The Legend Actor-Shammi Kapoor

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Shammi Kapoor was born on October 21, 1931 in Mumbai, India. Shammi Kapoor is a great actor of the bollywood industry. The majority of his most successful pictures were made in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Kapoor started out with serious roles but with Filmistan's Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite Ameeta and Dil Deke Dekho (1959) with Asha Parekh, he attained the image of a light hearted playboy.

With Junglee that came in 1961 gave Kapoor a new image. Shammi Kapoor particularly chose Mohammed Rafi as his playback voice and Rafi was also his friend. In fact, it was not Rafi who shouted the "Yahoo" in the song that was famously picturized on Shammi in the huge hit film Junglee (1961) - it was Prayag Raj.

Though in Shammi's early career he had often played second fiddle to established heroines like Madhubala in films such as Rail Ka Dibba (1953), producers now loved pairing Shammi with new heroines, but only three became huge stars: Asha Parekh, Saira Banu, and Sharmila Tagore. Of all his heroines, the actor was comfortable to work with Sharmila Tagore, Rajshree, and Asha Parekh. Shammi and Asha Parekh were paired together in four films, the most successful being the murder mystery Teesri Manzil (1966).

In 1969, he married his second wife Neela, and his significant weight gain ended his career as a romantic hero in the early 1970s, with Andaz (1971) being one of his last hits. Shammi Kapoor turned into a successful supporting actor in the 70's, playing Saira Banu's father in Zameer (1975), when he had been her leading man a decade earlier in Junglee (1961) and Bluff Master (1964).

Shammi also directed Manoranjan (1974) a copy of Irma La Douce and in which he played a supporting role himself and Bandalbaaz (1976), but neither were successful. In the 80s and 90s Shammi Kapoor continued to play supporting roles in many films and won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in Vidhaata (1982).


Awards, nominations and other recognition of the actor-

In 1962 he was nominated for the Filmfare Nomination as Best Actor--Professor
In 1968 - Filmfare Best Actor Award, Brahmachari
In 1982 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Vidhata
In 1995 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
In 1998 - Kalakar Award-Special Award for "contribution in Indian Cinema"
In 1999 - Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement
In 2001 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
In 2002 - Invaluable Contribution To Indian Cinema at the IIFA.
In 2005 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bollywood Movie Awards
In 2008 - Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian cinema at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF).

Shammi Kapoor is also a recipient of the prestigious Living Legend Award by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian entertainment industry.
In the year 2009 Shammi Kapoor received the Phalke Legend Actor Award by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy.

Shammi Kapoor was also one of the foremost internet users in India. He is the founder and chairman of Internet Users Community of India (IUCI) and has been instrumental in setting up internet organizations like the Ethical Hackers Association.