Shashi Kapoor

Shashi Kapoor (pronounced [ʃəʃi kəpuːɾ]; born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Hindi films. He is considered as one of the greatest actors in the history of Hindi cinema, and is a recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2011, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014, for his contribution to Indian cinema.

Born into the Kapoor family, he was the third and the youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor. He began his career as a child actor in 1948 with his brother Raj Kapoor's maiden directorial Aag, and had his first role as an adult in 1961 with Yash Chopra's political drama Dharmputra. He established himself in 1965 with two blockbusters - Waqt and Jab Jab Phool Khile. This was followed by a period of further success, with Kanyadaan, Sharmeelee and Aa Gale Lag Jaa. His career reached new heights in 1974 with Chor Machaye Shor. With its success, Kapoor became the top five to six saleable stars of the time and starred in top–grossing Hindi films from the early-1970s to 1980s, such as Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Deewaar, Chori Mera Kaam, Kabhi Kabhie, Fakira, Trishul, Suhaag, Kranti and Namak Halaal. He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a reckless chieftain in Junoon, a businessman in Kalyug, a strict father in Vijeta and an upright journalist in New Delhi Times for which he won National Film Award for Best Actor. The last film that he appeared in, was the much delayed Ghar Bazar which was released in 1998.

Early life

Shashi Kapoor was born as Balbir Raj Kapoor to Prithviraj Kapoor and his wife in Calcutta, British India, on 18 March 1938. He was the youngest brother of Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. Actor Trilok Kapoor was his paternal uncle.

Kapoor acted in plays, directed and produced by his father Prithviraj Kapoor, while travelling with Prithvi Theatres. He started acting in films as a child in the late 1940s under the name of Shashiraj, as there was already another actor by the same name who used to act in mythological films as a child. His best-known performances as a child actor were in Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951), where he played the younger version of the characters played by his older brother Raj Kapoor, and in Sangram (1950), where he played the younger version of Ashok Kumar and Dana Paani (1953) where he acted with Bharat Bhushan. He worked in four Hindi films as a child actor from 1948 to 1954.

Career

Rise to stardom and career fluctuations (1961–1973)

After appearing as a child artist in some highly successful films like Sangram (1950), Samadhi (1950) and Awaara (1951), Shashi Kapoor made his debut as a leading man in 1961 with Yash Chopra's partition drama Dharmputra. This was followed by another film released the same year, Char Diwari. Both Dharmputra and Char Diwari did not do well financially. From 1962 to 1964, Kapoor had minor successes with - Bimal Roy's Prem Patra (1962) and Kanak Mishra's Yeh Dil Kisko Doon (1963). He also made his English film debut in 1963 with James Ivory's acclaimed family drama The Householder.

The year 1965 changed his fortune as he starred in two highest grossing films of that year with Yash Chopra's masala film Waqt and Suraj Prakash's romantic musical Jab Jab Phool Khile. Waqt went on to become a massive box office success, receiving praise for cast performances, Chopra's direction and cinematography. Today, it is widely regarded as an evergreen classic. The huge box office success of Waqt was followed by another, Jab Jab Phool Khile which had Kapoor paired opposite Nanda. It too opened to highly positive response from critics, especially for its soundtrack composed by Kalyanji–Anandji, which was the fourth best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s with a number of melodious songs, like "Ye Samaa Samaa Hai Pyar Ka", "Affoo Khudaya", "Ek Tha Gul Aur Ek Thi Bulbul", "Na Na Karte Pyar Tumhin Se", "Pardesiyon Se Na Ankhiyan Milana". Jab Jab Phool Khile made Kapoor a star and won him that year's BFJA Award for Best Actor (Hindi) for his moving performance of an innocent boatman in the film.

In spite of establishing himself, Kapoor had only a few major hits and some lukewarm successes in the late-1960s.

In 1966, he starred alongside Kishore Kumar, Mehmood, Kalpana Mohan, Rajasree and Mumtaz in C. V. Sridhar's romantic comedy Pyar Kiye Jaa. Pyar Kiye Jaa proved to be a hit, but his other release Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare again opposite Nanda did only average business at the box office. After seeing two more moderate successes in 1967 with Dil Ne Pukara and Aamne Samne, the following year, he delivered a superhit in Kanyadaan opposite Asha Parekh, followed by a hit film Haseena Maan Jayegi co-starring Babita. The soundtrack of Kanyadaan composed by Shankar-Jaikishan was also very successful with two chartbuster Mohammed Rafi solos - "Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe" and "Meri Zindagi Mein Aate". In the beginning of the 1970s, Kapoor delivered two notable commercial successes, Samir Ganguly's romantic thriller Sharmeelee (1971) opposite Rakhee Gulzar and Manmohan Desai's romantic drama Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973) co-starring Sharmila Tagore.

Resurgence (1974–1982)

The year 1974 changed the trajectory of Kapoor's career, elevating him to a new level. It started with Ashok Roy's action comedy Chor Machaye Shor which also had Mumtaz, Asrani and Danny Denzongpa in the lead. Chor Machaye Shor proved to be a blockbuster in India as well as overseas, putting a line of producers outside Kapoor's house and making him top five to six saleable stars of the time. The huge box office success of Chor Machaye Shor was followed by Manoj Kumar's social drama Roti Kapada Aur Makaan. Roti Kapada Aur Makaan went on to become an All Time Blockbuster and is regarded as one of the most influential movies of its time. Roti Kapada Aur Makaan and Chor Machaye Shor took first and second spot, respectively at the box office in 1974. Apart from commercial success, both the films had highly successful music and were two of the best-selling Bollywood albums of the decade. The song "Le Jayenge, Le Jayenge Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" from Chor Machaye Shor was so popular that it went on to inspire the title of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. 1975 proved to be another iconic year for Kapoor as he formed a hit pair with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and together both of them gave many successful and iconic films to Hindi cinema. His first release Anari underperformed commercially, but his second release, Deewaar directed by Yash Chopra, written by Salim-Javed and co-starring Bachchan, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, proved to be a widespread critical and commercial success, eventually emerging a major blockbuster. Today, it is considered one of the best films ever made in the history of Indian cinema and got featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. One of Kapoor's dialogue "Mere paas maa hai" ("I have mother"), is widely known in India and has become part of Indian popular culture. His impactful portrayal of a police officer torn between love for his brother and duty met with acclaim and won him Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. His next release was Raj Khosla's romantic drama Prem Kahani which also had Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in the lead. The film received good response from reviewers as well as the audience and proved to be a hit at the box office. Kapoor delivered another huge hit that year with Brij Sadanah's action comedy Chori Mera Kaam opposite Zeenat Aman, followed by a semi-hit film, Salaakhen alongside Sulakshana Pandit to go with the huge grossers. He began 1976 with Yash Chopra's romantic musical Kabhi Kabhie. It had a massive star cast comprising Waheeda Rehman, Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Rakhee and Neetu Singh. Despite its heavy theme, Kabhi Kabhie went on to become a superhit. It also had a chartbuster soundtrack composed by Khayyam with lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi. Rakesh Budhu of Planet Bollywood gave 9.5 stars out of 10 to the album stating, "Kabhi Kabhie will remain an ode to brilliant melody". For his performance in the film, Kapoor received a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category. After the huge success of Kabhi Kabhie, he reunited with the team of Chor Machaye Shor and delivered another blockbuster in Fakira, which was also remade in Telugu as Dongalaku Donga (1977). This was followed by two more successes in Shibu Mitra's Shankar Dada and Mohan Kumar's Aap Beati.