His 'Yahoo' signified the arrival of a rebel star. A star who held his own against the reigning trio of his time Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar. Born on October 21, 1931 as Shamsher Singh Kapoor into the illustrious Kapoor family, he had a lot of expectations to live up to.
His career in show business got off to a rocky start despite having starred opposite major heroines like Madhubala in Rail ka dibba, Suraiya in Shama Parwana and Nalini Jaywant in Hum Sab Chor Hai. It took four years of hard struggle, patient perse¬verance and even hard-hitting brickbats for Shammi to create his own distinguished identity.
It was only in 1957, with Nasir Hussain’s ‘Tumsa Nahin Dekha’ that Shammi finally made it to the doors of success. He shaved his moustache, donned a new style just like Elvis Presley and behold — a star was born.
With the success of Junglee in 1961, an entire decade reeled under its colourful impact. Shammi’s persona as a fun-lov¬ing, boisterous, romantic and re¬bellious hero was so well-established after Junglee that even a mediocre film like ‘China Town’, released a year later, set the cash registers ringing, purely banking on the image he cultivated. Shammi heralded the swinging 60s and a large part of his appeal was primarily due to the immensely catchy and upbeat numbers where he was at his boisterous best. Later, he went on to star in memorable films like, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari and Vidhaata. And, can anybody forget the evergreen Teesri Manzil?
Aware of the kind of hysteria he generated among the youth, most of his films were hero-centric and youth-oriented.
Andaz released in 1971 was his last movie as a leading man but even 40 decades later, his fan following kept increasing.
In 2006, he revealed in an interview that he underwent dialysis three times a week. Irrepressible even then, this punishing regimen had failed to depress him. Rather, he said that he was thankful to God for giving him so much.
He died around 5:30 am on sunday, at Mumbai’s Breach Candy hospital, where he was undergoing treatment.He died due to chronic renal failure. With Shammi Kapoor’s death an era – inimitable and unforgettable came to an end on Sunday. But he will continue to live on in every movie goers mind and heart.
Somehow the loss seems to be so personal!I had and still have I guess, such a huge crush on this man:(
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