Tribute to India's very own 'film-wallah'

If there was one outstanding feature that could equal his exceptional good looks, it would be his generosity, many would tell you. Be it personally greeting technicians of films he was acting in or putting up crews in five-star hotels when he became producer, Shashi Kapoor's kind-heartedness was a marker of his identity.

In journalist and New York Indian Film Festival director Aseem Chhabra's biography, Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, the Star, colleagues and family remember a life well spent, a star who was always gracious and had a deep love for acting.

In his foreword, director Karan Johar remembers Shashi Kapoor's love for theatre and that he chose films as a means of sustenance and not to be a star. He notes that Shashi Kapoor remains even today "one of the few to return to his roots, theatre."

Despite the legacy of his father, Prithviraj Kapoor and his brothers Raj and Shammi Kapoor, Shashi started with mundane work at Prithvi Theatres. Later, while filming Kalyug, he told Dev Benegal about how his father taught him to earn the proverbial stripes by lugging lights and lifting weights.

During his stint at Prithvi Theatre, he met Jennifer Kendal, daughter of Geoffrey Kendal, the patriarch of Shakespeareana Theatre Company. Soon enough, Geoffrey requests Prithviraj Kapoor to loan Shashi to his company. Yet, as Shashi and Jennifer find love, Geoffrey's disapproval led Jennifer to eventually leave her father's side and his company.

The young couple, helped occasionally by Shammi Kapoor and his wife Geeta Bali, soon settled down in 1958. To sustain his family, Shashi decided to find work in films. After a few rounds of studios, he landed himself a role opposite the established Nanda in Char Diwari, a dud at the box office. Two more dampeners later, he delivered his first hit in Jab Jab Phool Khile.

Despite this excellent pedigree, Shashi Kapoor worked up the Bollywood ladder like an outsider would. There is also a part in the book where he bumps into Dharmendra, a struggler himself then, when both were vying to land a role in Bimal Roy's next. Incidentally, both get roles in the film.

The 1960s saw Kapoor establish himself as a star and forge some significant friendships. His friendship with Yash Chopra started with Kapoor bargaining with the number of songs in the film. He wanted only one, Yash Chopra wanted two. Finally, the director prevailed.

The book also discusses Kapoor as one of the first crossover stars of the country. The Householder, his first movie with Merchant Ivory Productions, was released in 1963. Although it did not not make much money, it was the beginning of a lasting relationship between the trio of James Ivory, Ismail Merchant and Shashi Kapoor, who became fast friends and worked on seven films – The Householder, Shakespeare Wallah, Bombay Talkie, Heat and Dust, The Deceivers, In Custody, and Side Streets.

The most prominent of Kapoor's crossover films are The Householder, Heat and Dust and Siddhartha. In The Householder, based on Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's book, American audiences first see Shashi Kapoor as a Hindi school teacher, Prem Sagar, grappling with mundane problems. Heat and Dust, which too is based on a Jhabvala novel that fetched the Booker Prize, has Kapoor playing the role of a nawab who falls in love with the wife of a British civil servant, Olivia, essayed by Greta Scacchi. Siddhartha, produced by Avon heir Conrad Rooks, is perhaps the most remembered in the Indian imagination, for the nude scenes of Kapoor and Simi Garewal.

In the 1970s, Shashi became one of Bollywood's busiest stars, sleeping in taxis to manage time. It was also the decade of Shashitabh – the enormously successful two-hero combination of Shashi and Amitabh Bachchan – beginning with the iconic Deewar. The duo went on to collaborate in 14 films, even acting as twins in one.

Bachchan remembers being told by Kapoor once while appearing as an extra to go home and wait for a better role as he would be a star one day. In Deewar, too, he agreed to play second fiddle despite being the bigger star. "... [in] the mere paas maa hai moment, I felt a gentle hand on mine ... It was reassurance, it was affection, it was acknowledgement, it was complimentary, it was appreciation, it was everything that a struggling actor that once played an extra in a film... had never dreamt would happen," remembers Bachchan.

The book also delves into Shashi Kapoor, the family man. He worked hard in the movies to ensure a good life for his family, and ensured he was at the breakfast table at 7am every morning. When his wife Jennifer passed away in 1984, he was heartbroken, becoming a "complete mess" and postponing the filming of New Delhi Times.

The book has Dev Benegal recollecting Jennifer's funeral service where their son Kunal tells him that after her passing, Shashi took a boat out to the sea in Goa and wept uncontrollably, alone. Almost everyone has the same observation – that with Jennifer gone, Shashi Kapoor lost his youth and will to live.

Along with his films, Kapoor also tried his hand at distribution and renting equipment. Vidushak Arts, his equipment renting company, was a boon for several filmmakers during a time when filmmaking was a tough job and foreign equipment could be purchased only by those who earned foreign exchange. He was also one of the first few to import a Steenbeck flatbed editing machine, which was borrowed by Merchant Ivory and Satyajit Ray's crews.

Kapoor also tried his hand at distribution, starting with Bobby. While several people made money during the superhit, he seemed to be the only one who did not. Chhabra also looks at the bleak times of Kapoor the producer, under his banner Film-Vala Productions, A generous man, he seemed to have been taken for a ride by many who came to him with scripts. There is also the slight hint that directors like Girish Karnad demanded quite more than the requisite finance, leaving Kapoor a bitter man. In all, he produced six movies.

In his later years, without Jennifer's strict control of his diet, Kapoor fell prey to his two vices, alcohol and food, says old time friend Anil Dharker. This led to obesity, a problem all Kapoor men suffer from. The children pleaded with Dharker to hang around him to ensure he drinks less. Yet, soon enough, a heart stroke led to partial paralysis, and the actor is now said to suffer from dementia.

It is a melancholic end for an iconic star who won over generations of audiences across the globe. And yet, one can find comfort in the fact that there will never be another Shashi Kapoor again.