August 26th, 2011 
Param 
Shammi Kapoor is known for his unique kind of dance in Bollywood. During his era, there were a very few choreographers in the Indian entertainment industry. The film actors and actresses used to learn the classical Indian dance formats. But Classical dance could not be used in every film. Except it, all the actors and actresses were not acquainted with the classical dances of India. So Shammi Kapoor invented his own dance style. He used to dance in front of the camera changing his ‘body positions’ very quickly. At that time Bollywood was ruled by three super stars. Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. Shammi knew it well that it is only his dance style that differentiates him from the other Bollywood actors. He gave many musical hits with new heroines. Most of his films had simple plots with light story changes, sweet songs, romance, comedy and punishment of the villain in the end. Even today’s superstar Amir Khan was the fan of Shammi Kapoor.
Acting was in his blood as Prithvi Raj Kapoor was his father and Raj Kapoor was his elder brother. Raj Kapoor was a well established actor in the entertainment industry when he was to start his career. Shammi had worked in Prithvi Raj Theaters form his childhood and it was natural that he had learnt acting skills and was ready to start his career. But father Prithvi Raj and brother Raj Kapoor asked him ‘to go on his own way’. It was the era of Dilip, Raj and Dev trio so most of the film directors and producers preferred to make films with them. So it were the directors-producers of B-Grade films who first signed some films with him.
Some of his earlier films were- Rail Ka Dibba(1953), Chor Bazar(1954), Tange Wali(1955), Daku(1955) and Miss Coca Cola(1955). But all these films could not perform well on the box office. With these initial failures Shammi Kapoor learned that he can not succeed in the film industry while following his elder brother Raj. So he decided to invent his own kind of style.
With this change in his approach he gave his first hit Tumsa Nehi Dekha in 1957. In this film he adopted a new acting style and with it he was taken seriously in the entertainment industry. Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahi Dekha became the most successful film of that year. After that Shammi worked in many Nasir directed films. The due of Shammi and Nasir gave many hit films to the industry. The Next decade Shammi ruled the box as he gave most of his hit films during that time. Jungly (1961), Professor(1962), Dil Tera Diwana(1962), China Town(1962), Bluf Master(1963), Kashmir Ki Kali(1964), Raj Kumar(1964), Janwar(1965), Teesri Manzil(1966), Lat Sahib(1967), In Evening in Paris(1967), Brahamchari(1968), Prince(1969) and Tumse Acha Kon Hai(1969) were his hit films that were released during that decade. These films perform very well on the box office. Shammi Kapoor was liked for his acting and dance in these films. It did not only establish him as a renowned star in the industry but also increased his fan following manifolds. Shammi is liked for his ‘youthfulness’ and ‘tensionless’ acting. Singer Rafi had a great roll behind his success in the industry. His fifty year old ‘yahu’ song puts the same effect on youth mind even today.
Later on Shammi started to do ‘character rolls’ with the entrance of new stars in the entertainment industry and because of his increasing age. Zameer, Mama Bhanja. Shalimaar, Meera, Rocky, Desh Premi, Prem Rog, Betaab and Hero are some of those films witch are known for his ‘character rolls’. In the later years of his life he distanced himself from the entertainment industry because of health problems. He had to stay in hospital for four-five hours daily because of health problems in last years of his life. But all these health problems could not affect his youthfulness. This famous Bollywood star breathed his last on August 14th 2011.
Shammi married twice in his life. His first wife was Geeta Bali. They fell in love while doing ‘Rangila Ratan’ in 1955. At that time Kapoor family did not allow their gents to marry the actresses. Shammi and Geeta Balli were very afraid of this fact. Some other facts were also against their marriage. Geeta was older than Shammi. Within four months of their love affair they married each other in a Hindu temple in Mumbai and told their family after the marriage. For some time Shammi was not welcomed in his family but later on everything changed. He had two issues from Geeta Bali, son Aditya Raj Kapoor and daughter Kanchan. Aditya tried his hand in acting but failed to do anything concrete while Kanchan has been married to Ketan Dessai.
Geeta died because of small pox in 1965. It was the biggest jolt Shammi ever faced in his life. He forgot everything in his life and ceased to pay any attention to his health. It had adverse affect on his film career. Because of family pressure he married Neela Devi , four years after the death of his first wife. Neela did not have any child because prior to their marriage she had promised him not to have any child. She looked after Aditya and Kanchan as her own children. We can say that Sammi Kapoor’s journey of life was very pleasant.
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