Shammi Kapoor, His Movies & His Songs Options

[swarapriya]

Shammi Kapoor - His Movies & His Songs

Shammi Kappor has been in the movie industry for a very very long time. He first appeared in 1953 in "Thokar" when he was 22. Since then he acted in over 130 movies. Though he struggled initially as an actor, after marrying another actress (Geetabali), his life changed forever under her able guidance. From a commercial also ran to he became a sought after atcor.

I am starting this new series on Shammi. I have many of his movies in CDs. I am missing some of them from his early years, and may be one or two from the later years. I would like to share these songs with you in coming months and invite the members to share any missing songs to complete the albums.

To start with here is the part 1 of his filmography ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Aug 1 2008, 07:47 PM

[swarapriya]

Thokar (1953)

"Thokar" is the movie in which Shammi Kapoor made his debut. He was only 22 then. He did have acting experience touring with Prithvi Theatre Company (his father's) playing bit roles in various plays. By this time, both his father, Prithviraj Kapoor, and his older brother, Raj Kapoor, have firmly established themselves in the movie industry as formidable forces to reckon with. So when he decided to make a plunge into acting in movies, not just one, but five producers signed him.

Unfortunately for Shammi, eventhough he was in the hands of reputable directors, and was a leading man opposite several established actresses (like Madhubala, Nutan, and Suraiya) it wasn't an auspicious start for him. None of these movies were commercial successes.

One great feature about "Thokar" is its music composed by Sardar Malik. The songs "Aye Gham-E-Dil Kya Karoon" are outstanding. These were written by the famous poet Majaz (his picture is given below). In real life Majazji was Asraar Ul Haq. He was uncle of the great lyricist of today, Javed Akhtar. Javed Akhtar's father, himself another great lyricist, Jan Nisar Akhtar, was married to Majajz's sister.

Majazji was considered to be a romantic poet. He was regarded by many as Keats of India. Among others he was a contemporary of Sahir Ludhianvi. Eventhough Sahir initially didn't have good opinion of Majazji as a person (Majaz was an alocoholic), his poems won over him and they became very good friends until Majaz's death in 1955 at the young age of 44. For several years preceding his death, Majazji who depeneded on heavy drinking suffered several nervous breakdowns and also was institutionalized for some time. Inspite of all kinds of hardships, the genius in Majaz was still alive and stayed sober enough to write. His works were published in several books. One of his famous books is "Awaara". The song "Aye Gham-E-Dil" is one of the songs from that book.

Government of India honored Majaz's meomory by issuing a commemorative stamp recently in March 2008.

I am uploading four songs of this album. Two missing songs are listed in red italiics in the table below. Requesting members to share them if they have them. The song list may or may not be complete.

Now for details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Aug 6 2008, 12:51 PM