Shammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director and a prominent lead actor in Hindi Cinema from the late 1950's to the early 1970's. Kapoor is famed to be one of Hindi cinema's finest actor's who played leading roles during the 1950's, 1960's and the early 1970's. Shammi Kapoor made his debut in 1953 with a film called Jeevan Jyoti and then went on to deliver hits like Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Professor, China Town, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris and won the Filmfare Best Actor award in 1968 for his performance in Brahmachari and the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award in 1982 for his performance in Vidhaata.
Born in Mumbai to legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Mehra in 1931, Shammi Kapoor was also known as the Elvis Presley of India because of his style of dancing, his clothes and his puffed hairstyle. Kapoor was the second of Prithviraj Kapoor three son's, the other two being Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, both of whom were popular Bollywood actors.
Shammi Kapoor married twice, his first wife was film actress Geeta Bali with whom he had two children, Aditya Raj Kapoor and Kanchan; upon his first wife's death he married Neela Devi Gohil, from the former royal family of Bhavnagar in Gujarat.
Shammi Kapoor started his career with serious roles, but it was Nasir Hussain's Tumsa Nahin Dekha in 1957 and Dil Deke Dekho in 1959 that achieved for him the image of a carefree, stylish playboy. Given his good looks, light eyes, fair complexion and tall build, Shammi Kapoor was a heartthrob and many of his films went on to become classics.
The 1970's saw Shammi Kapoor turn into a successful supporting actor and he acted in memorable films such as Andaz, Zameer, Hero, Hukumat and Chamatkar among others. In 1974 Shammi Kapoor turned director and made two films, Manoranjan (1974) and Bundal Baaz (1976). Neither of these films caused a stir at the box office but were critically acclaimed and had a large cult fan following over the years. Shammi Kapoor made his last appearance in Imitiaz Ali's directorial venture called Rockstar (to be released in September 2011) in which he has acted along with his Grandnephew Ranbir Kapoor.
This seasoned Bollywood star passed away in Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital on August 14th 2011 at 5:15 am, he was 79. Kapoor was admitted to hospital for a chest infection and later succumbed to renal failure.
