A Biography Of Shammi Kapoor
He was the man with an exuberant sprit, a man who knew what was his objective, a man who believed in unceasing endeavour for his goal, a man who sang, danced and acted like none before him could do, a man with a golden heart, an actor with a panache and class. He was Shammi Kapoor, originally known as Shamsher Raj Kapoor. He was the ideal example of an alpha male, a perfect romance material for numerous girls across the country, an inspiration to all the budding actors. An actor per excellence, a director, a star with such unconventional and attractive looks all seemed to be amalgamated in Shammi Kapoor.
Birth and the Rise of a Star
Born on the 21st October, 1931in the famous Kapoor family, Shammi Kapoor possessed the genes of genius in films from birth itself. He always was aware of the fact that Film Industry is his place to be in and a series of flops in his early film career also could not restrict the 'strong man with a soft heart'. He had a long film career starting from the 1953 debut film, Jeevan Jyoti. Though the early films of his could not produce the expected results in the box office, the landmark film 'Tumsa Nehi Dekha' not only hit the box office but also the audience's heart in an unprecedented way. He also started his journey towards stardom from this film. He got the first Filmfare Nomination as the Best Actor for 'Professor' in 1962 but received one only in 1968 for the film 'Brahmachari'. Throughout 1950's and 1960's Shammi Kapoor literally dominated the Hindi film industry and he gave his last performance in the film 'Rockstar' with his grand nephew Ranbir Kapoor. However, the light of the star faded completely on 14th August, 2011 in Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai owing to a renal failure.
The Personal 'larger-than-life' of Kapoor
Born to father Prithvi Raj Kapoor, he had two brothers, the elder one Raj Kapoor, and the younger one, Shashi Kapoor. In 1953, he first dated a Cairo based belly dancer named Nadia Gamal which somehow didn't materialize and eventually he married famous actor, Geeta Bali. With her Shammi Kapoor had a prosperous family life with a boy and a girl. However, their union was destined to be short-lived as Geeta Bali died in 1965. After her, Shammi Kapoor remarried Neila Devi Gohil, belonging to a royal family of Gujarat in 1969. With this his professional life also started declining as he was ageing and couldn't have continued as the mainstream hero any longer and 'Andaz' remained one of his last solo hits. Yet the chronic illness could never dominate his super will power and life-style and he continued to be a tech-savvy person keeping a keen interest in films and social life. He received the Dadashaheb Phalke Award in 2009 along with a host of lifetime achievement awards.
The glorious film career
Success didn't come easily to this man as in the initial film career he gave a series of box office duds yet he always had the self-confidence in himself that this was his 'karmabhumi'. With a great passion of being in films and the heavy responsibility of carrying forward the Kapoor legacy, he strived immensely to achieve the glory and the success which he claimed till the very fag end of his career.
Initially around 15 of his films including 'Jeevan Jyoti', 'Laila Majnu', 'Chor Bazaar' bombed at the box office but the film which chaged his life was 'Tumsa Nehi Dekha' opposite Ameeta. It was followed by hits like 'Dil De Ke Dekho', 'Junglee', 'Teesri Manzil', 'Jaawan Mohabbat' and the likes. These films clinched highest positions in box office and gradually became classics. He mostly prefered Mohammed Rafi for his playback songs. All the actress who starred with him in the later years like Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore, Saira Banu became most coveted stars of their time. With his unique acting style, voice of Md.Rafi and those energetic dancing moves he was termed as "the Elvis Presely" of the country! While he was in his zenith, he was appreciated by the critics and the audiences alike. Shammi Kapoor denoted a spirit, a passion, an actor going 'Yahooo', a 'junglee' who charmed countless women with his killer looks and suave attitude. But the 1970's saw Kapoor dealing with weight issues which had a great impact on his film career. Very few lead roles started coming his way though he got Filmfare Award for the Best Supporting Actor for 'Vidata'.
He was last seen in Imtiaz Ali's 'Rockstar' where his stardom was still intact - a stardom which is not to fade so easily in future also as Kapoor continues to be in our heart forever.
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