Shammi Kapoor Birth Anniversary: From ‘Dil Deke Dekho’ to ‘Junglee’, Celebrating the Legacy of Bollywood’s Iconic Romantic Hero
Dev Anand was initially offered iconic roles in films like 'Tumsa Nahin Dekha' and 'Junglee', but after he rejected them for various reasons, Shammi Kapoor emerged as the new star, creating a fresh archetype in musical romance. After facing 18 consecutive flops, Kapoor contemplated leaving the industry for a career as a tea plantation manager but reinvented his image, inspired by youth icons like James Dean and Elvis Presley, which ultimately led to his success in Bollywood.
Can you imagine the dapper Dev Anand singing Tumsa Nahin Dekha, or yelling "Yahoo" as he dares "Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe", or serenading the 'O Haseena Zulfonwali'? All these films -- Tumsa Nahi Dekha (1957), Junglee (1961), and Teesri Manzil -- were conceived for him but he rejected them for various reasons, paving the way for a new star. Shammi Kapoor filled the breach -- and went on to create a new hero archetype and film genre of the pure entertainment musical romance. Om Puri Birth Anniversary: ‘Bhavni Bhavai’, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’, ’Narsimha; Top 5 Movies That Prove He Was an Ace in Any Genre.
After 18 successive flops and one average performance, he was ready to give up the Hindi film industry and become a tea plantation manager in Assam. However, a radical re-invention of his image, drawing on youth icons James Dean and Elvis Presley -- though suitably indigenised, aided by Dev Anand's triple reluctance, set him on the road to success.
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A scion of the illustrious Kapoor family, films were an automatic choice for Shamsher Raj 'Shammi' Kapoor (1931-2011), who was born on this day (October 21) in Bombay. However, he did not find his initial going in the film world easy -- most of the heroines considered him a 'baccha', having worked already with either his father, Prithviraj Kapoor or his elder brother, Raj Kapoor, and most filmmakers considered him a "clone" of his elder brother.
In the wake of his string of failures, whatever the genre -- tragic and historical romances, comedies, thrillers or costumed dramas with top actresses like Suraiya, Madhubala, (future wife) Geeta Bali, and Meena Kumari across most of the 1950s, he understood that he needed to devise his own special, game-changing persona. Shammi Kapoor confessed, as per Rauf Ahmed's biography that he never liked the existing model of the Hindi film hero, whom he felt was too submissive and defeatist and would give up the love of his life under paternal or family pressure and sing sad songs outside her house.
Circumstances made him the harbinger of change -- a flamboyantly self-confident, outspoken, and even cocky, figure, with an easygoing approach to life, and not hesitating in enjoying it without hangups. It came as a refreshing foil to the meek persona, cultivated by Raj Kapoor, in his Chaplin-like tramp roles, or the brooding and tragic intensity of Dilip Kumar, and was way ahead of the jaunty Dev Anand, who could never reach that level of uninhibited exuberance.
Dev Anand's rejection of Tumsa Nahi Dekha, where he termed the hero "not his type", as well as the other films, gave Shammi Kapoor the opportunity and he did not let it for over a decade. However, in a gentlemanly gesture, when approached for these roles, he reached out to Dev Anand and confirmed his denial before accepting.
Shammi Kapoor proved that Tumsa Nahi Dekhha was no fluke, with Dil Deke Dekho (1959), and then Junglee (1961) -- where his full-throated 'Yahoo' became iconic (incidentally, neither the actor nor singer Mohammad Rafi, but writer and later director Prayag Raj yelled it out).
Professor, China Town (both 1962), Bluff Master (1963), Rajkumar, Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), Janwar (1965) -- where not only did Dekho Ab To Kisi Ko Nahi Hai Khabar reprise the tune of the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" but also had a set of Indian Beatles impersonators belt it out, Budtameez (1966), An Evening in Paris (1967), Brahmachari (1968), Tumse Achha Kaun Hai, and Prince (both 1969) went to mark his legacy in the Indian films pantheon, with his dancing and emoting.
In the process, Shammi Kapoor became a gold standard for the dancing Bollywood hero, with several generations spanning Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Govinda, Shah Rukh Khan, and his own great-grand-nephew Ranbir Kapoor, following in his footsteps, or rather, jives
However, after an over-decade-long reign as the jiving romantic hero -- with all his dancing self-choreographed, he gauged that it was time to yield to the new generation, especially after Andaz (1971), where Rajesh Khanna stole the show with his 15-minute cameo -- including Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana over his more nuanced role.
A bulkier and bearded Shammi Kapoor switched to mature character roles like tavern-owner Dhoop Chaaon in Manoranjan (1974) -- the remake of Shirley MacLaine's Irma La Douce he directed himself, Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna's foster-father in Parvarish (1977), the fake holy man, Dr Dubari in Shalimar (1978), the Sisodia Maharaja in Meera (1979), the dance judge in Sanjay Dutt's debut Rocky (1981), engine driver -- and Dilip Kumar's colleague -- Gurbaksh in Vidhaata (1982), down to the music ustad in his great-grand-nephew Ranbir Kapoor's Rockstar (2011) - released a couple of months after his demise. Kishore Kumar Birth Anniversary: From Evergreen Songs to Acting Stint, Here’s Celebrating Bollywood’s Legendary Icon!.
As a biography of the Kapoor family held, his elder brother had founded an institution, but Shammi Kapoor became one himself, as Bollywood's most irrepressible prototype of the "Swinging Sixties".
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2024 12:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).