Shashi Kapoor passed away yesterday. I came to know about it through a humorous incident where people were ringing up 'Shashi Tharoor's' place instead of 'Shashi Kapoor's' to pay condolences. One can only wish peace to the departed soul whose life was marked by a career full of outstanding performances.
I have always been the kind of person who is against any form of star-worship. I have found it quite juvenile as well as misplaced to do so simply because our film and sportsmen make a lot of money out of what they do. They lead lavish lives and perhaps there is no difference between them and a stranger businessman one meets across the street apart from the fact that their work is quite there in the public domain. The only ones who deserve fandom, if at all, are our beloved leaders and social workers, quite rare in these days, who have worked tirelessly for our well being. And we have been quite lazy to even show an ounce of respect for our national idols while we can wait for hours to get a glimpse of our favourite star.
But Shashi is one of those exceptions which all of us make to our own beliefs. He was one those rare actors whose presence in a movie exalted me into a blissful ecstasy. Easily one of the most handsome men ever to grace our screens, my personal favourite is Shammi Kapoor though, his smile, his demeanour, his accent, his dialogues- all have made my childhood a happy experience.
Connecting with him as a 90s kid was quite easier than his elder siblings, Raj and Shammi. Raj's films, although spectacular, didn't relate much with me as a kid since their subject and treatment was quite 'Nehruvian' and 'Chaplin-esque'. Although it is a treat to watch Raj Kapoor's cinema as a mature adult, a child was not fascinated by it back in the 90s. Same goes for Shammi. His whole song and dance stardom was quite eccentric for me to digest.
But Shashi Kapoor was quite a relatable star. For one, he was versatile. He had played lead romantic roles in movies but at the same time he had done decent action in movies too. He had worked in prominent international films mostly by Merchant Ivory House and at the same time he had worked in art and offbeat films like 'Ijaazat' and 'New Delhi Times' too. His most memorable moments, as I remember watching as a kid, were those 'masala movies' where he would dance to catchy songs wearing colourful clothes, do some action, romance a bit and so on.
'Deewar' is a special film of his which I have watched as kid. Amitabh Bachchan's role as 'Vijay' was quite larger than life which suited him well. But I was equally impressed by the understated yet persistent role of Shashi as 'Ravi'- an honest cop standing against his own criminal brother.
His repertoire of movies is quite huge and I guess I might have missed out on many of them, especially his international collaborations. He was the only mainstream star of his times who was involved in such films.
He might not be alive today but he certainly leaves behind a great deal of good work behind for forthcoming generations to enjoy. As for me, I think he was one of those actors who saw light of the day in an era of Indian Cinema when content and artistic vision still had their share in films.
R.I.P.
Shashi Kapoor (1938-2017)
