Remembering Shammi Kapoor

In 1997 the then editor of a magazine I was working for had assigned the task of doing nostalgia pieces for the magazine. Every month I had to meet a veteran actor and walk down the memory lane with them....most I met lived in the past glory. Shammi Kapoor, however, was different

As I had entered his tiny office inside his residence, I was nervous. I had heard of the famous Kapoor moodiness. He was working on the computer and he abruptly turned to me, as if I was encroaching on his precious time. He asked me a few questions to see if I was prepared enough, keeping his eyes closed all the while. And. Five long minutes later, he opened his blue eyes and flashed a big mischievous smile. And then he asked in a warm tone, "Do you want to see what I am working on?" I wasn't prepared for this. Right in front of me was a black and white poster of a film, starring him and Madhubala and he was in the process of colouring it.u00a0 When I expressed my amazement at the fabulous colour combinations that he had used, he had said with a smile, "Such immense possibilities ufffdthis computer ufffdI am most excited ufffd". Only two decades later, the hindi film industry woke up to the possibilities of colouring of old black and white movies. And in the meanwhile Shammi Kapoor went on to become the founder and chairman of the internet users community of India (IUCI). He also used to maintain a website about the Kapoor family.

That was Shammi Kapoor. Way ahead of his time, always. When he entered the industry in the early 50s, the world wasn't sure how to react to this stylish, playboy kind of a hero. It didn't take them much to get convinced. Playing the romantic hero came naturally to Shammi Kapoor who wooed with such passion that it didn't take long before his heroines melted in his arms and the audience melted to his charm. Flamboyant and cuddly, Shammi Kapoor had managed to create a niche for himself, which was untouchable. Shammi Kapoor got the best romantic songs or he managed to make them memorable, is debatable. But can we even imagine the naughty 'Yun toh humne laakh haseen dekhe hai ufffd' or the soulful 'Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par ufffd' and such innumerable songs without him?

Yes, during the course of that interview, once his blue eyes had welled up. While talking about Geeta Bali, the woman he loved and married and lost to small pox. It was obvious that even after decades of losing her, he was still missing her. I hope he gets to meet her now.