The demise of Shashi Kapoor brings to an end an era. He was part of the first family of Bollywood, which are still ruling the roost, thanks to charismatic stars of the current generation. Each member of the clan had his own USP and as far as Shashi is concerned, it was his strikingly handsome appearance.
There have been so many incidents and anecdotes about Shashi Kapoor in the last week and mere repetition will not serve any purpose. So, I have decided to pay him a tribute by enumerating the films in which he acted alongside his family members !
The first such film was , Aag ( 1948) in which he played the younger Raj. Aag was the first of 17 films produced by Raj Kapoor, the last being Prem Rog ( 1982).
In the next RK Film, Awara ( 1951), Shashi again played the young Raj. Incidentally this was the first film to have three generations of Kapoors ( Kal Aaj aur Kal was the second one !). Awara , in its credits has not only Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor, but also the father of Prithviraj, Diwan Basesarnath Kapoor. Though Shashi did not have any scenes with Raj ( not possible due to script !) and was not credited , it is a fact that he did play a role in the film.
Shashi Kapoor actually got a chance to work with Raj Kapoor in 1983, in the film Vakeel Babu. Paired with Zeenat Aman, the film was one of the many forgettable films, except for the siblings coming together for one and only time. Raj had directed Shashi earlier in Satyam Shivam Sundaram ( 1978) , bowing to the wishes of his family and against his better judgenment. Raj had promised the role to Rajesh Khanna and had to apologise to the Superstar, saying" Kaka, main apne bachchon se haar gaya "
In fact, for most of the period, Raj Kapoor had been a big supporting brother to Shashi. In the days when Shashi was having lots of work and was shattling to studios, working in three shifts to catch up with the workload, Raj cautioned him to take it easy. He evn told someone, "Shashi is like a taxi, keeps shuttling "
Even with Shammi , Raj was critical when he found the an advertisement on TV ( for Pan Parag_ had Shammi in the frame with Ashok Kumar. When questioned, Shammi said that he never had any film with the great actor, so when the advertisement wa offered, he grabbed it. raj was not amused.
With brother Shammi Kapoor, the " mere paas maa hai" actor collaborated in the film Jabse Tumhein Dekha hai ( 1963) , in which the two had a great qawwali together. It was an "item number" of sorts, the lead pair being Pradeep Kumar and Geeta Bali ( who was actually Shashi's bhabhi !). Incidentally, the two could not act together in many films. In Salaakhein ( 1976), a Shashi kapoor-Sulakshana Pandit starrer had Shammi playing a cameo as a truck driver. Ahsaas ( 1979) had both of them in Special Appearances, but not in a frame. The film Vivekananda ( 1994) also had both of them in brief roles.
Shashi kapoor was paired with to-be- daughter-in-law Babita ( already dating nephew Randhir) in to films : Haseena maan Jaayegi and Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati. Both had popular songs and it was not long before babita and Dabboo tied the knot ( early 70s) which put paid to the lead pair's future alliances.
With the other prospective daughter-in-law Neetu Singh , Shashi acted in many films .However, in only two films did they play romantically linked characters: Deewaar ( 1975) and Shankar Dada ( 1976). While the Deewar songs were popular ( though the film signalled the death-knell of music, as the LP had dialogues more prominently exhibited), it was the film Shankar Dada in which Shashi kapoor played a drag, in a mujra !
Shashi Kapoor in Shankar Dada
Shashi Kapoor acted with Randhir kapoor in two films Heeralal Pannalal ( 1978) where they played the conning duo. In the film Shashi was paired with Zeenat and randhir with Neetu ( another case of being all in the family, as Neetu was Dabboo's sister-in-law !)
Shashi Kapoor and nephew Rishi Kapoor acted in 6 films and were generally assigned the roles of father and son.
In the film Doosra Aadmi, Rakhi is reminded of her dead husband( played by Shashi ), when she sees Rishi, making the latter infatuated with her.However, in the film Duniya Meri Jeb Mein ( 1979), the two played brothers !
The film in which Shashi acted alongside Rajiv Kapoor, his younger nephew was Hum To Chale Pardes ( 1998). The visuals indicate that he plays the father-in -law , Mandakini being his daughter and Asha Parekh ( in the photo) as his deceased wife.
With wife Jennifer Kendall, Shashi had acted in many plays under the direction of Geoffrey Kendall for the troupe Shakespearana. Based on this troupe, a film Shakespaearewallah was produced by Ivory Merchant, which had Shashi and Jennifer. In fact, Shashi was one of the earliest Hindi film actor to have crossed over, acting in many English films such as The Householder, Bombay Talkies. and Heat and Dust. The couple also acted in the film Junoon ( 1978), which had daughter Sanjana and sons Karan and Kunal.
The father-son combination of Shashi and Kunal gave strong performances in Vijeta ( 1982), which was probably the earliest film in the "coming-of-age" genre. The conflict and its resolution had been portrayed effectively. In a song in Vijeta, both the father and son are in the frame, but at different parts: father in the beginning and son near the end. An artistic manner of showing the conflict.
Vijeta reminds us that Shashi kapoor was not only a serious actor, but a great producer , making meaningful films such as Junoon, Kalyug, Vijeta, 36 Chowringee Lane, Utsav and Ajooba. He said once,"I may be making money from acting in masala films, but I choose to spend it making artistic films"
Leaving you with the beautiful song from Vijeta.
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