Bollywood legend lived life in pictures
AS one of India’s best-known actors, Shashi Kapoor appeared in more than 100 films in the 1970s and 80s, including a raft of Merchant Ivory productions which brought him international recognition.
Born in Calcutta into a Bollywood film dynasty, he was the youngest son of actor Prithviraj Kapoor and the brother of Raj Kapoor, who was often referred to as “the greatest showman of Indian cinema” and Shammi Kapoor, a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s.
He began acting at four in plays produced and directed by his father and starred in films as a child actor in the late 1940s before making his debut as a leading man in 1961 in Dharmputra.
Two years later he appeared in the first of a series of movies – The Householder – by producer-director duo Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. Shakespeare Wallah, the story of an English Shakespeare troupe performing its way across India, in which he played opposite Felicity Kendal, followed in 1965.
By this point Kapoor had been married to Felicity’s actor sister Jennifer for seven years and in 1970 the real-life couple played the leads in another Merchant Ivory film, the musical romance Bombay Talkie.
During this decade Kapoor hit his stride and was one of Bollywood’s busiest actors, often shooting multiple movies at the same time and spending his days hopping between sets.
His frequent pairing with another household name, the actor Amitabh Bachchan in films including Deewaar, Kabhie Kabhie and Namak Halal only added to his pulling power at the box office. Off screen the two actors became firm friends with Kapoor referring to his younger counterpart as “babbua”.
In the late 1970s Kapoor and his wife established the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai which continues to thrive to this day. Jennifer died of cancer at the age of 51 in 1984, leaving behind her devoted husband, a daughter, Sanjana, and two sons, Kunal and Karan.
Though devastated by her death, Kapoor carried on making films and in 2014 became the third member of his family to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Indian cinema’s most prestigious gong.
He died after a long illness and is survived by his three children.