Shashi Kapoor

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Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal
Born Balbir Raj Kapoor
March 18, 1938 (1938-03-18) (age 71)
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Other name(s) Balbir
Shashi
Occupation Actor, Director, Producer
Years active 1942-1998 (retired)
Spouse(s) Jennifer Kendal (1958–1984) (Cancer)

Shashi Kapoor (Hindi: शशि कपूर), born Balbir Raj Kapoor on 18 March 1938 in Calcutta, is a Indian film actor and producer and a member of the Kapoor family, an film dynasty in India's Bollywood cinema. He is the younger brother of Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, the son of Prithviraj Kapoor, the widower of Jennifer Kendal, and the father of Karan Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, and Sanjana Kapoor. He is remembered for many hit movies, including ones he starred in with Amitabh Bachchan, such as Deewar, Do Aur Do Paanch and Namak Halaal.

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[edit] Career

Shashi Kapoor started acting in films as a child in the early 1940s appearing in several mythological films. His best known performances were in Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951) where he played the younger version of the characters played by his older brother Raj Kapoor.

He made his debut as a leading man in the 1961 Yash Chopra film Dharmputra and went on to appear in over 100 films. He was a very popular debonair actor in Bollywood during the 1960s, 1970s and the early 1980s with his most famous movies include Waqt (1965), Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Kanyadan (1969), Hasina Maan Jayegi (1968), Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973), Roti Kapda Aur Makan (1974), Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Deewaar (1975), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Fakira (1976) Trishul (1978), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Kaala Patthar (1979), Suhaag (1979), Shaan (1980), Kranti(1981) and Namak Halaal (1982). In most of his successful films in the 1970s and early 1980s he co-starred alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

He was also known internationally for starring in many British and American films notably the Merchant Ivory productions, Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970) and Heat and Dust (1982) in which he co-starred with his wife Jennifer Kendal. He also appeared in other British and American films such Pretty Polly (1967), Siddhartha (1972) and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987).

In 1980 he set up his production house, Film Valas, which produced critically acclaimed films such as Kalyug (1981), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) and Utsav (1984). In 1991 he produced and directed a fantasy film titled Ajooba which had his frequent co-star Amitabh Bachchan and nephew Rishi Kapoor in the lead.

His last and most recent film appearances were in Jinnah (1998), a biopic of Mohammed Ali Jinnah in which he was the narrator and another Merchant-Ivory production titled Side Streets (1998). He has now retired from the film industry and not appeared in any film since. He has been seen in the limelight at the "Shashi Kapoor Film Festival" held in Muscat, Oman (Sept 2007). He has lost a considerable amount of weight and looked healthy.

[edit] Personal life

Attended Don Bosco High School in Matunga, Bombay. In July 1958, he married the British actress Jennifer Kendal and they acted in a number of films together, most notably in the Merchant Ivory productions. He had three children with Kendal; Karan Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor and Sanjana Kapoor all of whom for a short while became film actors. Kendal died of cancer in 1984.

His son Kunal is married to director Ramesh Sippy's daughter and Sanjana to wildlife conservationist Valmik Thapar.

with well wisher MGR and Janaki Ramachandran at Ramavaram Gardens, Chennai

[edit] Awards

1965 - BFJA Award Best Actor for Jab Jab Phool Khile [1]

1975 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Deewar

1986 - National Film Awards for Best Actor for New Delhi Times

1988 - BFJA Award Best Actor for New Delhi Times [2]

1994 - National Film Award - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) for Muhafiz (1993)

2009 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the 7th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) [3]

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] Actor

[edit] Producer

[edit] Director

[edit] Works

  • Shashi Kapoor presents the Prithviwallahs, by Shashi Kapoor, Deepa Gahlot, Prithvi Theatre (Bombay, India). Roli Books, 2004. ISBN 8174363483.

[edit] Further reading

  • The Kapoors: the first family of Indian cinema, by Madhu Jain. Penguin, Viking, 2005. ISBN 0670058378.

[edit] External links

[edit] References