Shammi Kapoor: India’s very own Elvis

Many years ago, when I was in graduate school in the United States, I saw my first Shammi Kapoor film. I was staying with an Indian friend and knew next to nothing about Hindi movies, stars or anything about the place called Bollywood that existed in and around my home city of Mumbai. But as I sat with my friend's small daughter cuddled on my lap and watched this portly gentleman slide down in the snow yelling what sounded like "Yahoo!", I caught the first spark in what eventually became a fascination with the world of Indian cinema. The word was indeed 'Yahoo', the snow was packed against a hillside in Kashmir and the stout man was Shammi Kapoor.

The film was Junglee, a classic black and white movie that created a special brand of history when it was released and made its hero and heroine (Saira Banu) stars. And as I started to get more familiar with the music of the hundreds of Bollywood productions that my friends knew so much about, the tunes stayed in my head, along with the many interesting bits of information I heard, read and saw about this exotic new (for me) realm.

It got better – once I started working on the Internet, creating online versions of magazines, writing content for websites and using cyberspace to talk to friends, find information and enjoy discovering new concepts and facts, Shammi Kapoor played a surprisingly non-filmi role. I learned that the star had retired many years before I saw that sliding-in-the-snow routine. He was ill with kidney trouble, underwent regular dialysis and did the occasional cameo in a film.

But, more interestingly, he had a fairly full life that had little, if any, connection with films. He was the founder and chairman of the Internet Users Community of India (IUCI) and had played a major role in setting up the Ethical Hackers Association. Best of all for his fan club, he also maintained a website dedicated to the Kapoor family.

And that perhaps is the story of a star. Born on October 21, 1931, into the first family of Hindi films, as it is often called, Shamsher Raj Kapoor was the son of Prithviraj and Ramsharni Kapoor, brother to Raj and Shashi. He spent a few years in Kolkata, where his father acted in films, and then the family moved to Bombay, as it was known then. Academics was not his forte and he preferred to start working first in his father's company, Prithvi Theatres, and then as a junior artiste in films – he made his big screen debut as a hero in 1953, with Jeevan Jyoti, co-starring Chand Usmani.

Serious roles got him nowhere near the big time, and he was almost forced into a change of image with Nasir Hussain's Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1959), with a young Ameeta as his heroine. Dil Deke Dekho with Asha Parekh cemented this new avatar in the minds of the audience and Shammi Kapoor was labelled a 'star'. Tall, athletic, light-eyed and handsome, his looks made it even easier, while his wealthy playboy persona seemed true to life and won hearts all over the world. Junglee was followed by Dil Tera Diwana, Professor, China Town, Rajkumar, Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Vidhaata.

Music played a huge part in Shammi Kapoor's success. Most of his super hit songs came from the composers Shankar-Jaikishen or OP Nayyar, and were sung by Mohammed Rafi. They include – apart from the exuberant 'Yahoo…Chahe koi mujhe jungle kahe', of course – Suku Suku, Ae Gulbadan, Govinda Aala Re, Deewana Hua Badal, Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye,Tumse Achha Kaun Hai, O Mere Sona Re, Akele Akele Kahan Jaa Rahe Ho, Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar ke Charche, Badan pe Sitare and Hain Na Bolo Bolo. We all remember those and can sing along with them.

But even as we do, we tend to close our eyes rather than watch Shammi Kapoor on the screen in so many of his films. He may have started out as a handsome, agile, gloriously ogle-able heartthrob, but soon gained a lot of weight and became lined, ungainly, unappealing. By the 1970s he had stopped acting as hero and did character roles in films.

He even directed two films – Manoranjan and Bundal Baaz, neither too successful. And earlier this year, he managed to shoot for his grand-nephew Ranbir Kapoor's next movie, Rockstar. But by then he was fairly seriously ill with kidney failure. And early morning on August 14, he died in Mumbai.

Shammi Kapoor is an integral part of Hindi movie history. He was called the 'Elvis of India' and sang, danced and romanced on the big screen like few others have managed to do. For his sheer joie de vivre and the memories of friendship, movies, music and masti that his work have given me, I will always be a fan.

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Ramya Sarma is a Mumbai-based writer-editor.