MUMBAI: Veteran Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor celebrates his birthday today, entering the platinum age of 75.
The dashing star of the 70’s, Shashi Kapoor stole millions of hearts through his romantic musicals like ‘Kanyadaan’ and ‘Pyaar Ka Mausam’, along with co-star Asha Parekh.
The younger brother of the chaplinesque Raj Kapoor and the flamboyant Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor made his own stand in the industry as the first Indian actor to bridge the Bollywood-Hollywood gap.
His commercial films like ‘Sharmilee’, ‘Chor Macheye Shor’, ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan’ and ‘Faqira’ were huge successes and earned him a lot of fame.
Who can forget the “Mere pass Maa hai” dialogue Shashi Kapoor brought to us in ‘Deewar’ with Amitabh Bachchan?
Taking home the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor, for years, the duo of Shashi and Amitabh delivered back to back box office hits.
Shashi Kapoor’s versatile acting bought him James Ivory’s ‘The Householder’ – his first International film in 1963. The film opened doors for him in the outside world. With his impeccable command over English, soon Kapoor became a recognizable face in critically acclaimed international films.
He remained successful in commercial Bollywood films as well as continued to receive offers from international cinema; ‘Pretty Polly’ (1967) opposite Hayley Mills followed by Merchant Ivory’s ‘Bombay Talkies’ (1970) opposite wife Jennifer.
Shashi and Jennifer set up the very famous Prithivi theatre in Mumbai, in memory of his father. They further went ahead in the industry, with their first production ‘Junoon’, which won him the National Award and Filmfare award for ‘Best Film’.
The very talented actor, producer and director was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. Happy Birthday, Shashi Kapoor!!
