Shammi Kapoor's colleagues remember him as animated, knowledgeable and genuinely caring person.
The film industry is a perfect example of solidarity during the time of crises or tragedy, unlike the other artistic fraternity especially visual arts where given a chance even assumably courageous and bold artists don't hesitate to backtrack from their statements out of fear of pressure from the peers but the film industry is one where, artistes, especially from the elderly generation, speak of their co-actors with tremendous respect and refrain from making statement they would have to backtrack later from.
In the case of Shammi Kapoor, the whole film industry, especially his co-actors who were always a little apprehensive of his unpredictable moves and moods on the sets, neither said anything against him during his life time, nor today when he is no more. Most, rather utilised this sad moment to his advantage and not theirs'. His heroines, especially Saira Bano, Sharmila Tagore and Aasha Parekh remember him with tremendous respect though each one of them had one or the other professionally unsavoury experience with him on the sets. Villains of his time or films laugh remembering his jigs than his fists.
And his directors say he was their actor despite differences of opinions, and interestingly, all of them keep him “out of the triangle of Dilip Kumar, Dev Aanad and Raj Kapoor” the most popular heroes of their times. They fondly label him as an actor who created his own niche style and stuck to it – the style that made him stand unique.
So what made Shammi so popular among his peers? All unanimously agree on three things; his liveliness even in the face of the worst of illness, his knowledge that included his penchant for technology and tennis and his genuine concern for his colleagues.
Lekh Tandon, a writer/director for instance, who started his career with Prithviraj's R.K. Studio, became best of friends with Shammi. Mr. Tandon, now in his 80s, knew Shammi “since he was four.” Mr. Tandon made two films Professor and Prince with him. Mr. Tandon “virtually spent his entire life time” with Shammi. Hence, he doesn't stop at memories of the film he made with him. He knew him through and through.
“Shammi,” he recalls “came from a rich background. A well heeled person but scared of his parents. I was an assistant with Kidar Sharma and used to earn Rs.80 as my salary. A young Shammi would steal my money and return the empty purse to me. Once during a family outing, we were passing through a jungle and we saw someone singing. We went closer and found it was Amrita Pritam. Shammi stood there, heard her and invited her to his home saying ‘I loved your poetry and voice'. It amazed me as he was just seven.”
Mischievous and joyful, Shammi when got to know that it was Mr. Tandon'r birthday in 1948, decided to steal champagne from a small Wadala hotel. “He made me stand on his shoulder to pick a bottle, bought cups and cold water from a chai wala and celebrated my birthday on the road. We drank juice to ward off the smell of champagne as we knew he would be taken to task by our parents if they got to know he had drunk. We finished my Rs. 80. We went walking from Wadala to Matunga as we had no money left. As we reached his home, we didn't speak for fear of smell. As expected he was beaten nicely.”
Shammi he also adds, always wanted to add his innovations in his films. But Mr. Tandon never treated him as a star but as a younger brother. “So he never could fiddle with my script/direction and took my word as last, always.” Mr. Tandon, full of memories of “this woman's man” however refuses to share any of his mischievous behaviour with his women on the sets “that would be like betraying his trust,” he concludes.
Sharmila Tagore, his heroine in her debut film Kashmir Ki Kali and later in several other films including An evening in Paris remembers him as a “an immensely popular actor in the Valley and among his heroines as well. She doesn't forget to credit Neela Devi, his second wife for being “a truly supportive soul mate” who would take all good and not so good rumours about this lady's man in her stride. “On his 76th birthday he called me from Switzerland and said he was standing on locales they shot together. These things cannot be forgotten. We have grown old, these memories matter to us,' she says.
Shammi attended a fashion show called an “Evening in Paris” in Mumbai on a wheel chair. “Mostly, at this age and with this condition, most old actors I know try to hide from the media. But Shammi never did so. That's why he was immensely popular in the media too,” she says.
Ms. Saira Bano recalls her first encounter with Shammi on the sets of Junglee . During the song “Din saara guzara tere angna,” she had to run with her sandals off. “Nervous with the medium and not the man, I wasn't able to emote, it angered Shammi and he scolded me publicly. It determined me to do my best. After the film was over, I teased him, “now I will work with you only after I learn acting.' I was just out of my school then.” Since the film turned blockbuster, producers made a beeline to cast us together but I rejected 10 to 12 offers to work with him. After more than a decade then we did Zameer in which he played my father. “I teased him again, “I accepted this film as now I have learnt acting. He took it graciously.”
Ms. Saira recalls how close Dilip Kumar and Shammi were. So, she still hasn't shared the news of his death to him. “They were very close. They would meet in all festivals and speak in chaste aristocratic Peshawari Punjabi. I have no guts to share it with Yusuf sahib (Dilip). I have switched off the television and will see for how many days I would be able to hide it from him. For us, he was a family member and not a colleague,” she says aggrieved.
Prem Chopra, a villain in Pagla Kahin Ka and a number of others films including Teesri Manzil and Laat Sahab , says he found it very difficult to match up to his “energy levels and individualistic dancing style in the title song of this film. “He would jig and twist, turn and shake, gush and fall. He was a complete entertainer. He would meet everyone who would come to meet him on the sets. That made me very popular among one and all. He has always amazed me with “Life has to go on whether you are on wheelchair or off it” sentence when he would meet me during his illness days.”
It was Sushma Seth, who apparently matched up to his scary ways of dealing with his debut co-actors irrespective of age. She worked with him in Prem Rog , Kareeb and a few more films, all as his wife. “When I met him for the first time on the sets on Prem Rog , he came close to me and looked at me with twitched and raised one eyebrow, I responded exactly in the same way. So, he said, “Alright, alright.” He could make out that he wouldn't be able to scare me with his calibre. The association thickened and it was later followed by passionate discussion on tennis and technology,” she recalls.
