. Their highest-rated collaboration was Nagina (1986 — 5.6/10). Films span Nagina (1986) through Banjaran (1991).
The Rishi Kapoor & Harmesh Malhotra partnership
From Nagina (1986) to Banjaran (1991). The played out closed with Banjaran in 1991. It started with Nagina (1986).
The shape of the work
The 1980s belonged to Nagina; the 1990s to Banjaran. Rishi Kapoor acted in every film; Harmesh Malhotra directed all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Harmesh Malhotra cast Rishi Kapoor in Nagina (1986) after seeing his intensity in a dramatic scene from a previous film. Rishi was initially hesitant to play a snake charmer, but Malhotra convinced him by rewriting the role to add more emotional depth.
- On the set of Nagina, Rishi Kapoor would often improvise comic relief during tense snake-charming sequences. Harmesh Malhotra let him run with it, and those unscripted moments became the film's most replayed scenes.
- Nagina (1986) directly inspired the snake-woman trend in Hindi horror. Without this pairing, Sridevi's iconic snake dance in the same film wouldn't have become the template for dozens of 'naagin' movies that followed.
- Rishi Kapoor and Harmesh Malhotra shared a love for old Hindi film music. During the shoot of Amiri Garibi (1990), they would play Lata Mangeshkar records between takes — a ritual that kept the mood light on a set that was otherwise running behind schedule.
- Rishi Kapoor once said about Harmesh Malhotra: 'He gave me the freedom to be silly and serious in the same scene. That's rare.'
3 films across 2 decades
The 1980s accounted for 1 film, averaging 5.6/10.
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 3.6/10.
- Nagina
- Banjaran
- Amiri Garibi0
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 5 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Hindi being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Banjaran, Rishi Kapoor kept going for 63 more films; Harmesh Malhotra stepped back.
Before Nagina, Rishi Kapoor had starred in 25 films, including Sargam (1979) and Prem Rog (1982).
After Banjaran, Rishi Kapoor went on to appear in 63 more films, including Kapoor & Sons (2016) and Sharmaji Namkeen (2022).
Before Nagina, Harmesh Malhotra had directed 5 films, including Poonam (1981) and Phaansi Ke Baad (1985).
After Banjaran, Harmesh Malhotra went on to direct 7 more films, including Dulhe Raja (1998) and Akhiyon Se Goli Maare (2002).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rishi Kapoor & Harmesh Malhotra's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Sridevi is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 3 films.
