Remembering Shammi Kapoor Ji 1931-2011

Born October 21, 1931 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India

Died August 14, 2011 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India  (kidney failure)

Shammi Kapoor is hailed as one of the most entertaining lead actors that Hindi cinema has ever produced. He was one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema during the late 1950s, the 1960s and early 1970s.
Shammi was the second of the three sons born to Prithviraj (the other two being Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, both successful Hindi Film actors). Though born in Mumbai, he spent a major portion of his childhood in Peshawar in the Kapoor Haveli and in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where his father was involved with New Theatres Studios, acting in films.
Kapoor had a short stint at Ramnarain Ruia College after which he joined his father’s theatrical company Prithvi Theatres. He entered the cinema world in 1948, as a junior artiste, at a salary of Rs. 50 per month, stayed with Prithvi Theatres for the next four years and collected his last pay check of Rs. 300, in 1952. He made his debut in Hindi Films in the year 1953, when the film Jeevan Jyoti was released.
Kapoor started out with serious roles but with Filmistan's Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite Ameeta and Dil Deke Dekho (1959) with Asha Parekh, he attained the image of a light-hearted, and stylish playboy.

With Junglee (1961) his new image was cemented and his subsequent films were all in this genre viz. Romcoms.Mohammed Rafi was frequently chosen as his playback voice in the movies that he did. In his early career in the 1950s, he acted with established actresses playing second fiddle in woman-oriented movies: with Madhubala in films such as Rail Ka Dibba (1953) and Naqab, with Nutan in Laila Majnu, with Shyama in Thokar and with Nalini Jaywant in Hum Sab Chor Hain. From 1953 to 1957, none of his films made him popular, until Tumsa Nahin Dekha in 1957.In the 1960s he was often paired with new actresses such as Asha Parekh, Saira Banu, and Sharmila Tagore, all of whom went on to have very successful careers.
Sharmila Tagore and Saira Banu made their Hindi film debuts with Shammi Kapoor in Kashmir Ki Kali and Junglee respectively. He and Asha Parekh were paired in four films, of which the murder mystery Teesri Manzil (1966) and Dil Deke Dekho were successful.
In 1968, he received the first Filmfare Best Actor Award of his career for Bramhachari. He made a unique place for himself in the industry as he was the only dancing hero in Hindi films from the late 1950s till the early 1970s. He used to compose dancing steps in the songs starring him and reportedly never needed a choreographer. This earned him the name of Elvis Presley of India.
Kapoor met Geeta Bali in 1955, during the shooting of the film Rangeen Raaten, where he was the leading actor and she played a cameo. Four months later, they married at Banganga Temples, near Napean Sea Road of Mumbai.
Kapoor died on 14 August 2011 of chronic renal failure, aged 79.