28 August,2011 10:14 AM IST | | Lhendup G Bhutia
Very few know that before the veteran actor passed away on August 14, a dear friend and journalist was paying him regular visits for the past few months. Rauf Ahmed speaks with Sunday MiD DAY about losing a friend and his project with the actoru00a0-- a biography of Shammi Kapoor
It's easy to lose Rauf Ahmed's words. He speaks softly. Even the light rain outside a coffee shop at Andheri Link Road drowns his voice. But there are animated bursts that punctuate the conversation, when everything he says is loud and clear. He even uses his hands for emphasis. These are the times when he speaks about Shammi Kapoor.
Almost immediately, his sentences falter. They trail off before completion, and the hands that he used for emphasis a few minutes ago, now rub against his forehead. He looks at the floor to think, as if suddenly realising that the actor is no more. Ahmed looks sad then.
When Kapoor decided to secretly marry Geeta Bali (his first wife),
afraid that the Kapoor family would not agree because she was older,
and an actress, he decided to take comedian Johnny Walker's (extreme
left) help. Walker had only recently secretly married his wife Noorjahan.
A well-known film journalist for four decades, he was also a great friend of Kapoor. Unknown to many, Ahmed had been paying him regular visits before he passed away last fortnight. He was doing, what according to him has always been his wish ufffd to write Shammi Kapoor's biography. "He had been ill for so long. Yet, I never associated death with him. Even today, after he is no more, I can't do it."
Ahmed had originally planned to have the book ready and released by October 21. "Do remember, Shammi would have turned 80 then," he says, suddenly cheerful. However now, Ahmed plans to take a month's break from the project to get acquainted with the fact that the actor is no more.
While the publishers (Om Books International) of the to-be-released book are calling it Kapoor's authorised biography, Ahmed says he had Kapoor's permission but will approach the Kapoor family later for it.
The book, tentatively titled Shammi Kapoor: The Untold Story is likely be published by the end of this year.
The first thoughts of a biography occurred to Ahmed in 2007. At that time, as part of a series on legends of Indian cinema, he was asked to write a book on Mehboob Khan, the director of Mother India (1957). "I argued with the publisher and asked why I couldn't write on Shammi instead. But she seemed bemused and asked why everyone only wanted to write on Shammi. He was so popular," says Ahmed. Eventually, Ahmed wrote on Khan, and someone else on Kapoor.
From that moment on, Ahmed pursued the veteran actor to allow him to write his authorised biography. "But his health was deteriorating and he didn't think he could spend hours being interviewed. He would say, 'You write Ahmed. You know everything about me'."
Ahmed had, over the years, at many times both, formally interviewed and informally chatted with Kapoor. Eventually, Kapoor acquiesced and Ahmed met him, except on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On those days, Kapoor underwent dialysis. Other times, Ahmed would phone Neela Devi Gohil, Kapoor's wife, to ask if he was okay for an interview. Three months later, the actor died.
But Ahmed has secured a lot of information. For instance, when Kapoor decided to secretly marry Geeta Bali (his first wife), afraid that the Kapoor family would not agree because she was older, and an actress, he decided to take comedian Johnny Walker's help. Walker had only recently secretly married his wife Noorjahan.
"But Walker told him, 'You won't have it as easy as me. I only had to arrange for a mullah'," says Ahmed.
In fact, Kapoor and Bali were so eager that they reached the temple before the designated hour and had to wait for it to open. When they realised that in the rush, they had forgotten to arrange for vermilion (sindoor), Kapoor used Bali's lipstick instead.
According to Ahmed, Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), the film that made Kapoor an overnight star, was supposed to star Dev Anand and Ameeta, but Anand backed out not wanting to work with a newcomer like Ameeta. The film's director Nasir Hussain was not keen on Kapoor, but the actor reportedly took the director out for dinner and 'pataoed' (convinced) him, as Ahmed narrates.
Also, Kapoor's now-famous look was planned by Bali. She got him to shave off his moustache, wear western clothes and get an Elvis Presley-like hairstyle. "The idea was a cross between Elvis and James Dean of Rebel Without A Cause fame (1955). However, Presley's controversial and strong-on-sexuality dance moves were to be kept aside, but maintaining its freedom of movement," Ahmed says.
Apparently, for the Aasman Se Aaya Farishta song in An Evening in Paris (1967), which required Kapoor to be pictured in a flying helicopter, the actor wanted to dance but could not hear the music. "He made Shakti Samanta sing the song. Shammi then lip read him and danced accordingly," recalls Ahmed.
For Ahmed, there was no one quite like Shammi. "Through the book, I will try to put Shammi Kapoor into perspective. There might have been great actors like Dilip Kumar before and after him, but Kapoor was an entertainer. He brought entertainment into the industry."
In one of his interviews, Kapoor reportedly told Ahmed why he dropped out of college. He said, "I realised I was not cut out to grapple with others' ideas on life and history. I'd rather grapple with my own." Three days before Ahmed left for Delhi, he called up Kapoor, asking if he was free to meet. Kapoor declined saying he was not well. Ahmed says, "I went to Delhi thinking I would be back on Saturday (August 13). I had told him I would meet him on Tuesday, after his Monday dialysis, and I thought of spending a nice time interviewing him. But on Sunday, I saw on TV..." and Ahmed's sentence trails off incomplete.
