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Funny title, some might say; but quite fitting. Elvis Presley is a name which is known even today because of the sheer charisma the man exuded and his animal magnetism that pulled everything within reach towards him. There is only one Elvis. No one else like him.

Maybe the first statement is true, but we are not too sure about the second one. Because we are living proof to a magician who bound us all in his spell the same way Elvis did it- Shammi Kapoor. Not a clone of the afore mentioned superstar, but a superstar in his own right. One of the stalwarts of the Indian film industry who changed the way people thought, literally.

Shammi Kapoor existed in a time and age when heroes were not allowed to show their attraction to the opposite sex and could only dream about them in dream sequences. Something like the dark ages, where free thought was not acceptable. But then renaissance came in the form of a dashing and debonair man who wore his heart on his sleeve and swept women off their feet. His manner was so smooth that no one objected to emotions being portrayed on the screen, they started accepting the chemistry between actors on screen. A true revolution was brought about by a smooth operator- Shammi Kapoor.

Indian films have been like Broadway musicals- the main instrument used to portray feelings and emotions, till this day, is music and dance. Maybe that is why Shammi Kapoor fits right in- no one could foxtrot or shimmy like him. As far as the music goes, well, he fixed himself up really good there too with Rafi Saab as his voice. We must agree, the pair was remarkable.

Shammi Kapoor started his illustrious career with Jeewan Jyoti (1953). With his first foray into Bollywood, he also forged a deep bond with the great singer- Rafi Saab. ‘Lag gayi ankhiyaan o more baalam…’ and ‘Aankhon mein hain tu…’ were two master numbers from this film. An interesting fact to note is that in his first film itself, Shammi Kapoor sang two lines in the film. ‘So jaa re so jaa…’

Along with a great voice, Shammi Kapoor soon found the best man to give the right music. We are talking about Shankar Jaikishen, whose bond with Shammi Kapoor is legendary. They first worked together in Ujala (1959). The two seemed to match in every which way- their style, perceptions, tastes…the list is as endless as their friendship and the number of movies they have worked together in. ‘Jhoomta mausam mast mahina…’ and ‘Ab kahaan jaye hum…’ mark their earliest taste of success as a team.

This taste only whetted their appetite for more of this sweet fruit and they came up with a number of popular tracks. They roped in the amazing voice of Mohd Rafi to further enhance their songs. Boyfriend, College Girl and Singapore prove it. But then came the master blaster ‘Chaahe koi mujhe jungle kahe…’ from Junglee which catapulted all of the above mentioned into a whirlpool of success which churned out only the best. It’s quite ironic that Shammi Kapoor became the president of the Internet Users’ Club of India years later- a wonderful link to his Yahoo! Days.

Shammi Kapoor went on to team up with Kalyanji-Anandji- who were just trying to get a foothold in the industry at that time, and had a blast doing Bluffmaster with them- a movie that the man will always be remembered for. One can’t help but mention the song ‘Govinda aala re…’ which is an important part of the Gokulashtami celebrations to this day and is proof elucidating the ways in which we are so influenced by films.

Amidst the range of successes that the great man has enjoyed, there exists a film called ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ for which he was with the master himself- O.P. Nayyar. The songs in the film were in a class of their own and show Shammi Kapoor in a variety of shades- all immensely flattering.

Shammi Kapoor was one of the few actors who had the right and privilege to have a say in the selection, creation, and lyrics of songs as well as the choreography in his movies. This just goes to show the hold he had over his audiences and associates. The relationship between Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishen blossomed with colossal hits like ‘Lal chhadi maidan khadi…’, ‘Dekho ab to…’, ‘Tumse accha kaun hai…’, ‘Meri mohabbat jawan rahegi…’ and many more.

Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishen had almost become like a packaged deal- no other music directors were even taken into consideration for the great Kapoor. But then Nasir Hussain introduced Shammi Kapoor to R.D. Burman- and rest, as they say, is history. The latter was the first music director for whom Shammi Kapoor made an exception and we got ‘Dekhiye saahibo…’, ‘Aaja aaja main hoon pyar tera…’, ‘O haseena zulfon wali…’, ‘O mere sona re…’ and other evergreen tracks from this new combination.

But then dusk started to creep into the actor’s life and circumstances brought about inevitable changes in his life. We all enjoyed his amazing gravity defying choreography, but he alone endured the price and pain for the same. The injuries he bore are not known to too many, but they caused him immense pain, for which he was on heavy medication. Around this time, he was to undergo another shock- the sudden death of his wife, Geeta Bali. All these things led to him putting on weight. Shammi Kapoor lost the zest to perform as before, but not the zest to live life and make movies. His last film as a leading man- Andaz, created shockwaves which rocked the entire nation. Bhramachari too went on to be great hit for this new side of Shammi Kapoor. Years went on and so did movies- Prince, Manoranjan and many more.

The magic of Shammi Kapoor is still arresting and captivating. An Elvis clone? No way. Because when Shammi Kapoor is in the house, Elvis leaves the building.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 12:21 am and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.