The most understated Kapoor among the three Kapoor brothers- Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, the Kolkata born actor who has left behind a legacy of his own films like Junoon, Kalyug, 36 Chowringhee Lane, Vijeta etc besides super-duper hits like Jab Jab Phool Khile, Jahaan Pyar Miley, Pyar Ka Mausam, Kanyadaan, Sharmilee, Chor Machaye Shor and Haseena Maan Jayegi had actually made his debut as a child actor with his elder brother Raj Kapoor’s film Aag, following it up with Awara. ‘Sammy and Rosie Get Laid’, ‘Jinnah’ and ‘Side Streets’ were some of his films that never got theatre releases in India, and a few like ‘Siddhartha’ and ‘Heat and Dust’ have been forgotten today, I have had the proud privilege of meeting and conversing with the smart and suave gentleman of all times umpteen numbers of times in my 45 year old career as a journalist. To mourn his death, we reproduce this rare and frank interview with the actor by JYOTHI VENKATESH, which appeared 31 years ago in FRONTLINE issue dt June 14-27, 1986.
Shashi Kapoor, born as Balbir Prithviraj Kapoor , who was adored as the Adonis of Hindi Cinema and hailed as an actor with a global appeal of his own, is no more. The embodiment of romance and charm who wooed the top leading ladies of the ‘70s and ‘80s on the silver screen and captivated millions of fans, died at 79 on Monday 4th December, 2017 in Mumbai.
I remember the first time I had met Shashi Kapoor was when he was shooting for his elder brother Raj Kapoor’s magnum opus Satyam Shivam Sundaram in Loni farm in the outskirts of Pune. ”Hi, I am Shashi Kapoor” , he had introduced himself to me when I had landed on location at the shooting on the invitation of the late PR person Bunny Reuben and a cartload of film journalists had landed there having been flown from Mumbai.
For national award winner Shashi Kapoor, the actor for every role, recognition had been belated but he was not planning rest on his oars and had ambitious plans ahead. Shashi Kapoor was an actor without airs. Not for him the star trappings of the others. If he was not at home when you called, he will get your message and call you back. And yet he continued to be a busy star working in about 20 films.
An interview had to be conducted in between shots, when he was working in two films in the same bungalow in Juhu in the suburbs of Bombay. He was playing Mandakini’s father in Ravindra Peepat’s Hum To Chale Pardes whereas in Khushkismat, he was the young romantic lead opposite Swapna.
Shashi confesses it was a feeling of disbelief that he had on being informed that he had won the year’s national award for best actor for his performance in the controversial New Delhi Times. “Even though this is my 27th year of acting in films, I have never ever paid much attention to awards. I only wish they had given it to my wife Jennifer when she was alive, for her performance in my film 36 Chowringhee Lane. Frankly the awards mean nothing to me at this stage when I do not have her to share it with me.”
“In the fine arts there should be no races”, said Shashi. “It is unfair to all the other contestants. I am told I had to compete for the award with veterans like Sivaji Ganeshan and Gopi. It is unfair to them. I feel that the awards do not make any difference to either the actors or the films in our country unlike in the U.S where the Oscar can change the destiny of an actor or a film. In India the distributors refuse to touch a film that has won an award and the producers refuse to sign up an actor who has won one because the industry survives on popular Cinema.”
Shashi says he is no method actor. “I know the craft of acting. No pretensions for me. I do not believe in skipping a bath for three days just because I have to play an untouchable shudra. I am absolutely a switch on switch off actor who believes in transforming myself only in front of the camera. As and when I get a role worth its salt, I do involve myself in it. But where are the roles and where are such filmmakers? Right now, I get the script for the films in which I am acting only a few minutes before I have to face the camera. How do you think one can do the home work for his role in such a situation?”
Recognition as an actor may have come at the fag end of his career to Shashi Kapoor but he has done a myriad roles. “I have played different roles in different films right from the time I made my debut with Char Diwari. Whether it was Char Diwari or Householder, Shakespearewallah or Bombay Talkies or Haseena Maan Jayegi or for that matter Jahaan Pyar Miley, I have been proving myself in different roles. The only thing is that I had always maintained a rather low key and don’t believe in tomtomming about my plus points as most actors do today.”
He is the most popular character artiste today. And he has no qualms about admitting it. “I do not believe in hanging on to my youth or teenage. Let Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt come to the fore. It is high time I made my way for the youngsters to step in and take over from the old guard. I am 48 today. I have had a chequered career spanning 27 years and I have enjoyed 28 years of married life. I am today a contended man with two sons –Kunal and Karan and a daughter Sanjana who are grown up.”
But he is in the red financially after Utsav which cost him nearly 3 crores. However, Shashi has no regrets having made it. “Utsav has not dampened my spirits. Its delay did initially dampen my spirits but it was inevitable because half- way through, Jennifer was indisposed and I had no alternative but to suspend it and attend to her. For nearly 18 months, I could not concentrate on the film. As a result, the interest on the amount that I had borrowed mounted. Imagine how much I have had to pay on a principle of Rs 1 crore, not at the bank rate but the market price”
He is on a signing spree as a character artiste only because he wants to earn whatever he can and then concentrate on making films the way he wants them to be made. “I am working in two shifts. There are even days when I am working in three shifts because I cannot say no to a producer if he comes to me with a sob story that he has got his sets erected and all the other stars required for the scene are present except me.”
Shashi is planning to launch a film for his son Karan Kapoor too, just as he launched Vijeta for his eldest son Kunal. “I will launch a film Sahebzada with Karan playing the title role. Of course I will be also acting in an elderly role. Sridevi will be Karan’s leading lady and Prayag Raj, my friend from the good old days of the stage will direct it. I want to make Sahebzada as a quickie on a modest budget before I set out to launch an ambitious Indo-Russian co-production, a fantasy called Ajooba with Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in the lead. I have yet to finalize the director of the film. Amitabh has agreed to do the film, I am waiting for him to be free from his fresh commitments before I launch it. The film will be made on a big budget of Rs 11 crores.”
He may take to direction sooner or later as and when he is able to free himself from his commitments- assignments wise as well as financially. However he will continue to make films for his concern Filmwallas. “It is my ambition as a producer to have the great honor and privilege of having the greatest showman Raj Kapoor as the director of my film. I know it is like reaching for the moon but then I am sure one day I will be able to launch a film with Rajji as the director.”
Shashi is meanwhile toying with the idea of going in for television serials in a big way. “Amritlal Nagar will be writing a TV serial to be produced by me with Shyam Benegal as the director. The serial known as Parampara will deal with Indian culture and heritage. It will 
be about Indians and deal with the past, present and the future. Shyam has reservations about the serial because the serial Buniyaad has already been made by Ramesh Sippy but I feel that the scripts of Parampara and Buniyaad are poles apart. I am confident of launching the TV serial as early as possible. I am waiting for Shyam to be free from his commitments too.”
“I have done all my parts in real life too. As a child, a teenager, middle aged husband and now a widower. I will be failing in my own esteem if I were to fall in love and marry again after spending 28 years with Jennifer. However, I do not mind having a couple of affairs,” he signs off.
That’s Shashi Kapoor for you, a thorough gentleman, with a wicked sense of humor.
HERE’S WHAT TV STAR ROMIT RAJ HAS GOT TO STATE ABOUT SHASHI KAPOOR WHO HE HAD ALWAYS HELD IN GREAT ESTEEM.
It is very sad to hear of Shashiji’s demise. I had the good fortune of meeting him in Prithvi and I even read his latest autobiography. Films like ‘Junoon’ and ‘Kalyug’ and of course ‘Jab Jab Phool khile’ are my favourites. He has supported art films along with commercial cinema… He was one of the most talented actors who balanced international cinema and work in Hindi cinema.
KUNAL KAPOOR ON DAD SHASHI KAPOOR
“I reproduce this article with a very heavy heart, which I did in Mumbai Mirror on November 9, 2013. We have lost a treasure. He is the latest member of the Kapoor clan to be added to the Walk, whose other residents include his father (late) Prithviraj Kapoor, older brother (late) Raj Kapoor, nephew and grand nieces Karisma and Kareena.
Kunal is proud of his father’s stardom but has rarely been open to interviews on him. But Mirror finally caught up with him at Prithvi Theatre, the institution founded and nurtured by the Kapoors. “It’s a cool idea to acknowledge artistes who have contributed substantially to the film industry. It will be naive not to include Shashi Kapoor, in fact it will be downright daft,” said Kunal.
Kunal went on to discuss his father, his early days in cinema and his current state of health. Shashi Kapoor has featured in memorable roles in films like Deewaar, Kabhie Kabhie, Namak Halaal and Kaala Patthar. But Kunal maintains that Jab Jab Phool Khile was his best work. “My dad was a very good actor who did not look at acting in terms of stardom. And then came the 70s when cinema was commercialised and it was all about stardom and money then. That is why my father turned producer. He was dissatisfied with the work he was doing and decided to make better films.”
And Shashi Kapoor made the erotic period drama Utsav, which went over budget and left a huge dent in his pocket. “All the films he made went over budget. He never said ‘No’ to his directors. Did that mean that we got up in the morning and shouted at him? No, it was his money.”
After Utsav, Shashi Kapoor slowed down. “It wasn’t financially viable to keep making movies. Those beautiful films- 36 Chowringhee Lane, Junoon, Vijeta- were all ahead of their time. If they had released today they would have fared much better thanks to the multiplex culture. Does a good actor necessarily have to be a good businessman?”
What came as a big blow to Shashi Kapoor was his wife Jennifer Kendal’s death in 1984. Says Kunal, “My mom and dad were very close. He was 18 when he first met her. There are few people who experience genuine love and those who do, don’t recover.”
Talking about his father’s health for the first time, Kunal says, “He has had a lot of medical complications. He had a bypass, a couple of strokes, he is on dialysis, he has been through a lot. We have a good nursing staff. He is being well looked after.”
Has Shashi Kapoor been informed that some of his colleagues have passed away, including Pran, Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra? Kunal nods in the affirmative, without explaining further. But unlike his contemporaries, Shashi Kapoor has never hung onto his glory days. “We don’t have any trophies on shelves unlike other actors, err stars. I don’t know where they are. They were of no importance to my parents.”
AMITABH BACHCHAN ON
SHASHI KAPOOR
Amitabh Bachchan poured his heart out in his blog the day Shashi Kapoor breathed his last on Monday, expressing his grief and loss at Deewar co-star Shashi Kapoor’s death. The Shehenshah star revealed how he admired Shashi Kapoor, copied his hairstyle and behaviour, but could not bear to see him after he “let himself go after the passing away of his dear wife Jennifer.”
Shashi Kapoor passed away on Monday evening at Mumbai’s Kokilaben hospital at the age of 79. He has been suffering from a kidney ailment for many years and also undergoing dialysis. Bachchan touched on this aspect in his blog, writing how tough he found seeing Kapoor as a man dealing with multiple health problems. His blog reads as a heartbreaking tale of how he admired Kapoor and could not visit him during his stay in the hospital, Bachchan wrote, “He had been ailing and somewhere he had let himself go after the passing away of his dear wife. I had visited him on occasion in hospital during some of the times he had been hospitalised earlier. But I never went to see him again. I would never have. I never ever wanted to see this beautiful friend and ‘samdhi’ in the state I saw him in hospital and I did not today, when they informed me that he had gone.”The superstar was later seen at the Kapoor residence, meeting the family with son Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Early on Tuesday, Amitabh also posted a cryptic tweet, condemning the “commercialisation of his grief”.“The words of the ‘sher’ at the opening came to me minutes after Rumi Jafri, eminent writer in our film industry, sent them to me on learning of his death.
‘How long could I have preserved this exquisite and expensive book of life ; the pages of the book were damaged ..’ He fondly addressed me as ‘babbua’ .. and with him have gone many incredible unread chapters of his and my remembering the maverick actor’, Amitabh confessed having copied Kapoor’s hairstyle. “The next was his semi curly hair on head, falling carelessly over his forehead and ears, not quite covering it and my upper story mumbled again: ‘Hey ! maybe you should think of covering your ears as well .’ and off I went to Hakim the hair dresser at Taj Hotel with my plan and executed, it remained till date,” he wrote on his blog.life,”
“Hi! This is Shashi Kapoor”. This was what one heard as he extended a warm soft hand out to you in introduction and that devastating smile complimenting the twinkle in his eyes. He needn’t have done so. everyone knew him. But this was his infectious humble self. When he spoke, there was a mischievous, gentle, almost inaudible, delicate, yodel, in his voice – most endearing and comforting to the one he was introduced to. The self introduction habit, was a gem,” Big B wrote.
“The one being introduced to, was, quite obviously, prompted to say his or her name as well, when they heard his. It was a remarkable tool to come to know the other person’s name and if and when there was to be another meeting after many forgettable years, the same technology was most helpful in remembering the other person’s name, in case you had forgotten it,” he added.
Amitabh also admitted that he follows Shashi Kapoor’s style of introducing himself, even till date; “I must admit it was a technology that remained with me as a learning, assisting me in using it during those uncomfortable times, when out of the blue someone would come out to you and address himself as a long lost buddy , with a : “Remember me ! We last met 6 years ago at the crossing of Kemps Corner, as you drove past and waved to me”! My mind is warning me. ‘Of course you don’t, how could you possibly’ .. ‘stick that hand out a la Shashi Kapoor and act friendly..’ I obey ‘yes of course I do’ .. I say .. looking recognisably lost .. ( sticking hand out ) .. Amitabh Bachchan ..!! And he would assure me with his and Kemp’s Corner and waving by, passing travelling vehicle, suddenly all come flashing. I am saved and he goes away with some rather impressionable opinions about me.”
Remembering the first time he saw Kapoor on a magazine cover, Amitabh wrote, “Standing elegantly without a care in the world, I saw him standing by a Mercedes Sports car, a convertible, a smart trimmed beard and moustache, adorning involuntarily, the face of this incredibly handsome man. It was a picture that filled almost an entire page of a magazine. Shashi Kapoor, son of Prithviraj Kapoor, younger brother to Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, making a debut in a forthcoming film, is what the caption read ..And I said to myself, as very uncertain thoughts raced through my mind of wanting to become a film actor, that, with men like him around, I stood no chance at all.”
RAJ KAPOOR CALLED
SHASHI KAPOOR A TAXI
Shashi Kapoor, was known as an actor with the cutest smile in the Hindi film industry. He came from a family that since 1950s. In the 1970s, Shashi Kapoor was at the pinnacle of his popularity.It was the time when Raj Kapoor planned one of his iconic and most talked about films, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, that explored the distinction between physical love and spiritual love. In the book Raj Kapoor Speaks, his daughter Ritu Nanda says that Lata Mangeshkar was the inspiration behind Satyam Shivam Sundaram, that was released in 1978.
Raj Kapoor was convinced that the male protagonist of the film, Rajeev, could only be played by Shashi Kapoor, thought to be the prettiest face in Bollywood back then. The story was about a man falling in love with a woman with a silken voice but a disfigured face.During those days, Shashi Kapoor was and he had already committed dates to four or five filmmakers. But Raj Kapoor wanted dates in a bunch and that too, with a rider that the day when Shashi Kapoor shot for Satyam Shivam Sundaram, he would not shoot for any other film.
This was one condition imposed on him by his older brother that Shashi Kapoor was not in position to honour. In an interview later, Shashi Kapoor would tell that to accommodate Raj Kapoor, he had to work round the clock. Shashi Kapoor would do four to five shifts a day and sleep in a car – his own or a taxi that he hired.
To Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor always looked like “running away in taxi” and he gave him this nickname, more out of frustration at not having procured enough time from his younger brother on his film. Raj Kapoor addressed as ‘Taxi’ not only Shashi Kapoor, but many others actor-stars too.
Raj Kapoor would tell Shashi Kapoor, “You people aren’t artists. You are all taxis. Someone puts your meter down; you go there. Then someone else puts your meter down, and you go there.”
But, this moniker stayed with Shashi Kapoor for another reason. He was known to pick up or drop any of his co-actors in his car or taxi as he shuttled between places and shifts for the shooting for his films.
SIMI GAREWAL ON
SHASHI KAPOOR, HER CO-ACTOR IN SIDDHARTHA
Simi Garewal, former actress and the talk show hostess of the show Rendezvous With Simi Garewal and Shashi Kapoor’s leading lady in the controversial film Siddhartha directed by Conrad Rookes, says that her Siddhartha co-star was perfect. As she bared her heart to a newspaper, she revealed quite a few personal reminiscences and shed light on a few things about the actor/producer that we all may not be privy to.
She spoke about the kindness of the Raj Kapoor family. “I’m not sure if the Raj Kapoor family adopted me or I adopted them but soon I felt I was a part of their family. So, I met Shashi often, as I did all the other Kapoor family members.” She thought that he was not a showbiz person like Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor but was ‘un-filmy’.
She said, “After Siddhartha, we got many offers to work together, but only Naach Uthe Sansaar and Kabhi Kabhi worked out. Ahsaas was a lovely film we shot for Ramesh Sippy — I don’t know why he shelved it.”
Simi Garewal adds, “ Shashi Kapoor was one of the rare personalities in Bollywood, almost untouched by malicious gossip. No one spoke a word against. He was never rude, never misbehaved nor interfered. You could not fault him on any count — and that’s a badge of honour”.
Simi recalls how Shashi and she travelled to New York for the opening of Siddhartha. She says, “The long flights together gave us a chance to talk non-stop in between catching up on sleep. Shashi would sink into the leather seats of the limousine and laugh, “Sheer luxury. I could get so used to it” he’d say.” She remembered how they sat on the patio of the Excelsior Palace hotel during the Venice Film festival and really talked and connected. His disarming nature made a teetotaller like her, try alcohol for the first time.
While elaborating on Shashi Kapoor’s savoir faire, she said, “He was the only actor who knew how to order food and wines in a restaurant, knew how to eat, had perfect table manners. No other actor has ever had this level of international style. Women were always hitting on Shashi, falling all over him, openly, even in front of their husbands! Shashi was so cool in the way he handled them, that it made them get even more moony-eyed and bolder!”
Simi went down memory lane in Venice on a gondola ride when the ‘mild’, ‘ever-dignified’, ‘always-so-proper’ Shashi, stood up and started a half-Hindi duet with the gondolier. She said, “Each Italian line was followed with a made-up Hindi line! He was so funny — I couldn’t stop laughing. Then Shashi started belting out Shammi Kapoor songs with abandon, on top of his voice! Now, Shashi CAN’T sing!! But passing gondolas cheered and clapped! It was like a comedy scene from a film!”
She explained, “A few years back, Shashi and I were honoured with awards for Siddhartha in Delhi. We watched the film with the audience and as the scenes unfolded Shashi whispered to me, ‘You know I can’t remember a thing about Siddhartha. Not a thing. It’s all a blur to me’. It saddened me deeply; and that night his words kept haunting me. ”
Simi adds, “As an actor, Shashi’s proclivities were always too refined for Bollywood. Maybe that was Jennifer’s influence. He hated all the ‘naach-gaana’ stuff but acquiesced just to keep working and earning.”
Having closely seen their relationship evolve, Simi called Jennifer his anchor, his muse and his influence. She went on to say of their relationship, “ To really understand a man you have to know his wife… Here was a young Shashi who saw this beautiful woman on stage — and fell in love with the ‘pari’.”
“Shashi pursued her with the tenacity of youth. They lived in their own little world away from the razzmatazz of Bollywood. Shashi always sought Jennifer’s approval. For a Shakespearean actor of Jennifer’s calibre — the Bollywood of that time was pretty lowbrow, to put it mildly.”
Simi made some painful revelations and said, “That vast area of his personality that was Jennifer — now lay empty. Shashi eventually gave up the inner struggle — and almost became a recluse…We met last at an award function at YRF Studios. At the far end of the corridor, there was this figure in a wheelchair.”
“Sanjana said to me, “He’s had a stroke, so one side is paralyzed. He also had a heart attack and lots of problems. He doesn’t remember people. So don’t be upset. I’m just warning you. It didn’t matter if Shashi remembered me or not, I still had to go to him. I bent down to look into his tired face. His eyes lifted and focused on me and he said: “Hello Simi”. I felt like laughing… and crying… I just wanted to hug him.”
GOVINDA ON SHASHI KAPOOR
Govinda has revealed the advice Shashi Kapoor gave him while shooting 1986 film Ilzaam, which was Govinda’s debut and in which Shashi Kapoor had a role. Shashi Kapoor had transitioned away from playing the romantic lead by the time he appeared in Ilzaam and was on his way to becoming a senior statesman of the film industry.
As Govinda, then a 23-year-old with stars in his eyes says that Shashi Kapoor spotted him dancing in a scene on the first day of filming. In true Shashi Kapoor style, the seasoned star called the rookie over and told him that he was destined for stardom, to look after his health and stay professional.
ARDENT FAN RAMESH RAO ON SHASHI KAPOOR
In my school days some of the best films i have seen of Shashi Kapoorji had superhit songs like ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’, ‘Aamne Samne’, ‘Pyaar Ka Mausam’, ‘Kandyadan’, ‘Jahan Pyaar Miley’, ‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’, ‘Raja Sahab’, ‘Naach Uthe Sansar’, ‘Abhinetri’ etc,.
ZEENAT AMAN ON SHASHI KAPOOR
By all accounts, this was typical of the gentlemanly Shashi Kapoor who was as adored by his co-stars as he was by his public. In 2015, when Shashi Kapoor received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, his Satyam Shivam Sundaram heroine Zeenat Aman told NDTV, “For me personally, he was one of the nicest co-stars to have ever worked with. He was always cheerful, always happy. In all the years that I worked with him, I never saw him lose his temper, or be unpleasant or untoward. I’m just so happy for him and so delighted for the family.”
SHASHI KAPOOR WAS CREMATED WITH STATE HONORS
Shashi Kapoor had been ill and in a wheelchair for the last several years of his life. On Sunday, he was taken to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Ambani Hospital and died there. His nephew Randhir Kapoor told news agencies that the last star had been on dialysis for failing kidneys. Shashi Kapoor was cremated with state honours and a three-gun salute in Mumbai .Many of his friends and colleagues, including Amitabh Bachchan with whom he made iconic films such as Deewar and Namak Halaal, were present.
Shashi Kapoor and his 15 best films
Shashi Kapoor began acting as a child artist with films like Aag, Sangam and Awaara. As a child actor, having been the son of the thespican Prithviraj Kapoor empowered the younbg lad thgat Shashi Kapoor was to make his debut on the stage at bthe very young and raw age of just aro9und 6 with the play Shakuntala in which he shared the nstage witgh his father Prithviraj Kapoor.
Shashi Kapoor’s first solo lead was in the 1961 film Dharmaputra. And while the nation mourns, his
death has not just left a void in the Indian film industry, but also closed an era and a chapter in the memories of generations. In a career spanning nearly six decades, Shashi Kapoor has been instrumental in giving Indian cinema, some of the
most beautiful, heart wrenching dramas.
Here is a list of 15 films which are gold for not just movie aficionados, but is also a reference point for aspiring filmmakers.
1. Deewar
This film was much more than its iconic dialogue “Mere paas maa hai”. The path-breaking film Deewar, which released in 1975, tells the story about two brothers who because of facing betrayal and struggle, end up growing into men of clashing ideologies, and find themselves standing on the opposite side of the law. Co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, the film has several remakes in south Indian languages.
2. Jab Jab Phool Khile
The 1965 romantic drama was a blockbuster and was even ranked at the second spot of top ten highest grossing films at the Indian box office in that year. The film starring Shashi Kapoor and Nanda was a story about a poor boatman in Kashmir who falls in love with a rich tourist girl.
Also read | 10 evergreen dialogues by Shashi Kapoor
3. Kalyug
The 1981 film is a crime-drama co-starring Rekha, Raj Babbar, Supriya Pathak, Anant Nag and others. It was called the modern-day version of Mahabharat showing a conflict between rival business houses.
4. Junoon
It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The 1978 film is based on Ruskin Bond’s story ‘A Flight of Pigeons’ and was set around the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
5. Satyam Shivam Sundaram
Another iconic film, this one was basically a social drama depicting the difference in religious beliefs and clash between physical and spiritual love. The film was directed by Raj Kapoor and starred Zeenat Aman. Its songs still remain one of the biggest hits of Bollywood.
6. Chor Machaye Shor
The superhit of 1974, this film had the popular song “Le Jayenge Le Jayenge” which inspired the name of another blockbuster – Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. It also starred Mumtaz, Asrani, Danny Denzongpa and Madan Puri.
7. Trishul
This 1978 drama was written by Salim-Javed and helmed by Yash Chopra. It starred Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar, along with Raakhee and Hema Malini.
8. Suhaag
The Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Parveen Babi starrer was a box office success of 1979. It was later remade in Telugu as Satyam Shivam starring N. T. Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. The collaboration of Mohammad Rafi and Laxmikant Pyarelal created another musical hit.
9. Shaan
It was an action thriller which released in 1980. Though the film couldn’t match the success of Sholay, but it did win hearts of the audience. It also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Dutt, Shatrughan Sinha, Raakhee and Parveen Babi.
10. Dharmputra
The 1961 film was directed by Yash Chopra. It was based on a novel by by Acharya Chatursen. In the backdrop of Partition, the film highlighted issues of religious bigotry and communalism. It also starred Mala Sinha and Rehman.
11. Aa Gale Lag Jaa
The 1973 romantic drama also starred Sharmila Tagore. The film is remembered for its deadly combo of R.D. Burman and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi. Its songs include “Vaada Karo” and Tera Mujhse Hain Pehle Ka Nata Koi”.
12. Kabhi Kabhie
Another Yash Chopra blockbuster, this one remains etched in the memory for the amazing ensemble cast of Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Raakhee, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. The film is predominantly remembered for its blockbuster music.
13. Vijeta
This one produced by Shashi Kapoor and starring his son Kunal Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Rekha and Supriya Pathak Shah is the story about a confused teenager Angad who is also caught in the marital problems of his parents, and how he chooses to become a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force.
14. Namak Halaal
Featuring Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Smita Patil, Parveen Babi, Waheeda Rehman and Om Prakash, this 1982 film is the story about Arjun who works at a hotel and learns about a plot being hatched to kill his master and owner of the hotel. He tries to save him at any cost.
15. Silsila
This film is remembered for more reasons than one. Directed by Yash Chopra and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Rekha and Sanjeev Kumar, it had Shashi Kapoor in a special appearance,
