We remember Shammi Kapoor for his simplicity and humorous nature

Ajay Kumar Sharma

The film Rockstar was released in the year 2011, in one of the scenes of the film a wheel chair bound man, consoles and inspires a young hero (Ranbir Kapoor), and instructs the producer to give chance to the young man. Later in the film the hero ultimately succeeds and becomes a rock star. The old man in that scene was yester-year star-Shammi Kapoor who happens to be the grand- uncle of Ranbir Kapoor. The film marked the very last presence of Shammi Kapoor as an actor. A few months later, this great icon of Kapoor family died peacefully in a hospital at Mumbai.

You must be surprised that why I started this piece of writing by this particular reference of Shammi Kapoor .This is very significant as it shows his love for movies never subsided. When this cameo role was offered to Shammi Kapoor, he was un-well and was on medication due to health complications, but he accepted the role gracefully and shot the scene on a wheel- chair. Actor Ranbir Kapoor recalls that while shooting, he himself was surprised at enthusiasm of his grand-uncle he cherishes the spontaneity of actor, so it was this dedication and zeal of Shammi Kapoor for which he should be remembered forever.

Shammi Kapoor was born to Prithvi Raj Kapoor, in 1931, who at that time was a famous theatre artist. His early schooling held at Bombay.  After college, he was attracted to acting and joined his father’s theater group in early 1946.  His elder brother Raj Kapoor entered film industry and tasted success both as an actor and director.  Shammi also decided to enter the film industry. Though his father was reluctant in early stages but later, on pursuance of Raj Kapoor, he started his career with movie Jeevan Jyoti in 1953.The early four years did not yield any favorable results as he tried to follow the shadow of his brother, Raj and invested in some serious roles.  Film critics, tagged him as a flop actor. This was the period of Hindi film industry when young and talented actors like Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Guru Dutt were gathering all the limelight. While actors like Shammi , and trilogy of RAJ-DEV-DILIP was in its formative phase, so it was very difficult for any actor to establish himself in the industry. The year 1957 was watermark for Hindi Cinema as films like Pyassa, Naya Daur and Mother India were released. Also the 10th year of Indian Independence imbibed new hopes into the young generation, in both the ways politically and socially. Nehruvian- era with its socialist ideology had successfully launched first Five Year Plan with an aim to establish Ram Rajya as dreamed by Gandhi. The filmsof this age also signified this kind of ideological plank. The films of this phase were Awara(1951),Boot Polish(1954),Shri 420(1955) Jagte raho(1955), Jagruti(1956) were imbued  with a message of social and political rejuvenation of  the new and emerging India. Shammi Kapoor’s fortune shined on Box-Office with Tumsa Nahin Dekha directed by Nassir Hussain. According to sources, this film was first offered to Dev Anand because of its romantic genre but Dev Saab rejected the offer due to some personal reasons. Thus, the role was then offered to Shammi by a hesitant producer on insistence of Nassir Hussain, the director, and a good friend of brother Raj who convinced them of Shammi’s talent. This film carved a new image of Shammi as a stylish and light- hearted man. The songs of the film were trendsetters and provided a new identity to music director O.P.Nayyer.

Tumsa Nahin dekha was followed by Dil Deke Dekho in 1959 with Asha Parekh which was another hit. In 1959, Shammi also acted in Ujjala with actress Mala Sinha, his was a minor role and the film was not a sure shot hit. In 1961 first color film of ,Shammi ,Junglee was released, it re-established YAHOO STAR image of Shammi , his new look as a fashion icon and a dancing star was much appreciated by fans, who thronged the cinema halls and danced with joy on songs of the movie like Sukko –Sukko and Chhahe muje koi junglee kahe. So, Shammi , was able to establish a brand new image and created a niche for himself, with Kashmir ki kali (1963.) This new image was cemented and his subsequent releases were of same genre. The success of Shammi Kapoor was entirely bestowed on his self styled mannerism. He acted and danced professionally while no other actor of his age was deemed to be a professional dancer. He was the first actor of his generation who went for outdoor shoots and had a Vanity Van. He popularized the shooting of films at outdoor locations like Kashmir, Shimla and Ooty. In the film Kashmir ki Kali he was paired with a new-comer, Sharmila Tagore, in a song sequence Tarif Karu kya uski (sung by energetic Mohammad Rafi), the director Shakti Samanta gave full freedom to, Shammi, for performance. Incidentally, in the last scene of the song, Shammi, jumped from shikara in cold water of Dal Lake, later he was admitted to hospital for hyperthermia. He recovered in one week’s time and resumed the shooting of the film; such was the commitment and energy of actor towards his work.

This commitment of, Shammi, towards his work is also acknowledged by his co-actors. Sharmila Tagore who did films like Kashmir ki Kali and An Evening In Paris with Kapoor recalls that he was a down to earth man, he never boasted of his stardom and even behaved well with supporting staff of unit. Director Sakti Samantha with whom, Shammi, did six films, also recalls the humbleness of actor as he never argued on the issue of script with directors. In movie Raajkumar in1964 Shammi was paired with leading actress of the time Sadhna, who was well known for her strong feminist roles and overshadowed the male actors by her performance, was perfectly matched by Kapoor on-screen. The film was a big hit and Shammi received good reviews from industry insiders, later he also acted with Sadhna in film Sachai .In one of interviews in the later years Sadhna appreciated the confidence of Shammi, and lauded his energetic persona. In 1964, another movie Professor was released, in this film he did the cameo role of a teacher and caretaker for a family dominated by eccentric coherence with Lalita Pawar.  The songs of the movie were again very popular composed by Shankar –Jaikishan. Shammi, always liked to work with new and old actresses of his time but once he stated he had the desire to work with his favorite actress Waheeda Rehman but no script suited for them and on other occasion Waheeda’s dates were not available for a certain film. Also, the directors of the period did not took up any project in this regard, thus, he missed this opprotunity. Howver Shammi worked with another leading actress Vijanthi Mala in Prince and College Girl and both the films got moderate success. Shammi’s favorite composer was the pair duo Shankar –Jaikishan with whom he did films like Junglee, Jaanwar, Pagla kahin ka, Badtameez, Raajkumar and Professor and all these had beautiful thumping numbers and most of them were sung by Mohd. Rafi. Shammi loved to take up new challenges and never hesitated to work with new music directors. In Teesri Manzil Nasir Hussain signed Pancham Da (R.D.Burman) as music director. It was the first solo attempt of Pancham. In one of the songs of movie O Haseena Julfo Wali Helen and Shammi shot the whole sequence in one single take, other songs of film were also chartbusters. Though Shammi Kapoor was hugely successful yet many people inside and outside the industry then questioned the stereotype image of Shammi of a playboy of Hindi cinema, many critics dubbed him as chocolate star or a non- serious actor. He usually choreographed the dance steps of his songs meticulously and performed them in an energetic way. Many of his fans called him the Elvis Presley of India. Shammi was not disturbed by this criticism and worked as usual. In 1967, he got hold of a very strange script not complying with his image called Bramchari with actress Rajshree, with whom he had worked in Jaanwar in 1965. When, Shammi signed the movie many of his well-wishers advised him not to do such an unromantic role, having an unusual script where hero had to be the care -taker of children in an orphanage but Shammi, moved on with the script and took up it as a challenge. When the film released, it picked up slowly, but later it turned out to one of the highest grosser on Box-Office of the year. Shammi became a cult figure in industry, with such an un-romantic role Shammi silenced his critics and even grabbed best actor award in Filmfare Awards surpassing Dilip Kumar’s melodramatic performance in Aadmi .This movie later became the inspiration for Anil- Kapur starer Mr India in 1985.

In 1970s the problem of weight proved to be a obstacle in romantic roles for Shammi but his success stint continued with films like Prince, Tum se accha kaun hai, and Pagala kahin ka and enjoyed the superstardom for at least twelve years in Hindi Cinema. The rise of a new Super-Star Rajesh Khanna dented the romantic image of yester-years stars like Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, and Joy Mukhrjee, the image of ,Shammi, also bored some cracks, he acted in Andaz 1971,opposite Hema Malini and Rajesh Khanna, but guest appearance of, Khanna, in song “Jindgi ek Safar Hai Suhana stole the show, and, it was the writing on wall that new generation of fans aspired for stars like ,Khanna, so, Shammi, switched over to character roles in the mid -70s; playing role of a father for Saira Banu in Jameer and Amitabh Bacchan in Parvarish 1977. He also directed two movies Manorajan with Sanjeev Kumar in 1974 and Bundalbaaz with Rajesh Khanna in 1976; however films were not successful but acclaimed critically for their content and script. In 1980s he continued doing supporting roles and won best supporting actor award for his role in Vidhatta in 1982.In this movie he indigently faced the famous actors Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar and got the attention of media and fans alike for his lively performance. In 1983, movie hero was released and, Shammi gave out powerful performance of a father of the leading actress Meenakashi. Shammi, continued his roles as usual, but during this phase he was attracted towards spiritualism and joined Krishna Parnami association at Vridavan and engaged in many social welfare work and conducted pilgrimage every year at Vrindavan. During this phase his health continued to deteriorate, so he took short break from the films but he continued to attend award functions at many venues. In 1995 he was awarded life time achievement by Filmfare for his contribution to Hindi Cinema. In one of the interviews in early 2004 Shammi remembered his good old days, he stated that during those times films were made not only for entertainment but also gave social message, and, the competition between the stars was very healthy, however he did not condemned the new age Hindi Cinema but he suggested that unimaginable movie budget should be taken care of and appreciated his family actors like Karishma, Kareena and Ranbir and prayed for their bright future in industry. Shammi was the favorite actor of approximately two to three generations but his simplicity and humorous nature earned him the love of all and sundry. In 2008, Government of India recognized his contribution to Hindi Cinema and he was awarded life time achievement award at Pune Film Festival. When his name was announced on the stage, all dignitaries were on their feet and whole venue reverberated with thumping and clapping which lasted for eight to ten minutes. This shows the reverence and respect for such great actor of Hindi Cinema. I finally sum up with beautiful lines of a song of Shammi  Kapoor’s movie  with lots of respect for his lovable image in Hindi Cinema “” TUM MUJHE Yun BHULA NA PAYYO GEY JAB KABHI BHI SUNO GEY GEET MERE SANG –SANG TUM BHI GUNGUNYOGE.’