However, with acting running in his genes, the scion of the famous Kapoor clan did prove his histrionics wherever he got opportunities. After showing glimpses of his acting prowess as a teenager in his father’s Mera Naam Joker (1970), he proved his versatility time and again in movies like Laila Majnu (1976), Sargam (1979), Prem Rog (1982), Saagar (1985) and Tawaif (1985), Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986), to name a few but he could never shrug off the image of a romantic hero, once and for all, a bitter realisation that kept rankling him for years. Even after the ascendancy of stars like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in 1990s, he kept on playing “chocolaty” hero in romantic musicals such as Deewana (1992) and Bol Radha Bol (1991) opposite girls half his age. In between, even though he did try to break free from his image trap with films like Khoj (1989), he remained the quintessential lover boy of the industry.