The 4th of December will now always be remembered
as the day when we lost a living legend of Indian Cinema, Shashi Kapoor. Balbir
Prithviraj Kapoor or better known as Shashi Kapoor was one of the iconic
legends of Hindi cinema who has entertained and mesmerised audiences for almost
five decades with his charming personality and scintillating performances. He
may be best remembered as an actor, but he has contributed equally to promote
parallel cinema in India as producer and has also directed the Amitabh Bachchan
starrer Ajooba as well as a Russian language film named Vozvrashchenie
bagdadskogo vora.
The son of famous Prithviraj Kapoor and the
younger brother of Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor started his
career at the very young age of seven in the Raj Kapoor directed film Aag,
playing the younger version of his elder brother. His first lead role was in
the 1961 film Dharmputra which was the second directorial film by
another Bollywood legend, Yash Chopra. Since then, Shashi Kapoor went on to act
in more than 100 films throughout his career with Side Streets being his
last film as an actor.
Shashi Kapoor was not just an actor, director or producer;
he was much more than that. He opened new windows of opportunity for newcomers and
struggling actors. Bollywood legend and Mega star Amitabh Bachchan said in one
of his interviews that Shashi Kapoor was one of the major supports he had during
his initial days in the industry. He scolded him once for playing the role of
an extra in an Ismail Merchant film and told him that he was meant to do
greater things. He later got the scene deleted from the film. Later, Shashi
Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan went on to become one of the most super hit male lead
pairs of Indian Cinema.
But the biggest contribution by Shashi Kapoor was probably
the revival of Hindi theatre. He has been a driving force behind keeping the
theatre prospect alive in India through his father’s famous establishment Prithvi
Theatre. “Theatre was always my first love, still is. When I came to the
movies, it was to get a job, do the roles that came to me. I wanted to earn
enough money to support my family. I never aspired to be a star.” said Kapoor
in one of his interviews.
He was institutional during his early days in the industry as
he gave opportunity to many theatre artists and provided a platform to
newcomers to showcase their talent in front of the whole world and become
successful in their careers.
As I bid goodbye to this legend, all I want to say is Thank You
for making my childhood and teenage life memorable with your Charm. Alvida The Charmer.
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