Reflections on Shashi Kapoor, recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2014.
I’m not getting into the whole “does he deserve it?” debate, but the news about the Phalke filled me with a vague kind of happiness. There’s always been something wholesome, something nice about Shashi Kapoor. You probably remember the Friends episode that was about the crush-worthy celebrities you were allowed to sleep with – in theory; no questions asked – if the opportunity presented itself, and no, the spouse/significant other wasn’t allowed to get mad, because she or he had to understand. For a lot of women of a certain generation, that celebrity was… not Shashi Kapoor. It was Rajesh Khanna. Every female friend or relation of a certain age will admit to a crush on Shashi Kapoor – “soooo cute, yaar,” followed by a liquid sigh – but things never really got out of hand. Or below the belt. The Rajesh Khanna mania, at least the way we hear about it today, carried an A-rated vibe. There was something dangerously hormonal there. With Shashi Kapoor, you imagine a photograph, the face outlined with a lipstick heart, tucked into a Chemistry textbook.
I’ve sometimes wondered why. A slightly older woman friend I was discussing this piece with dismissed Shashi Kapoor as an “ornamental presence.” She added that his “good looks came in the way of his being taken seriously.” I asked her if she preferred the more macho kind of leading man. Her reply, her exact words: “Women always do.” But Rajesh Khanna wasn’t exactly macho either – unless you consider the eye crinkle a muscle movement.
But I’m not going to dwell on this. The ways of stardom and fandom are mysterious – as mysterious as Shashi Kapoor’s career. He was an actor who liked to internalise things, and yet he ended up working in Hindi cinema in an age where everything was externalised. He never really was leading-man material – in the way we talk of, say, Amitabh Bachchan as a leading man, the kind who appears on screen and causes everything and everyone else to disappear – and yet he was one of the most successful leading men of his time. His solo hit ratio wasn’t great, and yet he just kept making movie after movie after movie, a few worth remembering, many hard to even recall the names of. A random selection of his mid-seventies’ films: Jai Bajrang Bali, Naach Uthe Sansaar, Farishta Ya Qatil, Hira Aur Patthar. Shashi Kapoor’s career is one of the things that justifies the existence of Wikipedia.
It’s easier to understand the “classy” part of his career – the Merchant-Ivory films, the art-house movies he produced (Junoon, 36 Chowringhee Lane, Kalyug, Vijeta, Utsav). He just seemed like that kind of guy, a Western kind of guy, with their sensibilities. Wasn’t that why he married Jennifer? (Hey, maybe that explains the relatively chaste nature of the Shashi Kapoor crush; he was a happily married man. You could look, but you couldn’t touch.)
It’s easy to understand, too, the films like New Delhi Times and In Custody, which came from a relatively “naturalistic” mould. He did solid work in these films – but maybe “solid” isn’t quite the word for Shashi Kapoor. A measure of his talent is his ability to disappear and let the co-star walk away with the scene, the song, the movie. That’s surely a reason we think of Shashi Kapoor and think second fiddle – which he played to Bachchan, most famously, but also to his heroines and to his oftentimes mediocre material. The flip side? His bad movies were really bad – he was probably too much of an actor to do the things a star can do to save a bad movie. Think about it, and you’ll find it easier to recall a few dozen bad movies that Shashi’s brother Shammi or nephew Rishi Kapoor were in than the bad ones Shashi was in. But a lot of the money he made from all these bad movies went into producing good movies, or movies that sounded good at least on paper. If you didn’t end up actually watching Ajooba, you’d have thought it’s a pretty cool movie.
What’s surprising is how comfortable Shashi Kapoor seemed in the cheerfully loud and large-hearted Hindi films of the sixties and seventies, something you’d associate more with Shammi Kapoor. The latter was born with springs in his soles and a small-sized nuclear reactor in his heart; he was energy incarnate, made for bouncing around our screens. Had he been cast opposite the beauteous Leela Naidu in The Householder, he’d have blinked twice, leapt into a lorry, and burst into Subhan Allah, haseen chehra…
Ek raasta hai zindagi, from Kaala Paththar, is really a Shammi Kapoor song. But see how marvellously Shashi Kapoor coaxes out his inner ham, almost convincing us that he doesn’t look ridiculous in that beret and that floral scarf knotted at the neck, that with his getup he shouldn’t actually be in another film, a Western film where he’s named René and is staring thoughtfully at a canvas, paintbrush in hand. Is there another actor who has worked so hard to convince us that he isn’t doing something ridiculous? Kapoor’s greatest challenge probably came in Satyam Shivam Sundaram, where he was entrusted with the task of making us believe he was attracted to Zeenat Aman because of her voice.
But watch him in Kaise kahen hum, from Sharmilee, and you’ll see how he can also dial it down. The SD Burman number is almost ridiculously gorgeous, and Kishore Kumar sings it so magnificently, with such feeling, the actor on screen is practically irrelevant – Mukri could have been cast and we’d have felt a twinge. But Shashi puts the actor at the centre of this number. He does that thing where he’s really sad but putting on a brave face for his friends but even as he’s smiling he’s unable to forget how he’s been screwed in love. Happy-face, sad-face, happy-face, sad-face – not many actors can do this convincingly. And of course, those looks don’t hurt. You can imagine the women going: Oh you poor thing. With a face like that, you’re still a one-woman man.
The same film has Khilte hain gul yahan. During the prelude, Shashi plucks a rose from a woman’s hair, and when he says bikharne ko, he does a little hand toss. It may be the most blithely existential hand toss in Hindi film history. And then he smiles that crooked-teeth smile. He’s not just going through the motions, mouthing the words, looking for things to do as the interlude comes on. He’s enjoying the song. It’s coursing through him. We get the sense he believes in it, in this faintly ridiculous situation that has him singing someone else’s words in someone else’s voice to a tune someone else has composed. This is also some kind of good acting.
Even in his “bad movies,” by which I refer to your garden variety Hindi film without any great pedigree, you can find snatches of good acting – though maybe a different kind of good acting from the good acting we talk about in the context of New Delhi Times and In Custody. I’m talking about melodramas like Abhinetri and Baseraa – Shashi Kapoor played a beleaguered husband in both. Watch him in the scene in Abhinetri where he drops Hema Malini home and they have a small conversation about mothers. Her mother is now a portrait on a wall, and she tells him that she “speaks” to her mother constantly. He seems to genuinely like this trait of hers. His reaction is lovely, just the wee-est bit animated – the screenplay instruction must have read “He gushes without actually gushing.” And then she asks him about his mother. He smiles, as if anticipating a future in which every time he’s spoken about it’ll be to the accompaniment of a line that has him declaring that he has his mother with him. He’s charming (to us) and awkward (with her) and innocent (the way young men were, generally, then). Had Rajesh Khanna played this scene, we’d have seen Rajesh Khanna in the scene. Here, at least to the extent that we can do these things, we see the character, we see Shekhar Babu.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Rahul
March 28, 2015
My uncle once related to me an anecdote about how the legendary RJ Ameen Sayani presented heroes during the red carpet of a Filmfare Awards ceremony.
Rajesh Khanna was Skooli laRkiyo ke Hero
Amitabh Bachchan was NaujawanoN ke Hero
…..
And Dharmendra was HeroinoN ke Hero
Wonder if Shashi Kapoor would be AuntiyoN Ke Hero
A Shashi Kapoor movie that I recommend to everyone is Pyar Kiye Ja. It is studded with giants of comedy – and Shashi Kapoor has more than held his own against them.
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Abhirup
March 28, 2015
I like ‘Ajooba’. It’s fun.
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Aseema
March 28, 2015
For a moment there, I thought you were taking the Friends example a step further, and wonder, if you were gay, whom would you want to sleep with…oh..well….
I had a major crush on ShashI Kapoor growing up…even the few scenes in Silsila were to die for!!
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sanjana
March 29, 2015
It seems Shashi got the award for his charm and looks. Why not?
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venkatesh
March 29, 2015
A female friend of mine once commented on Shashi Kapoor – He looks like someone who would caress you goodbye after a date while with Rajesh Khanna you know you have to pack a toothbrush.
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manesh a.k.
March 29, 2015
Dear Brangan, I am not able to access your website. Is there any problem. Tried to access through chrome, firefox, ie… but no go. Its showing website cannot be accessed. Pls reply Regards MANK
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Hari E
March 30, 2015
Rangan – Seriously this article sounded like written by someone with fond memories of some impressionable young man surrounded by elder girls with crush on Shashi. What is next? Article on 80’s actor Mohan’s acting skills ( has similarities with Shashi- relatively good looking, crooked teeth smile, also carried the crush of women of certain age, can own a song of someone else’s words in someone else’s voice to a tune someone else has composed). Shashi is a ok actor with a pedigree and had his moments. Don’t know which one he deserved( or not) – Dadasaheb palke award or this article?
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brangan
March 30, 2015
manesh a.k.: Not sure what you mean. After all, you were able to leave this comment. No one else seems to have had any problem. Are you able to access the site now?
Hari E: I am talking about an actor who did act well in his serious films (he’s excellent as the distant father in “Vijeta”) and who had a charming presence and who could emote to songs and “own” them (as opposed to merely lip-sync to them) and a few other things.
Would I give him the Dadasaheb Phalke? Absolutely not. But would I lump him with a freak of luck like Mohan? Again, absolutely not.
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sanjana
March 30, 2015
Brilliant writeup. After reading your piece once again, I watched those songs and scenes.This is a charming tribute to a charmer. For a change a man did not go gaga over Deepika or Katrina. He did not tom tom about his different movies but went about producing them casually. Everything he did was low key just the way he acted in most of his movies.There were many storms in his life and he faced some tragedies too like losing his wife who was his guiding force.
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Anu
March 30, 2015
way back in his hey days Shashi Kapoor had come to our school with a number of leading celebrities (A +++++ stars) for a film shooting. For reasons of political correctness I will not mention the names of the other stars. While the other stars remained stand offish and snooty Shashi talked to us and played with us kids (games like hide and seek, catch etc.) between takes. He was really approachable and friendly and he made sure that we kids in turn didn’t ignore the lesser known actors in the film. I think that speaks a lot about the kind of person he is!
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Olemisstarana
March 30, 2015
I wrote another comment a moment ago and deleted it in which I went into great detail about why I really really do not like Rajesh Khanna. He sets off that tic in me, an irritated involuntary reaction. I don’t know what it is… the hair, the voice, that really smug smile. Sorry I’m doing it again. I suppose there is no accounting for the tastes of a large swathe of Indian women in the seventies (my mother included).
But Shashi Kapoor, that smile, those dimples, that self conscious star appeal. I cannot find it now, but I remember an interview where Sharmila Tagore was appraising her co-stars’ looks and she and I seem to both have one thing in common – our love for Shashi (I can call him that, right? I mean in my head he is just a decade older than me – me an impressionable 21, he in his mid thirties, seated next to each other in first class, me going on assignment to the Serengeti and he to check on his luxury travel lodge and host the royal family on their umpteenth visit to Tanzania). This was all before I saw him in Junoon. I would tell you what happened after, but we won’t jeopardize the family-friendly nature of your site by doing that.
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Yossarian
March 31, 2015
@BR, so there is after all an 80s phenomenon that you don’t particularly care about 🙂
Was Mohan really that bad an actor though? I mean I understand the freak of luck part with the movies he was in and the songs, but I thought he could atleast reasonably emote, which is not something you can say of some of the present lot of Tamil actors.
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brangan
March 31, 2015
Olemisstarana: This was all before I saw him in Junoon. I would tell you what happened after…
That sound you hear is my readers fanning themselves 🙂
But yeah, he was terrific in that film. Though my favourite performance of his among the films he produced is in “Vijeta.” He just nails that Indian-father-of-a-certain-era thing.
Yossarian: I thought he could atleast reasonably emote…
Someone point me to the emoticon for spluttering, spittle-flecked stupefaction… stat!!!
😀
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Snehnath
March 31, 2015
Brangan, Vijeta was the most underrated and underappreciated war movie made in Bollywood….
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venkatesh
March 31, 2015
OK , now i can’t resist.
Trivia time: Vijetha had a fair amount of aerial sequences and there was a portion of the film that was shot in Suratgarh in Rajasthan.
One of the Airforce instructors in the film is my dad.
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Yossarian
April 1, 2015
@BR Lol! I don’t know about the emoticon, but his “range” of expressions in this song might come close 🙂
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venkatesh
April 1, 2015
BR : Come on , he was good in Mouna Raagam – i know i know – people only remember Murali aka Karthik in that film but Mohan was good.
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VKS
April 2, 2015
He contributed to films, we may brush him off for the commercial films he did but he was never out of place in any film. He was not better than AB in Deewar but he was equally good or better than AB in kabhi Kabhi. Who c’d have played Raja Sahab to AB’s Arjun Singh in Namak Halal? or Who was better actor to play AB’s elder bro cum friend in Silsila? May be he repeated his gestures but he was never over the top. You are right , it is matter of happiness that he has got dada sab phalke
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Dravidian
April 4, 2015
Thought Siddhartha 1972, Herman Hess adaptation – was quite a fulsome role for Shashi. Maybe the camera work of Sven Nykvist of Bergman stable – added another dimension to Shashi Kapoor’s screen presence.
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shibangidas
July 21, 2015
Reblogged this on The Cinephile's Files and commented:
It has always been so hard to put a finger on exactly what makes Shashi Kapoor such a distinguished man and a fine actor. It is a combination of his many strengths that have made him so loved and adored, even by women like me, who are just about old enough to be his granddaughter. It warms the heart to spot him in Prithvi Theatre, sitting quietly in a corner of the cafe and being his cordial self despite the many intrusions into his solitude, for selfies and small talk, by people whom he doesn’t know. But he has always cared for his father’s legacy, his wife’s dream, his children’s efforts, and for the people who keep Prithvi Theatre thriving.
That, is a man who leaves you feeling good.
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KayKay
December 4, 2017
RIP Shashi Kapoor
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Vivek narain
December 4, 2017
Shashi kapoor was good and so were Raj kapoor and Prithvi raj kapoor, and these 3 received dada saheb phalke award. But Shammi kapoor is stupendous, he transcends phalke award,same as Gandhi transcended nobel prize and Fiona broome is transcending wikipedia.
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Jayram
December 4, 2017
RIP to the best actor of the Kapoor family who could balance the commercial, art and the English films with such ease. He alongside Vinod Khanna and Vinod Mehra could draw your attention with their acting and presence in their prime. He could hold his own against Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh and yet let them steal the scene, the screen and the film as BR mentioned here.
To me, his best performance is Kalyug where he excellently displayed honesty, loyalty, shades of grey, shock and remorse as Karan Singh. It was as if you were watching a different character altogether; he simply disappeared into the role. And yet, he wasn’t even the best performer in the movie; that honor goes to Anant Nag!
He will be greatly remembered for his efforts to maintain the Prithvi Theatre and keeping his father’s legacy alive.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
December 5, 2017
Venkatesh : Great comment ! ONLY Mohan could have done that role. IMHO Kamal would have stunk up the part.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
December 5, 2017
BR : I think you’re being very unfair to Mohan. Within his limitations he was extremely competent. You could have atleast likened him to Jubilee Rajendra Kumar.
He also did a great laser surgery like change of expression in the Brooke Bond Three Rose Tea ad. One of my friends who never watches Indian movies was floored by that expression.
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"Original" venkatesh
December 5, 2017
RIP sir
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brangan
December 5, 2017
Oh yeah. The Mohan-Rajendra Kumar equation seems bang on.
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