Shammi Kapoor, the original Rockstar ! Options

[Sharmila-Sweet]

October 19, 2010 14:41 IST
Sreya Basu, Trans World Features in Mumbai



Shammi Kapoor describes himself as Renaissance man, retired actor and computer buff on Twitter.



The actor, who has entertained audiences over five decades, looks back at his time in front of the camera.



He tells Trans World Features correspondent Sreya Basu what was the best part of being an actor is, and much more.



What's the best thing of being in the Indian film industry for over five decades?



The most wonderful thing about the films of my times was the innocence. Those were happy movies -- hero meets heroine, chases her, sings seven-eight songs for fasao-ing (wooing) her, and then last mein Pranji ki tarah ek villain bhi aa jayenge. The hero has a climax fight with Pran to save the heroine. And at the end, the lovers are united.



I belong to the era when films were simple, they didn't tax your brains. My films were not thought-provoking, they were hardcore entertainers.



Most of your musical hits were playbacked by Mohammad Rafi.



Rafisaab was my voice. After his death, I lost my voice. I cried like hell.



He had a great sense of humour. Generally, I used to be present at the recordings of all my songs. I would ask him to sing the songs with the nuances that I would portray on screen and he would happily oblige. After the recording, when I listened to the songs, I would wonder how could he sing exactly the way I wished him to!




Shammi Kapoor describes himself as Renaissance man, retired actor and computer buff on Twitter.



The actor, who has entertained audiences over five decades, looks back at his time in front of the camera.



He tells Trans World Features correspondent Sreya Basu what was the best part of being an actor is, and much more.



What's the best thing of being in the Indian film industry for over five decades?



The most wonderful thing about the films of my times was the innocence. Those were happy movies -- hero meets heroine, chases her, sings seven-eight songs for fasao-ing (wooing) her, and then last mein Pranji ki tarah ek villain bhi aa jayenge. The hero has a climax fight with Pran to save the heroine. And at the end, the lovers are united.



I belong to the era when films were simple, they didn't tax your brains. My films were not thought-provoking, they were hardcore entertainers.



Most of your musical hits were playbacked by Mohammad Rafi.



Rafisaab was my voice. After his death, I lost my voice. I cried like hell.



He had a great sense of humour. Generally, I used to be present at the recordings of all my songs. I would ask him to sing the songs with the nuances that I would portray on screen and he would happily oblige. After the recording, when I listened to the songs, I would wonder how could he sing exactly the way I wished him to!





You never asked Rafi how he could feel your pulse?

Yes, I did.

Remember the song Aasman se aaya farista from Kashmir Ki Kali? I was not present at the recording of that song. After listening to the song, I asked him, 'Main toh wahan tha nehin, so how could you get the exact nuances that I planned to perform on screen?'

He said: 'I just fantasised how Shammi Kapoor will sing and perform this song. If he is Shammi Kapoor, then at one moment he will jump from here and then take a dive from there.'

You had your unique style of dancing.

I never learnt how to dance; never had a dance master. When I was 18-19 years old, I joined a dancing school in Dadar to learn the tango. They used to charge 20 for an hour. After spending 100, I realised that I hadn't learnt anything. But I always gave expressions as required to my songs.






'You once said you used to forget your dialogues seeing Madhubala. True?

Absolutely true. There was this film, Rail Ka Dibba (1953). Madhubala was my heroine. She was so beautiful and I was a new hero, hardly 20 years old. I used to forget my dialogues seeing her and she used to help me out.

Can you pick one film that will remain unforgettable for you?

I will never forget Teesri Manzil. It was during the shooting of the film that I suffered the saddest moment of my life -- I lost my wife (Geeta Bali) in 1965. I was shattered, but had to continue shooting.

She was there before Teesri Manzil's shooting started. She was very happy that I was offered the film. She said she wanted to see my contribution in the film. I could not digest that fact that she was no longer there.




What made the eternal lover boy of Indian cinema so computer savvy even before the Internet wave hit India?

I discovered Internet before you got Internet in India. I took it up as a hobby. I am on Apple and they gave us a website called eWorld. The British telecom gave us a line through VSNL, even though VSNL was not available at that time (1994). That was an eye-opener -- something completely new. By the time Internet came to India, we were already first-marchers...already sab kuch dekh liya tha.

You have the latest gadgets, including the IPad. You are on Facebook, Twitter, maintain your own website.

I have been going to the hospital thrice a week for dialysis for the last seven years. There are millions of well-wishers who pray for me, bless me so that I remain healthy and return home safe. Believe me, Internet is the best medium to connect with lost friends.

I had a very dear friend Afzal in Pakistan. It shocked me completely when I received his email one day after 50 years! The machine (computer) did another good to me.

What's that?

The moment the mouse came in my hand, the cigarette flew away permanently.

[Sharmila-Sweet]

Shammi Kapoor was like a mentor to me: Asha Parekh
By IANS, 17 August, 2011
Asha Parekh remembers her late co-star Shammi Kapoor as a mentor who taught her how to perform in the songs and how to do lip-sync in the song sequences. She is also concerned about his wife, whose life revolved round the star of hits like ‘Junglee’ and ‘Teesri Manzil’.

‘He was Shammi chacha (uncle) and his wife was Neela chachi (aunt) for me…It was her idea that I call them chacha and chachi. Now when this shocking news comes, my heart reaches out to Neela chachi,’ said Asha.

‘How will she cope? She devoted her entire being looking after him. Though she came from a very large and closely-knit family, after marriage Shammi chacha was her life…My heart reaches out to her…Shammi chacha…what do I say?’

Talking about her association with the actor, who died Monday after kindey failure, Asha Parekh said: ‘Memories flood back to my first film ‘Dil Deke Dekho’ where I was this gawky nervous tomboy. Shammi chacha taught me how to perform in the songs, how to do lip-sync in the song sequences. We later did ‘Teesri Manzil’ together, which was iconic.’

‘When we were shooting for ‘Teesri Manzil’, we never thought it would become so popular with time. We had such fun – me, Shammi chacha, producer Nasir Saab (Nasir Husain) and the director Vijay Anand.

‘Shammi Chacha and I would look into the camera lens to check out all the pretty girls who passed by on location. Now all of the ‘Teesri Manzil’ team is gone,’ she said adding that ‘Our two other films – ‘Jawan Mohabbat’ and ‘Pagla Kahin Ka’ were average successes.’

Asha says it’s hard to believe Shammi Kapoor is no more.

‘He was so full of life right to the end. In all these years, I’ve never seen him depressed except when his first wife Geeta Bali passed away suddenly. It left him shattered. I remember the shooting of ‘Teesri Manzil’ was called off and when we resumed we deliberately chose the sombre song ‘Tumne mujhe dekha hokar meherbaan’. ‘

‘The last time I met him was at actress Smita Jaykar’s place. He was in a lot of pain. But that smiling face never left him. I learnt so much from watching Shammi chacha at work and in real life. He had such an infectious zest for life. I don’t know about other heroines. With me he was caring, protective and guardian-like. I’ve no one to call chacha anymore,’ she said.