Arguably one of the most charming and handsome of Bollywood actors – has passed on. After a prolonged illness, Shashi Kapoor passed away on 4 December 2017 at the age of 79. The voice that spoke one of the most famous Hindi movie lines ever – “mere paas ma hai” is now forever silent. We look at the lesser-known facts about Shashi Kapoor the evergreen hero of Hindi cinema.
He started as a child artiste. He played the younger version of the protagonist in several of Raj Kapoor's earlier films. In this picture, his emotive eyes spoke volumes as he essayed the role of the young ‘Awaara’ – an early sign of things to come.
In the 1950 film Sangram, Shashi Kapoor played the street-smart kid Kunwar. The film was a hit and one very much ahead of its times; with the protagonist Ashok Kumar playing a negative character.
He crossed over when no one else had. He did his first English film in 1963 – The Householder. He also starred in the Shakespeare-Walla and the award-winning film, Heat and Dust; creating a unique and enduring association with the eclectic Merchant-Ivory team of Indian Ismail Merchant, American director James Ivory and holocaust survivor Ruth Prawer Jhabwala (the only person to have won a Booker Prize and an Oscar).
One of India’s best looking, most urbane stars; Shashi Kapoor continued to wow international audiences later on in life as well. He acted in the five Emmy Award winning 1996 mini-series Gulliver’s Travels, where he played the Raja of Laputa.
He produced and played the rebel Javed Khan in the critically acclaimed Junoon (1978). He played Nihal in Vijeta (1983), the film starring Rekha, and his son Kunal Kapoor. He also produced Utsav (1984), where he played the crazed Samsthanak. He produced and acted as the beautifully restrained and understated Karan in the critically acclaimed Kalyug.
He started acting in the 1940s and continued till late in life. He acted alongside Pierce Brosnan in The Deceivers (1988), he was the upright journalist in New Delhi Times, the stylish Ravi in Shaan, the honest cop in Deewar, the sensitive, devoted husband in Kabhie Kabhie.
There was a time when Shashi Kapoor was more highly paid than Amitabh Bachchan, but there were also some lean times. According to his son Kunal, there was a time when Shashi Kapoor sold off his sports car and his mother also sold off some stuff because there was no money. His son also said that, Shashi, he and his siblings shared a close relationship with their father; that he would be at the breakfast table at 7.30 in the morning, no matter how late he had returned from shooting the previous night.
Aamir Khan's character Raja in Raja Hindustani is said to be inspired by Shashi Kapoor's character in Jab Jab Phool Khile.
He met Jennifer Kendall in 1956 in Calcutta when she was playing a Shakespearean character in a play. The two married two years later and founded the iconic Prithvi Theatre in 1978 in Mumbai.
His wife Jennifer Kendal died of colon cancer in 1984. It is widely believed that Shashi Kapoor’s health never really recovered after this. Towards the end, he was very unwell and had been on dialysis for years.
Shashi Kapoor was the last surviving brother from among the original trio Prithviraj Kapoor’s three sons; brothers Raj, Shammi and Shashi. With the passing of Shashi Kapoor, an entire era of Hindi films seems to have ended. While he is no longer with us, he will live in our hearts and ceaseless film reels...
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