Shammi Kapoor is no more

Mumbai, August 14
Actor Shammi Kapoor, who ruled the film industry in the 1950s and 1960s with his flamboyant, charismatic personality, is no more. He was 79. A prominent member of the Kapoor clan and the brother of Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, the actor died of kidney failure at the Breach Candy Hospital at 5.15 am today, his son Aditya Raj Kapoor said.
“He was a very happy and lively person. He was unwell for sometime... he was on dialysis. He died of kidney failure,” Aditya said.
His funeral will take place tomorrow in south Mumbai, after his grandson returns from the US.
“The funeral will take place tomorrow around 9 am at the Ban Ganga funeral ground,” Aditya said.
Family members, friends and several Bollywood personalities, including Amitabh Bachchan and industrialist Anil Ambani, visited Kapoor's residence Blue Heaven at Malabar Hill after learning of his demise.
Shammi, whose real name was Shamsher Raj Kapoor, was born on October 21, 1931, to Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Mehra. With the demise of Shammi, only Shashi is left of the famous brother trio.
Shammi is survived by his wife Neela Devi, son Aditya Raj and daughter Kanchan Desai. Shammi entered the film industry as a junior artiste in 1948 and debuted as an actor in 1953 with film “Jeevan Jyoti”.
He carved a niche for himself with his rock ‘n’ roll dancing style in films like Nasir Hussain's “Tumsa Nahin Dekha” and “Dil Deke Dekho”. But it was the 1961 film “Junglee”, directed by Subodh Mukherjee, which gave him the image of “the yahoo yuppie”.
The Nasir-Shammi combination struck gold at the box-office with murder mystery “Teesri Manzil”, one of the unforgettable films in the actor's career.
Shammi never really bid adieu to the big screen, appearing in films time and again. He starred with Shah Rukh Khan in “Chamatkar” (1992) and played Salman Khan's grandfather in “Janam Samjha Karo” (1999).
His latest onscreen stint was a cameo in grand nephew Ranbir Kapoor's yet-to-be-released film “Rockstar”, directed by Imtiaz Ali.
A great computer buff, Shammi was one of the earliest stars from Bollywood to join micro-blogging website Twitter.
His last tweet was to Priyanka Chopra in November last year.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of leaders of different political parties also condoled the death of the veteran actor and said the film industry had "lost a creative talent" in his demise.
“Shri Kapoor was one of the veteran actors, who adorned Hindi cinema. He delighted Hindi cinema fans with his vivacious acting. He shall always be remembered by a generation of film watchers,” Patil said.
The Prime Minister described Kapoor as an accomplished artiste who entertained millions of fans.
“I am sad to learn of Shammi Kapoor's demise. He was an accomplished actor who entertained millions and millions of fans in India and abroad. I share his family's grief,” Singh said in his message.
Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan said Kapoor would remain a hero for his generation. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said the industry had lost an “iconic figure” in the actor's death.

Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said, “Shammi Kapoor was a superstar of our era. His dance style was a rage in our times. He was a fatherly figure for the film industry. This is a big loss to the film fraternity.”

 

the YAHOO !!! man

 

Shammi Kapoor: 1931-2011More than K-factor

Major films

n Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)
n Dil Deke Dekho (1959)
n Junglee (1961)
n Teesri Manzil (1966)
n Professor (1962)
n Brahmchari (1968)
n Dil Tera Diwana (1962)
n China Town (1962)
n Kashmir Ki Kali (1964)
n An evening in Paris (1967)
n Janwar (1965)
n Rajkumar (1964)
n Andaz (1971)

He kept company with his irrepressible boisterousness long after bidding adieu to the strapping lover- boy image of the silver screen, people knew as Shammi Kapoor . The boy- who could dance his way to the most beautiful damsels’ hearts of his times (Junglee –Saira Bano, Tumsa Nahin dekha- Ameeta, Dil Deke dekho- Asha Parekh, Kashmir Ki Kali- Sharmila Tagore ), was just a fraction of his persona. The handsome, restless, romantic young hero had to struggle and persevere patiently to create a place for himself in the film industry dominated by stalwarts like his older brother Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand in the 50s and 60s.
It was his never- say- die spirit that shaped the ‘yahoo’ and ‘sukku sukku’ phenomenon that was filled with rebellion for the way life was portrayed on the screen. No hero of his times could think of breaking into a maddeningly back- breaking dance on music that would have some juvenile gibberish to tickle but lacked the established seriousness of his times. In the times of highly successful tear- jerker family dramas he introduced the stiff Hindi film goers a thing about ‘letting go’ and boy, what a success he made of this rebellious- self.
Time gave way to a man growing bald with a mid-riff and double chin. Yet, his charm and energy and the glint of his blue eyes remained in-tact. Shammi Kapoor alone could say that he loved the remaining four days of a week - after three days of being on dialysis.
It was this attitude that shaped the phenomenon called Shammi of the famous Kapoor clan. Born into a family where fame and glory was not unknown, he had to carve a niche for himself through hard work and a series of failures. As such he was overshadowed by his father Prithviraj Kapoor’s towering personality, and the success of the showmanship of Raj Kapoor. After successive failures of films like Rail Ka Dibba, Chor Bazaar, Shama Parvana, Hum Sab Chor Hain, Memsaheb and Miss Coca Cola, where he tied to get into the shoes of his older brother, realisation dawned that he had to be ‘different’ to be taken notice of.  
And so was born the rebel. Nasir Hussain’s Tumsa Nahin Dekha in 1957 metamorphosed Shammi Kapoor into a kind of hero
nobody could hate despite his boisterous playfulness which often turned rowdy, to elicit just a ‘ja’ ‘ja’ from the nubile damsel he chased rolling over mountains and plains, shaking his handsome head, followed by the rest of the body. He was so easy with his body one would think he did not own it. Nor could anyone imitate him. He was funny and he was unique. Films were specially written for this fun-loving uniquely creative persona of his, and they all turned out to be great hits. China Town, Dil Tera Deewana, Professor and the unforgettable Teesri Manzil, which had added charm of young R D Burman’s foot- tapping music. Brahmchari earned him the Best Actor Filmfare Award.
His personal life too was filled with challenges. He married Geeta Bali, against the wishes of their parents, unfortunately she passed away soon due to small pox, leaving two young children behind. His film career too suffered a different kind of challenge, when obesity struck he had to move to character roles, but he essayed each on of these with the same energy and passion he would put in for his ‘junglee’ song.
It was this rebellion that stayed with him, the way he fought his failed kidneys — refusing to be bowed down by betrayal of the body. He lived every moment of life to the hilt. This made Shammi Kapoor an adorable person, who inspired patients suffering from fatal diseases to love life as it comes and never- say- die.
Internet Pioneer
Shammi Kapoor was the founder and chairman of Internet Users Community of India (IUCI). He had also played a major role in setting up internet organisations like the Ethical Hackers Association. Kapoor also maintained a website dedicated to the 'Kapoor family'.