Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; 21 October 1931[3] – 14 August 2011) was an Indian film actor and

director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s and also made a debut
in Tamil cinema with the 1992 blockbuster crime drama Amaran. He received the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1968 for
his performance in Brahmachari and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Vidhaata in 1982.
Shammi Kapoor is hailed as one of the most entertaining lead actors that Hindi cinema has ever produced. He was one
of the leading stars of Hindi cinema during the late 1950s, the 1960s and early 1970s. He made his Hindi Film debut in
1953 with the film Jeevan Jyoti, and went on to deliver hits like Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke
Dekho, Singapore, Junglee, College Girl, Professor, China Town, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Kashmir Ki
Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Sachaai.

Contents
[hide]

 1Early life
 2Film career
 3Personal life
 4Death
 5Awards
 6Filmography
 7Television
 8Further reading
 9References
 10External links

Early life[edit]
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See also: Kapoor family

He was given the name Shamsher Raj Kapoor at his birth in Bombay (now Mumbai) to film and theatre actor Prithviraj
Kapoor and Ramsharni Kapoor (née Mehra).[4] Shammi was the second of the three sons born to Prithviraj (the other
two being Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, both successful Hindi Filmactors). He was the first cousin of singer, Juggal
Kishore Mehra, whose daughter, actress-singer (Salma Agha, her first debut was in Hindi Movie Nikaah a film by B R
Chopra) is his niece.
Though born in Mumbai, he spent a major portion of his childhood in Peshawar, Pakistan in the Kapoor Haveli and
in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where his father was involved with New Theatres Studios, acting in films. It was in Kolkata
that he did his Montessori education and Kindergarten. After coming back to Bombay, he first went to St. Joseph's
Convent (Wadala) and then, to Don Bosco School. He finished his matric schooling from New Era School at Hughes
Road.
Kapoor had a short stint at Ramnarain Ruia College after which he joined his father’s theatrical company Prithvi
Theatres. He entered the cinema world in 1948, as a junior artiste, at a salary of Rs. 50 per month, stayed with Prithvi
Theatres for the next four years and collected his last pay check of Rs. 300, in 1952. He made his debut in Hindi Films
in the year 1953, when the film Jeevan Jyoti was released. It was directed by Mahesh Kaul and Chand Usmani was
Kapoor’s first heroine. He was in a relationship with Nadia Gamal, a belly dancer from Cairo[5] and Egyptian actress,
from 1953-55 after they met in Sri Lanka on an occasion while he was on a holiday trip, [6] but their relationship ended
when she moved back to Cairo.

Film career[edit]
Kapoor started out with serious roles but with Filmistan's Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite
Ameeta and Dil Deke Dekho (1959) with Asha Parekh, he attained the image of a light-hearted, and stylish playboy.[7]
With Junglee (1961) his new image was cemented and his subsequent films were all in this genre
viz.Romcoms. Mohammed Rafi was frequently chosen as his playback voice in the movies that he did. In his early
career in the 1950s, he acted with established actresses playing second fiddle in woman-oriented movies:
with Madhubala in films such as Rail Ka Dibba (1953) and Naqab, with Nutan in Laila Majnu,
with Shyama in Thokar and with Nalini Jaywant in Hum Sab Chor Hain. From 1953 to 1957, none of his films made him
popular, until Tumsa Nahin Dekha in 1957.In the 1960s he was often paired with new actresses such as Asha
Parekh, Saira Banu, and Sharmila Tagore, all of whom went on to have very successful careers. [8] Of all his heroines, he
said that Sharmila Tagore, Rajshree, and Asha Parekh were easy to work with.[9]
Sharmila Tagore and Saira Banu made their Hindi film debuts with Shammi Kapoor in Kashmir Ki
Kali and Junglee respectively[10] He and Asha Parekh were paired in four films, of which the murder mystery Teesri
Manzil (1966) and Dil Deke Dekho were successful.
In the early 1950s Kapoor accepted serious roles in films such as Shama Parwana (1954) with Suraiya, comedy
flick Mem Sahib (1956) with Meena Kumari, and thrillers like Chor Bazar (1954), as well as in the tragic love story Mirza
Sahiban (1957) opposite Shyama.[11] He gained more widespread popularity with the successful films Tumsa Nahin
Dekha (1957), Ujala and Dil Dil Deke Deko (both 1959). In the first half of the 1960s, Kapoor was seen in successful
films like College Girl, Basant, Singapore, Boy Friend, Professor, Dil Tera Diwana, Vallah Kya Baat Hai, Pyar Kiya To
Darna Kya, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, Bluff Master, Janwar and Rajkumar.
In 1968, he received the first Filmfare Best Actor Award of his career for Bramhachari. He made a unique place for
himself in the industry as he was the only dancing hero in Hindi films from the late 1950s till the early 1970s. [citation
needed][12]
He used to compose dancing steps in the songs starring him and reportedly never needed a choreographer. This
earned him the name of Elvis Presley of India.[13][14]
His pairing opposite Southern heroines tended to be commercially successful. He played opposite B. Saroja
Devi in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya and Preet Na Jane Reet, with Padmini in Singapore, and
opposite Vyjayanthimala in College Girl and Prince.[15] In the late 1960s, his successful films
included Budtameez and Sachaai with Sadhana, Latt Saheb with Nutan and Tumse Achha Kaun Hai with Babita.
In the 1970s, Kapoor’s weight problem proved an obstacle when playing the romantic hero, and the last such film he
played in was Andaz (1971). He would move to character roles and acted in films
like Zameer, Hero, Vidhaata, Hukumat, Batwara, Tahalka, Chamatkar, Namak and Prem Granth. In 1974, he
directed Manoranjan and in 1976 Bundal Baaz.
Shammi turned into a successful supporting actor in the 1970s, playing Saira Banu's father in Zameer (1974), when he
had been her leading man a decade earlier in Junglee (1961) and Bluff Master (1964) and playing Amitabh Bachchan's
foster father in Parvarish. He also directed Manoranjan (1974), a movie inspired from Irma La Douce and in which he
played a supporting role and Bundal Baaz (1976) starring Rajesh Khanna. Neither were successful commercially though
they got critical acclaim and were hailed as classics and ahead of their time. In the 1980s and 1990s, he continued to
play many supporting roles and won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in Vidhaata (1982)
where big giants as Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar played major role in "Vidhaata". He got the opportunity to do some
films in other languages such as Bengali and Tamil in the nineties.
He did a social melodrama serial called Chattan aired on Zee TV for more than a year in the 1990s. He eventually cut
down on film appearances by the late 1990s and early 2000s with appearances in the 1999 Salman Khan and Urmila
Matondkar starrer Jaanam Samjha Karo, 2002 release Waah! Tera Kya Kehna and the delayed 2006
release Sandwich (his last appearance as a character actor). He made his last appearance in Imtiaz Ali's directorial
venture Rockstar co-starring his grand-nephew Ranbir Kapoor, the grandson of his brother Raj Kapoor.
Director Shakti Samanta directed Shammi Kapoor in six films — Singapore, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening
In Paris, Pagla Kahin Ka and Jaane Anjane (the last two were unsuccessful) — and said in an interview “I found
Shammi to be a thoroughly good man. Even in his heyday, he was humble." [16]

Personal life[edit]
Kapoor met Geeta Bali in 1955, during the shooting of the film Rangeen Raaten, where he was the leading actor and
she played a cameo. Four months later, they married at Banganga Temples, near Napean Sea Road of Mumbai. They
had a son, Aditya Raj Kapoor, on 1 July 1956, at Shirodkar's Hospital, Mumbai, a year after they were married. Five
years later, in 1961, they had a daughter, Kanchan. Geeta Bali died from smallpox in 1965. Shammi Kapoor married
Neila Devi, from the former royal family of Bhavnagar in Gujarat, on January 27, 1969. [17][18]
In an interview in 2011, Mumtaz had stated that Shammi Kapoor had proposed marriage to her, as they had drawn
close while shooting for Brahmachari. This was post the death of his first wife Geeta Bali. Mumtaz states that she had
politely refused, as Shammi Kapoor wanted her to give up her career. [19] Bina Ramani, an eminent socialite also claims
to have had a tumultuous affair with Shammi Kapoor at around the same time as Mumtaz. [20]
Shammi Kapoor was the founder and chairman of Internet Users Community of India (IUCI). He had also played a
major role in setting up internet organizations like the Ethical Hackers Association. Kapoor also maintained a website
dedicated to the Kapoor family.[21]
Shammi Kapoor was a follower of Haidakhan Baba.[22]

Death[edit]
Kapoor was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai on 7 August 2011 suffering from chronic renal failure. His
condition remained serious for next few days and he was kept on ventilator support.[23] He died on 14 August 2011,
05:15 am IST, of chronic renal failure, aged 79.[24][25] Funeral was held on Monday, 15 August at Banganga cremation
ground, Malabar Hill, Mumbai. His son, Aditya, performed the last rites at the cremation. The entire Kapoor family were
present to pay their last respects, including his younger brother Shashi Kapoor, sister-in-law Krishna Kapoor, grand
nephew Ranbir Kapoor, nephews Rishi, Randhir and Rajiv, Randhir's wife Babita and grand nieces Karishma
Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor.[26] Bollywood personalities Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Subhash Ghai, Amitabh
Bachchan, Ramesh Sippy, Danny Denzongpa, Prem Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Govinda, Aamir Khan, Rani
Mukherjee, Shahrukh Khan, Kabir Bedi and Priyanka Chopra were among those who attended the funeral. [27]