Daily Times

Versatile and exuberant Shammi Kapoor, 79, breathed his last in the wee hours of Sunday morning after a prolonged illness. However, he will remain as alive in the memories of film lovers across the world, as he himself had been throughout his life. Shammi introduced Bollywood to his own brand of freshness, laughter, joy, rock’n’roll style, flamboyancy, western fashion and dance moves never seen before.

Shamsher Raj Kapoor, renowned as Shammi Kapoor, was born in 1931 to the legendary film family of the Kapoors. Shammi was in the middle of the three sons born to Prithviraj. The other two were Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor who also are great names of Indian cinema, emulating the acting skills of their father. Coming from one of the most prominent acting dynasties in Bollywood, Shammi had been a non-conformist throughout. Unlike his brothers who had their distinct styles, he was a natural artist. He started his career from his father’s theatre as a junior artist in 1948. Shammi went on to debut in a Bollywood flick, Jeeven Jyoti in 1953. Shammi had his fair share of struggle until the release of Tumsa Nahin Dekha in 1957. The film won him the stardom he had been aspiring for. All his previous 20 films had won him nothing except frustration. For Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Shammi donned boisterous looks and changed the whole environment in the Indian cinema. He gave tough competition to his contemporary heroes, who were more serious and sombre looking. Shammi’s unrelenting love for music and hip-swinging dance moves coupled with his more westernised posture attained him a reputation as the Elvis Presley of India. He became a youth idol, a heartthrob of both male and female fans. His iconic cry, “Yahoo!” in the title song of his first colour movie Junglee in 1961 will be remembered by generations to come.

Shammi fell in love with Geeta Bali and married her in 1955, an A-grade star of that time. He fathered two children, Aditya Raj and Kanchan. After the demise of Geeta, he got married to Neela Devi Gohil in 1969, who continued to be his wife till his demise.

The entertaining Shammi Kapoor’s acting career spans more than a decade from the late 1950s to the 1960s. He also directed a few films, including Manoranjan in 1974 and Bundlebaaz in 1976. Both films failed at the box office but won critical acclaim as ahead of their time and are credited as classics. Despite age and prolonged illness, Shammi continued appearing in different roles in different movies throughout his life. There are many awards to his credit. His last movie, Rockstar with his grandson Ranbir Kapoor is yet to be released. He kept travelling across the world despite being confined to a wheelchair, remained active on the internet, being one of the first website owners in India, and continued tweeting on Twitter. His last tweet was for a young actor Priyanka Chopra. It says, “Look for a joint called RESSEE. Super dance of fountains…Love.” *