Shashi Kapoor is still remembered for his very attractive and beautiful face. His face was such that my heart would melt just by looking at it. In his long career, which spanned more than six decades, he worked not only in Indian but also in international films. He revived the legacy of his father Prithviraj Kapoor i.e. Prithvi Theater and ran it with great hard work. Also, he did amazing acting in many superhit films of the 1960s and 1970s. Especially director Yash Chopra gave many memorable films to Shashi Kapoor, most of which proved to be huge hits. Today is Shashi Kapoor’s 88th birth anniversary which is celebrated on 18 March.
He worked with Yash Chopra and achieved great success. Shashi Kapoor started his career in childhood itself. In the late 1940s, he appeared in films as a child artist. But after growing up, he got his first lead role in Yash Chopra’s film Dharamputra (1961). This film was based on the story of the time of partition and it also received the National Award.
When Shashi played the role of Hindu fundamentalist
In this film, Shashi played the role of a young man who was born to Muslim parents, but grew up in a Hindu family. He did not know his real identity. He becomes a Hindu fundamentalist and tries to send Muslims to Pakistan. This role was very difficult because on the outside the character looked bigoted and hateful, but on the inside he was struggling with the struggle for his identity and existence. Shashi played this role with such grace that he was recognized as a serious actor.
Why was the National Award rejected?
Shashi later said in an interview, ‘Yash Chopra gave me the most important role of my life in ‘Dharmaputra’. I was nominated for a National Award for this, but I turned it down because I felt that my acting could have been better. People also liked his humility very much.
‘Waqt’ film was to be made with Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor
After this film, the pair of Yash Chopra and Shashi Kapoor gave many great films. Yash Chopra gave a lot of importance to Shashi. He once told in a conversation with Shahrukh Khan that initially he wanted to cast Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor for the three brothers in a film like ‘Waqt’, but then he thought that if the three brothers looked alike, the story would be affected, hence he chose new actors for the two elder brothers, but definitely kept Shashi because he already liked Shashi’s acting.
Shashi was nervous in front of big stars
Yash said, ‘Shashi is my friend. We had made ‘Dharmaputra’. He will have to work in my film. In ‘Dharmaputra’, Shashi had to work with big actors like Balraj Sahni, Sunil Dutt and Raj Kumar. He was quite nervous. He told Yash that he should not get buried among the others. Yash gave him equal screen time and built a good rapport with everyone. Then after about ten years came their next big collaboration – Deewaar (1975). This film is one of the most classic films of Hindi cinema.
Played second lead opposite emerging actor
However, the big thing was that despite being a superstar, Shashi played a supporting role with an emerging actor, rather Amitabh Bachchan was in the lead role of the film. He played the character of an honest, idealistic police officer named Ravi, who wants to improve society by following the law. Amitabh’s character was his brother Vijay, who was angry and hated the system. Shashi’s character was the voice of wisdom and goodness in the film.
Was there a clash with Amitabh Bachchan?
There were some rumors that Shashi was fraudulently given a small role, but Shashi clearly denied them. He said, ‘I knew from the beginning that I am playing the second lead role, there is no harm in it. Big actors also play supporting roles in Hollywood. One of his scenes in ‘Deewar’ is very famous where he says to Amitabh, ‘Brother, will you sign or not? And the voice gets louder and louder. Yash Chopra stopped him from overacting and filmed it in the right way. At the same time, the shooting of ‘Deewar’ and Kabhi Kabhie (1976) was going on simultaneously. In ‘Kabhi Kabhi’, Shashi played the role of an elderly, happy-go-lucky husband who knows about his wife’s past love, but is not jealous. He accepts the past and lives happily with his family. Shashi was given complete freedom by the writer and director, and her acting was very memorable.
Yash-Shashi pair never broke
In the late 1970s, Yash Chopra also cast Shashi in films like ‘Trishul’ (1978) and ‘Kala Patthar’ (1979). In ‘Trishul’, Shashi played the role of Amitabh Bachchan’s illegitimate brother. His character was strong in ‘Kala Patthar’ also. He had a small but big role in ‘Silsila’ (1981), which took the story forward. His presence left a mark in the film. After ‘Silsila’, Yash and Shashi did not work together in films, but their friendship never broke.
said goodbye to 2017
In 2010, when Shashi received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, it was Yash Chopra who gave her the trophy. Shashi Kapoor died on 4 December 2017, but his films, his acting and Prithvi Theater are still alive. He was a star who always arrived on time, was professional, did not throw tantrums and behaved well with everyone. His memories are still present in our hearts.
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