GOING DOWN MEMORY LANE
The young boy whose father owned a large shop in New Delhi at Connaught Place which specialised in garments, styling of costumes and tailoring the clothes like the big designers of Bollywood today, rebelled against his family and wanted to deal with travel as a business and even trained at Mercury Travels but he could not fulfil his dream of becoming a travel agent or starting a travel agency because his father put his foot down and asked him to help him in running the shop.
“I have acted with Mithun Chakraborty in 100 films, 18 films with Amitabh Bachchan and 70 films with Jeetusaab. Kapil Sharma told me that I had acted with Govinda in 18 films”
The same Sunil Kapoor alias Shakti Kapoor who graduated from the Karodimal College in the capital where Amitabh Bachchan, Dinesh Thakur and Satish Kaushik also had studied, has today completed over 41 years in Bollywood and what’s more has acted in a record number of over 700 films not only in Hindi but almost every language of India including Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.
“Acting per se was nowhere in my mind at that time and I felt that I was not at all cut out for a 9 to 6 job and flaunt a paunch by sitting in just one place and manage my father’s shop. S.P Rathawal who was my friend and also was acting in plays being staged at the Delhi University then sent my application for the acting course at the Pune Film Institute forging my signature without my knowledge and all of a sudden I was surprised when I got a registered letter asking me to appear for the written test at the Delhi Public School from where Vinod Khanna had passed out”.
Sunil Kapoor was zapped when he was asked to go to Pune and appear for an audition for the acting course from among the 45,000 who had applied for the course. “I could not believe my luck when I was told that I was one among the 10 who were short-listed for the acting course. I was tested by stalwarts like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar and Kamini Kaushal. Besides me there were Naseeruddin Shah and Anil Verman also were selected for the course. Even my friend Rathwal who was rejected by the Film Institute wondered what hit him when I told him that i was selected but he was rejected. I became an actor whereas Rathawal became a Minister with B.J.P.”
Shakti Kapoor confesses that though his mother had blessed him,his father was still sceptical about his son becoming an actor and predicted that he would be back at home within two years of struggling in Bombay. However, Shakti Kapoor managed to sign his first film in Hindi as actor -Khel Khilari Ka for producer-director Arjun Hingorani for which he still remembers that he was paid Rs 5000 even while he was studying at the Film Institute. His co-stars in the film were Dhruv, Uday Chandra and Phansook Ladakhi.
Soon other films followed like Rajshri’s Alibaba Marijuana for which he was made to give not two or three but 46 retakes because instead of telling Hakim-E-Aala, he ended up nervously telling Hakime Allah and Ramsay’s Darwaza.
Sunil Kapoor was actually rechristened as Shakti Kapoor by Sunil Dutt and Nargis when he was signed by them for their film, since they felt that the name Sunil was too tame and they were keen on introducng him as a new villain. Shakti lied to them that he was a new comer though three films of his had been released .
Shakti’s fate changed for the better when one day after he had bought a 1961 model Fiat and Feroz Khan’s car hit his car but instead of yelling at the suave actor-director, all that he did was to plead with him to sign him as an actor as he had passed out from the Institute and looking out for a good banner to be launched as an actor. After a few days when Shakti Kapoor went to writer K.K. Shukla’s house for his quota of free booze and dinner, (Shukla used to drink only VAT 69 and smoke 555) when he requested the writer to write a film keeping him in mind for the role of the villain, K.K. Shukla lamented that he had suggested to Feroz Khan his name for the role of the villain in his next film Qurbani starring Feroz Khan and Vinod Khanna but Feroz had told him that destiny was not at all in favor of him because he wanted to sign a smart actor from the Institute whose Fiat he had hit. A happy and delirious Shakti told him that it was him that Feroz Khan meant and the rest is history. Shakti Kapoor hit big times with Qurbani which catapulted him to the top echelons of stardom.
“Like Chintu got a fabulous comeback film with Karan Johar’s Agnipath, I too hope that I am able to stage a big comeback with a powerful role in a film made by a powerful banner”
Shakti Kapoor was not happy just after working in Qurbani. When he was jogging by the beach one day he met the veteran producer-director J.Om Prakash and told him that he was keen on acting under his direction in any film of his. J.Om Prakash asked him to wait for two years since he was busy with a film of his and there was no scope for any additional casting. “I did not even meet Omji for the next two years but a day after two years I went to him to remind him that he had promised to cast me in a film of his. Omji was kind enough to offer me not only a guest appearance in his film Asha but also a film called Apna Bana Lo with Kalpana Iyer who was a big name then.”
The course of his career changed overnight when Shakti Kapoor came across the veteran secretary Joshiji who had a tiff with villain Ranjeet and offered to manage Shakti’s career. “Imagine Joshiji got me not one or two but 35 films in a row. After the success of Qurbani, I wanted to buy a house and a car and so signed whichever film was offered to me. When Romu Sippy offered to sign me for his film Satte Pe Satta, Joshiji told him that I would do his film only if he gave me a new car as a signing amount. Besides the balance of Rs 40,000, Romu Sippy also sent me a cheque for Rs 1 lakh when the film ran over 100 days. Today you cannot find a producer who is true to his word, like Romu Sippy.”
Shakti Kapoor says that he lived in a world of his own and believed in hard work and perseverance and used to feel sick whenever he found other actors indulging in groupism and running down other actors. “I have acted with Mithun Chakraborty in 100 films, 18 films with Amitabh Bachchan and 70 films with Jeetusaab. Till Kapil Sharma told me when I went to participate in his show that I had acted with Govinda in 18 films, I frankly did not know even that but I should confess that not only did I enjoy working with each and every actor but also learnt a lot by observing everyone at work.”
Shakti Kapoor confesses that he did not even dream that his pretty daughter Shraddha Kapoor would end up not only as a good actress but also a melodious singer in Bollywood.”My little girl is a simple Maharashtrian mulgi and used to play the piano right from the age of 4. It was Neetu Singh who had gifted her the piano. At home she does not look from any angle like a star. I sent Shraddha to Boston to study while I sent my son Siddhanth to USA first to learn acting and then to Priyadarshan to assist him in direction in five films. Haseena will be Siddhanth’s third film. He shot to fame with Shootout At Lokhandwala first and Anurag Kashyap’s film next. He has a terrific role as Dawood Ebrahim in Haseena. Her is very talented and I just cannot say whether he becomes a villain or for that matter hero in Bollywood after Haseena and Bombaria. His film Phataak is yet to see the light of the day. He has just been signed for J.P. Dutta’s Paltan.”
Shakti Kapoor says that out of the 700 and odd films that he has acted in, he would rate Qurbani, Satte Pe Satta, Satyameva Jayate, Raja Babu and Meri Awaaz Suno as his five best films. “A man is never ever contented. I do not think that I have been given my dues as an actor though I have been over exposed. Like Chintu got a fabulous comeback film with Karan Johar’s Agnipath, I too hope that I am able to stage a big comeback with a powerful role in a film made by a powerful banner. I am waiting for the right producer. Like I used to love being directed by K, Raghavendra Rao and Daddoo Sippy who used to give me a role with a different dimension every time they came to me with a film, I want to work with these filmmakers too. I’d love to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani and Karan Johar.”
Shakti confesses that character artistes suffer today only because every hero wants to do not only comedy but also tragedy and emotion -soaked roles and only if one is a exceptionally talented actor like Paresh Rawal or Anupam Kher, can one survive in the ruthless film industry today. “It is the bitter truth that today a character artiste, if he wants to survive and do more films, he has no other alternative but to be a star’s chamcha. As long as I was very close to Salman Khan,I used to be part of almost every film starring Salman Khan.”
Shakti Kapoor who is eagerly awaiting the release of his next film Woh Aadmi Bahut Kuchch Jaanta Hai and Shimla Mirch and an untitled film in which he plays a frustrated old man in love with a young girl, says that his priority today is his family and insists that he does not interfere at all in the personal lives of Shraddha or Siddhanth.
