Shammi Kapoor Wiki, Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Family & Caste

Shammi Kapoor is a Punjabi Khatri and belongs to the Kapoor family, which has been working in the Hindi film cinema for generations. The Kapoor family is also known as the First Family of Indian Cinema.

Parents & Siblings

Shammi Kapoor’s father, Prithviraj Kapoor, was a famous actor and director known for his films such as ‘Alam Ara’ (1931), ‘Sikandar’ (1941), ‘Vikramaditya’ (1945), ‘Awaara’ (1951), ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960), and ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’ (1971). His mother, Ramsarni Mehra, was a homemaker.

Shammi Kapoor had two brothers, Raj Kapoor, and Shashi Kapoor. Raj Kapoor is known as the ‘Greatest Showman Of India’ and has contributed to several memorable films as an actor, director and producer. Shashi Kapoor is also a well-renowned actor and producer.

Wife & Children

Shammi Kapoor married twice. He married his first wife Geeta Bali, a renowned actress, in 1955. They have two children, a son named Aditya Raj Kapoor, a well-known assistant director and actor, and a daughter named Kanchan Kapoor, a film producer. Geeta Bali passed away on 21 January 1965 at the young age of 35 due to smallpox.

Shammi Kapoor married again in 1969 to Neila Devi, a princess of Bhavnagar, Gujarat. They didn’t have any kids of their own, a conscious decision on Neila Devi’s part as she wanted to raise Aditya and Kanchan as her own.

Relationships/Affairs

Shammi Kapoor was in a relationship with Nutan and they were both childhood friends. Shammi Kapoor wanted to marry her but her mother’s friend, Motilal, didn’t approve of it and she was sent to Switzerland for further studies, thus ending their love story.

In 1953, Shammi Kapoor had a brief relationship with Nadia Gamal, a famous cabaret dancer from Egypt. Nadia, who was 17 at the time, had travelled to Sri Lanka for her performance while Shammi Kapoor was touring with his brothers, Raj and Shashi Kapoor. Being underage, Nadia didn’t want to marry immediately, so they planned to marry 5 years later. Nadia soon went to her home country and Shammi returned to India, ending their relationship.

He met socialite Bina Ramani after the death of his wife. He promised to marry her and suggested to run away if they faced any resistance from their families. His elder brother, Raj Kapoor had warned her of the consequences she might face if she married Shammi. Her parents were also against the pair because of Shammi’s lifestyle and made her marry Andy Ramani, an Air India employee.

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In 2011, actress Mumtaz revealed that after Geeta Bali’s death, he wanted to marry her. She refused the proposal as she was only 18 with several offers for films and marriage to Shammi Kapoor would mean she would have to give up her career, which she wasn’t prepared for.

Religious Views

Shammi Kapoor followed the teachings of his spiritual guru, Haidakhan Babaji, introduced to him by his wife Neila Devi in the 1970s.

Signature/Autograph

Career

Early Career

In 1945, he performed in his first play with Prithvi Theatres, ‘Shakuntala’ as Bharat. By 1948, he had started working as a junior artist at a salary of Rs. 50 per month in Prithvi Theatres. He continued working there for the next four years and received his final paycheck of Rs. 300, in the year 1952. He worked in different plays of his father, such as ‘Shakuntala’, ‘Deewar’, and ‘Kalakar’.

Hindi Films

Shammi Kapoor has appeared in over 100 films, predominantly in Hindi. He made his debut in 1953 with the film ‘Jeewan Jyoti’ as Shyam Sundar “Shammi” , and this was followed by other films including ‘Thokar’ and ‘Rail Ka Dibba’ as Sundar. He also appeared in ‘Laila Majnu’ as Qais/Majnu.

In 1954, he appeared in ‘Shama Parwana’ as Gul Mirza and ‘Chor Bazar’ as Prince Murad/Salim. In 1955, he appeared alongside Geeta Bali in ‘Miss Coca Cola’ as Kamal.

His breakthrough role came in 1957 with the film ‘Tumsa Nahin Dekha’ in which he appeared as Shankar Bhat and became an overnight sensation because of his youthful presence and unique style. In 1959, he appeared along with Asha Parekh in a box office hit, ‘Dil Deke Dekho’ as Roop/Raja.

In 1960, he appeared in the Indo-Malaya co-production film, ‘Singapore’, as Shyam. In 1961, he starred along with Saira Banu in ‘Junglee’ as Chandrashekhar “Shekhar”.

In 1962, he appeared in the comedy ‘Dil Tera Diwana’ as Mohan Badriprasad. In the same year, he starred in ‘Professor’ as Professor Pritam Khanna for which he was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

In 1963, he starred in ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh’ as Bhagat Singh and in ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ as Rajesh. In 1964, he starred in ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ as Rajeev Lal and in ‘Rajkumar’ as Prince Bhanupratap/Bhagatram.

In 1966, he starred in the superhit films, ‘Teesri Manzil’ as Anil Kumar/Rocky and ‘Budtameez’ as Shyam Kumar. In 1967, he starred in ‘An Evening In Paris’ as Shyam Kumar/Sam.

In 1968, he played the titular role in the critically acclaimed film ‘Brahmachari’. In 1969, he starred in the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, ‘Prince’ as Prince Shamsher Singh / Sajjan Singh.

In 1974, he directed ‘Manoranjan’. He also starred in the film as Dhoop Chhaon. The film was adapted from the French play, ‘Irma la Douce’, that Shammi had wanted to star in. He talked about the film in an interview and said,

Manoranjan was taken from Irma la Douce. And I saw Irma la Douce in London… That was a French play that was first on the stage in London. And I wanted then to play the role of Jack Lemmon—it was wonderful—but by the time I made the movie I was too old so I decided to direct the movie.”

Shammi Kapoor in a still from Manoranjan

In 1975, he starred in ‘Zameer’ as Thakur Maharaj Singh. Although the film was criticised by the critics, it became a box office hit.

In 1976, he directed and starred in the critically acclaimed film, ‘Bundal Baaz’ as Genie. In 1977, he starred in the hit film, ‘Parvarish’ as D.S.P. Shamsher Singh. In 1981, he appeared as himself in a cameo appearance in ‘Rocky’. In 1982, he appeared in ‘Prem Rog’ as Bade Raja Thakur and in ‘Vidhaata’ as Gurbaksh Singh.

In 1983, he appeared in two commercially successful films, ‘Betaab’ as Sardar Dinesh Singh Girji and ‘Hero’ as Police Commissioner Shrikanth Mathur. In 1984, he appeared in ‘Sohni Mahiwal’ as Peer Baba. In 1989, he played DIG Sher (Sheroo) Ali Khan in ‘Daata’.

In 1992, he played R. K. Kaul in ‘Chamatkar’. He shared the screen with popular actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Naseeruddin Shah. In 1996, he played Nandlal in ‘Prem Granth’, which starred Rishi Kapoor.

In 2006, he played Swami Trilokanand in ‘Sandwhich’. In 2011, he appeared in his final film, ‘Rockstar’, as Ustad Jameel Khan with his grandnephew, Ranbir Kapoor in the lead.

Films In Other Languages

He has also worked in different language films other than Hindi. He had a guest appearance as a singer in ‘Dhadaka’, a Marathi film released in 1990.

In 1988, he starred in ‘Vozvrashchenie Bagdadskogo Vora’, a Russian language version of the Hindi film ‘Ajooba’, which was released a few years later in 1991.

In 1992, he appeared in the Tamil film, ‘Amaran’ as Don Miranda.

In the same year, he appeared in the Bengali film, ‘Mahashay’ as Prem Singh Chadda.

In 1994, he appeared in the Malayalam film, ‘Sukham Sukhakaram’.

Television

Shammi Kapoor has appeared in a few television shows as well. In 1986, he appeared in ‘Katha Sagar’, a show based on short stories from writers around the world. He appeared in ‘Bible Ki Kahaniyan’ as Nimrod in 1992.

In 1993, he starred in Anubhav Sinha’s directorial debut, ‘Shikast’. In 1994, he starred in ‘Dastaan-E-Hatim Tai’ as Sultan e Yemen, Shahe Alam. In 1997, he starred in the social drama, ‘Chattan’ as Shamsher Raj.

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• In 1969, Shammi Kapoor won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for ‘Brahmachari’.

  Shammi Kapoor with his Filmfare Award for Brahmachari

• In 1982, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for ‘Vidhaata’.

• In the year 1995, he won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

• He won the Special Award for his “Contribution in Indian Cinema” at the Kalakar Awards in 1998.

• He won the Zee Cine Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 1999.

• On 18th January 2000, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the eighth annual Star Screen Awards.

• In 2001, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award for “Contribution in Indian Cinema” at the Anandalok Awards.

• In the same year, he also won the IIFA Award for Invaluable Contribution to Indian Cinema.

  Shammi Kapoor with his IIFA Award for Invaluable Contribution to Indian Cinema in 2001

• In 2005, he was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bollywood Movie Awards.

• In the year 2007, he received the Living Legend Award from the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

• In 2008, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema at the Pune International Film Festival.

• In 2010, he received the Rashtriya Gaurav Award.

• In 2012, a life-sized brass statue was installed at Walk of the Stars at Bandra Bandstand.

• In 2013, a postage stamp with his image was revealed by the India Post on the occasion of 100 years of Indian Cinema.

  Shammi Kapoor postal stamp released in 2013

Car Collection

• Chevrolet Intercontinental convertible

• Buick BMY 3009

  Shammi Kapoor’s Buick BMY 3009

Death

Shammi Kapoor died in 2011 at the age of 79 due to chronic kidney failure in Mumbai. His kidneys suffered due to the heavy antibiotics he took during the treatment of his lungs. He had been on dialysis since 2003. While talking about how lively he used to be even during his hospital visits, in an interview, his wife, Neila Devi said,

As long as he was able to drive his car, he was chirpy. He used to enter the dialysis room, singing a song. He said that three days belonged to dialysis but four days of the week were his.”

Favourites

• Food: Yakhni Pulao, Dum Pukht Chicken

• Films: ‘3 Idiots’ (2009), ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.’ (2003)

Facts/Trivia

• He was the founder of the website, ‘The Kapoor Family Website’, which was dedicated to his family.

  ‘The Kapoor Family Website’ designed by Shammi Kapoor

• He was one of the earliest adopters of the Internet in India. In an interview, Shammi Kapoor talked about his early usage of the internet and said
  

  Internet use in India started in 1995 but I had started using it in 1991 (because of a special application by Apple). I also made an Internet users’ society with Mafatlal, Harish Mehta and Devang Mehta.”

• He was the chairman and the founder of the Internet Users Community of India (IUCI). He also founded the Ethical Hackers Association.

• Shammi Kapoor would often travel with the members of IUCI, carrying an Apple Macintosh Performa 5400. They would then connect it to the homes and offices of people to show them the internet and its benefits.

• He produced his own Video Entertainment Magazine called “Shammi Kapoor presents Manoranjan”. He talked about it in an interview and said,
  

  For a short period of time I produced my own Video Entertainment Magazine called “Shammi Kapoor presents Manoranjan”. Six volumes have been already released and then I stopped because there were too many people doing the same thing.”

• He talked on his website about how he first hurt his knee, which later led to him gaining weight, and wrote,
  

  My knee trouble started in 1964. I was shooting for “Raj Kumar” in Ooty. I was singing a song seated on an elephant and to steady my self on it’s bareback I entwined my feet in the rope tied round it’s neck. At some time during the shot the elephant started twisting it’s neck and I could not extract my right leg from it’s neck. That I think was the beginning.”

• He was also known as the “Yahoo star” because of the hit song, Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe from ‘Junglee’ (1961).

• He was known as the “Elvis Presley of India” because of the similarities in their dancing style.

• In 2022, Outlook India magazine placed him in their list of “75 Best Bollywood Actors”.

• Early in his life, he did not want to become an actor. Instead, he wanted to become an aeronautical engineer.

• He signed up for his first film in 1951, titled ‘Main Aur Woh’, but it got shelved.

• He was an avid hunter. When he was 13 years old, the Maharani of Jodhpur gave him his first weapon, BSA Air Gun.

• When Yahoo! Inc. opened its office in Mumbai, Shammi Kapoor was invited by the then-CEO of Yahoo, Jerry Yang, who informed him how big of a fan he was of Shammi Kapoor and his infamous Yahoo scream.

• He used to smoke up to 100 cigarettes a day. According to him, he used to spend a considerable amount of time on computers which helped him to quit cigarettes.

• He would abstain from drinking alcohol from 1 January to 21 January every year. His wife, Neila Devi talked about it in an interview and said,
  

  Like, every year, he never drank from January 1 to January 21. Geeta Bali had fallen sick on January 1, and she had passed away on January 21. He observed this every single year throughout his life after Geeta Bali passed away.”

• In an interview, he talked about his close relationship with Mohammed Rafi and how his death affected him, and said,
  

  Rafisaab was my voice. After his death, I lost my voice. I cried like hell. He had a great sense of humour. Generally, I used to be present at the recordings of all my songs. I always requested him to sing the songs with the nuances that I will portray on the screen. He used to happily oblige. And after the recording, when I listened to the songs, I wondered how he could sing exactly the way I wished him to!”