Shammi Kapoor: Legends of Indian Cinema
By Deepa Gahlot
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About this ebook
The Rebel Star - the middle son of Prithviraj Kapoor - dominated the 60s with his musicals and today’s dancing stars are indebted to him for liberating the Hindi film hero from the strong, silent, traditional role.
The book traces his career with his ups and downs, touches upon his tempestuous life and gives credit where it’s due. Shammi Kapoor will always be among the best dancing stars and actors ever seen in Hindi films.
Deepa Gahlot
Deepa Gahlot is a journalist and critic, as well as editor, author and screenwriter. She writes extensively on cinema, theatre, arts, women’s issues and general features for several publications.
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Shammi Kapoor - Deepa Gahlot
SHAMMI KAPOOR
THE DANCING HERO
SHAMMI KAPOOR
THE DANCING HERO
Deepa Gahlot
© Deepa Gahlot, 2008
Photographs courtesy: National Film Archives of India, Ronee Naterwala and P.K. Nair
Photographs: p. (i) Shammi Kapoor in Junglee; p. (ii) Asha Parekh, Helen, Praveen Chaudhury and Shammi Kapoor
ISBN 978-81-8328-103-4
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published by
Wisdom Tree
4779/23 Ansari Road
Darya Ganj
New Delhi – 110002
Ph.: 23247966/67/68
Published by Shobit Arya for Wisdom Tree; edited by Manju Gupta; designed by Kamal P. Jammual; typeset at Marks and Strokes, New Delhi-110002 and printed at Print Perfect, New Delhi-110064
CONTENTS
Editor’s Note vii
1. Introduction 1
2. The Beginning of a Dynasty 5
3. The Turning Point 23
4. The Rebel Arrives 43
5. ‘Junglee’ and After 55
6. Tragedy Strikes 77
7. Phase Three 87
Filmography 103
Shammi Kapoor in Coffee House
Editor’s note
It is never easy to be the son or the daughter of a famous father or mother! And when to that is added a famous older brother, the situation becomes doubly fraught. When Shammi Kapoor decided that he, in his turn, wanted to follow the profession of his father and brother, he had a tough act to follow. But follow it he did. He scaled the heights to superstardom in his own manner with seemingly effortless ease. He became the darling of the masses, especially the young. His casual, reckless approach to life was in tune with a period when the country was opening up to Western mores: Elvis Presley had swept the world and Shammi Kapoor took up the challenge in a new India. He became known as the ‘Rebel Star’ because he wanted to sweep out the old and usher in the new.
Gone was the gravitas of the Kapoor family. Here was a scion of the great Prithviraj Kapoor who discarded the grand manner, put on his dancing shoes and carried the audience along on the wave of a song.
To get that initial break was not easy, despite the Kapoor aura. He spent four years with Prithvi Theatres, playing Shakespeare and the classics. As many as 18 successive flops before destiny smiled! It was pure chance but he took it and launched on a glittering journey. He dropped the earlier Errol Flynn manner and appearance he had adopted and switched to the young with-it look — slacks, duck tail, cowboy boots, a flamboyant swagger. Romance took on more than a hint of sexuality in all the exuberant song and dance numbers. This handsome dancing star often had new young actresses as his partners — Asha Parekh, Saira Banu, Sharmila Tagore, Mala Sinha, who started on their own starry careers opposite the irresistible Shammi Kapoor. The sixties, as Madhu Jain writes in her book on the Kapoor dynasty, could be said to belong
SHAMMI KAPOOR
viii
to Shammi Kapoor, adding, the older brother created an institution, the younger became one.
His ‘yahoo’ heard first in the hit Tumsa Nahin Dekha became his signature after Junglee and entered the folklore of Indian cinema. Two years ago when he was presented a Lifetime Achievement award in Mumbai, the applause and cheers that greeted him proved that his aura had not faded despite his disappearance from the screen.
Deepa Gahlot, who has observed and written about the cinema for many years, pays homage to one of the Indian cinema’s favourite sons in this book. She writes about him with affection and enthusiasm and in doing so, brings alive a carefree, joyous era of the Hindi cinema.
Aruna Vasudev
Series Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE
ix
1
Introduction
When the rebel star burst on to the
scene,