Discover Shammi Kapoor's journey from adversity to becoming the beloved 'Yahoo' star of Hindi cinema. Tune in to his revealing interview with Lehren where he discusses the path to his Bollywood triumphs. Explore his exclusive podcast.
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00:00Rajesh Khanna used to be at my house over here.
00:03The child grew up in front of me in the film industry.
00:06Not 4-5 films, but 40-50 films.
00:10I don't know, it's blind faith.
00:12Why didn't we work with Usha Khanna? Who is Usha Khanna?
00:15So after I got married, I went to my father,
00:17I took a glass, poured both of us a drink,
00:20said cheers, and I smoked it one time.
00:22Mr. Kapoor, was it taken for granted that you are going to be an actor?
00:33Because you are Prithviraj Kapoor's son.
00:35No, not at all. As a matter of fact,
00:37I opted for science in college,
00:43and I wanted to become an engineer,
00:45an aerodynamic engineer.
00:47Imagine the number of crashes we would have had
00:49if I had become an engineer.
00:51My God.
00:53Can you tell us a little about your childhood?
00:56What was the environment like?
00:58How did you become an actor?
01:00The environment was very beautiful.
01:02I was born here, in Chennai Road,
01:07in Ajankya Hospital.
01:09But after that, we went to Calcutta.
01:11There was schooling in Calcutta.
01:13My father was working in Bengali movies.
01:17And then, when we came back to Bombay,
01:20we stayed at Matunga.
01:22Matunga was a beautiful suburb that we stayed in.
01:25In those days, I very distinctly remember
01:30that there was only one car in the whole lane.
01:35It used to be called Hollywood Lane,
01:38as a matter of fact,
01:39because it housed all those people,
01:44the actors who had come from Calcutta,
01:47and migrated from there.
01:49And it was full of actors, and writers, and directors.
01:54And we were very fortunate
01:56that we had Khalsa College on one side
01:59with a beautiful playing field, ground.
02:03And we had VJTI, the institute, behind us,
02:07again with a beautiful field.
02:10So, I grew up playing a lot.
02:13I was indulging in sports of all kinds.
02:17And then, I was schooling very far,
02:21distinct from my house.
02:23I was schooling here at Ujjus Road,
02:25at Newra School.
02:27And I did my matric from here.
02:29And then I went to Ruia College there,
02:31in Matunga,
02:33because it was near to my house,
02:35and convenient.
02:37And I took up science,
02:38and you had to get up very early in the morning
02:40for science practicals.
02:42But that is all that I did in my college.
02:44I did my practicals in Ruia College,
02:46and the rest of the time,
02:48I spent at Xavier's,
02:50because I was very,
02:52very closely associated with Xavier's.
02:55I played a lot of table tennis championships there.
02:59I also had a canteen account there.
03:02And the other time,
03:04I spent at Elphinstone College,
03:06because all my classmates
03:08from my Newra School went to it.
03:10They were all from this side,
03:11they went to Elphinstone.
03:13So that's the reason that after
03:15a couple of years of college,
03:17college got,
03:21I got bored of college.
03:23Or I went back to my father,
03:25and I told him I want to join the theatres.
03:27That is how I joined Prithvi Theatres,
03:29and that is how I became an actor.
03:32Is this right?
03:34I have heard that in Prithvi Theatres,
03:36your salary was Rs. 50 before?
03:38Yes, I joined Prithvi Theatres at Rs. 50.
03:41My God!
03:42I used to earn a lot of money at Rs. 50,
03:44but still it was very less.
03:46And I used to ask my mother for a lot of money.
03:50I used to be very naughty.
03:52I used to open the cupboard,
03:54and to take something out,
03:56I used to put my hand from above
03:58and take out a 100 rupee note.
04:00I still remember that.
04:02When you started your career
04:04in films from Prithvi Theatres,
04:07it was not very easy, isn't it?
04:09Because your father didn't launch you
04:11like they do nowadays.
04:13No, no.
04:14Prithvi Theatres was basically
04:16a training school.
04:18And the four years that we spent there,
04:23we learnt a lot,
04:25we gained a lot,
04:27and we moved forward with that.
04:29In 1952, I joined.
04:31It was my first movie, Jeevan Jyoti.
04:34I did it with Mahesh Kaur,
04:36because Mahesh Kaur saw me doing Pathan,
04:39my father's play.
04:41He saw me doing the role
04:43of Bahadur Khan in Pathan.
04:45And that's how he selected me.
04:48Your first four or five films
04:51didn't do very well,
04:53didn't do very well.
04:55I believe...
04:57My first four or five films
04:59didn't do well.
05:01I don't remember how many films
05:03but there were a lot.
05:05And for five years,
05:07nothing worked.
05:09And it was very bad.
05:11You used to call yourself
05:13a male starlet.
05:15A male starlet?
05:17Because you were so disgusted
05:19with what...
05:21with the films not doing well.
05:23I was...
05:25It happens.
05:27I was young,
05:29I got married,
05:31and the biggest thing was
05:33that I was Raj Kapoor's brother,
05:35Pithvi Raj Kapoor's son,
05:37Geeta Bali's husband.
05:39I was nothing.
05:41So a lot of things
05:43are hidden at a young age.
05:45And the same things happen
05:47that make a person passionate,
05:49that make a person...
05:53become a source of inspiration
05:55to do something,
05:57an incentive to go out there
05:59and create your own identity.
06:07My father got married at 18.
06:09I got married at 23.
06:11Fair enough.
06:15Raj Kapoor got married earlier, I think.
06:17He got married at 22.
06:19When you wanted to marry Geeta ji,
06:21was there any opposition at home?
06:23Were they all right about it?
06:25No, no.
06:27How did you marry Geeta ji?
06:29There was no opposition.
06:31As a matter of fact,
06:33when I told them that I was in love,
06:35we were having no affair as such,
06:37but I was terribly in love with her.
06:39And when it came to my marriage,
06:41my family was not here.
06:43Not my father,
06:45my mother,
06:47Raj ji was here,
06:49but I told Raj ji
06:51that I was married.
06:53And there was
06:55no objection.
06:57As a matter of fact,
06:59when I rang up my father,
07:01I called him and told him
07:03that I have brought my daughter-in-law.
07:05He told me to come to Bhopal
07:07and tell him.
07:09He was in Bhopal with the theatre at that time.
07:11He told me to come and tell him
07:13and give him blessings.
07:15We went down to Bhopal.
07:17I performed as a matter of fact,
07:19there in the theatre.
07:21And most importantly,
07:23that night,
07:25I had promised my father
07:27that when I get married,
07:29I would like to be more with you.
07:31And since I am a smoking man,
07:33drinking man, I run away from you.
07:35It's very customary.
07:37In front of my father,
07:39he respects me a lot.
07:41I said, I will respect you anyway.
07:43But,
07:45after I got married,
07:47I kept my promise. After I got married,
07:49I went to my father, took a glass,
07:51poured both of us a drink,
07:53said cheers, and I smoked in front of him.
07:55And I felt,
07:57I didn't feel bad about it.
07:59Because I did it all my life
08:01till the end.
08:03And that kept me nearer to him
08:05and I spent a lot of time with him.
08:09Geetaji was your co-star, isn't it?
08:11Yes, we did
08:13two film movies.
08:15We did Coffee House,
08:17that's where we met.
08:19And then we did Miss
08:21Coca-Cola.
08:23I haven't even seen that picture.
08:25That was
08:27produced by Kuldeep Kaur.
08:29And then we did
08:31a movie called Rangeen Raat,
08:33in which she played a cameo role.
08:35But that's when we went outdoors
08:37to Rani Khed.
08:39We went to Rani Khed
08:41for the first time.
08:43And I spent
08:4520 days of my life there.
08:47I fell in love with her.
08:49Ironically, wasn't that the place
08:51where she also passed away?
08:53Rani Khed?
08:55No, Geeta passed away.
08:57She passed away in this house.
08:59I thought she fell in...
09:01No, no, no.
09:03Was Tumsa
09:05Nehri Dekha, would you call that
09:07the point when your career
09:09really went in for a complete change?
09:11Absolutely.
09:13I think
09:15Tumsa Nehri Dekha had to happen.
09:17It's like an accident
09:19waiting to happen.
09:21It's like
09:23I went for broke,
09:25I shaved my moustache,
09:27long hair,
09:29like Dhoni.
09:31They did good for Dhoni,
09:33not for me.
09:35I cut them off.
09:37I got myself a crew cut.
09:39And I got myself a style.
09:41And I did it.
09:43And that was the movie
09:45that gave me the first opportunity
09:47to sing songs
09:49the way I wanted to
09:51and act the way I wanted to act.
09:57You were called
09:59Rebel Star.
10:01Why were you called
10:03Rebel Star?
10:07In those days,
10:09in the film industry,
10:11in our film industry,
10:13there were only three great actors.
10:15Mr. Raj Kapoor,
10:17Mr. Dilip Kumar,
10:19and Mr. Dev Anand.
10:21And after that,
10:23we used to come
10:25right under the stairs.
10:27And they didn't even bother
10:29about us.
10:31So, what I was trying to do
10:33was break through that wall.
10:35I was not trying
10:37to be a conformist.
10:41I would climb up the ladder,
10:43go there, break through that wall
10:45and make myself something.
10:47And they called me the Rebel Star.
10:51But isn't this
10:53great that
10:55the three of them, the reigning tribe
10:57that was there, there was also Shammi Kapoor.
10:59He stood up to them, isn't it?
11:01You were as big a star, isn't it?
11:03I mean, after I broke through.
11:05Yes, after.
11:07After I broke through with history.
11:09Yes.
11:11I didn't look back.
11:13Was it very dizzy up there?
11:15Because I hadn't
11:17been there at all.
11:19It was very new to me.
11:21But I would
11:23tell you one thing, in all sincerity.
11:25My wife,
11:27whose name was Geeta Bali.
11:29She was a very mature person.
11:31And she stood
11:33by me like a pillar.
11:35Even when I was an
11:37ornate entity, and even
11:39after I had an identity.
11:41So, in this
11:43whole environment,
11:45if there was one person
11:47who held me
11:49and kept me, who had faith in me.
11:51He was sure
11:53that this person would do something one day.
11:55And who also
11:57held me down.
11:59Don't
12:01go overboard.
12:03She did that. And that's the reason
12:05I did some very good pictures after that.
12:07I did Dil Dekhe Dekho,
12:09I did Jangli, I did Professor.
12:11I did some very nice movies.
12:13As a matter of fact,
12:15even Teesri Manzar,
12:17I signed.
12:19During her, I started Teesri Manzar,
12:21and she died when I was making Teesri Manzar.
12:23And Teesri Manzar
12:25also was, because of her,
12:27and my association with
12:29Masood Hussain.
12:31Shall we talk about
12:33Yahoo?
12:35Yahoo and Shammi Kapoor are synonymous.
12:37Yahoo was something that was there
12:39all the time within me.
12:41And the first opportunity it
12:43got, it came out.
12:45And that was in Tumsa Ne Dekha.
12:47It was not in Jangli.
12:49It started with Tumsa Ne Dekha
12:51It was a Bhangra song,
12:53Sar Pe Topi Laal Gaana.
12:55In that,
12:57a girl runs, a boy runs after her,
12:59and he yahoos and runs.
13:01That yahoo expression
13:03was embedded in my mind.
13:05It came from there.
13:07I did the same thing
13:09in Dil Dekhe Dekho.
13:11There also, a girl runs,
13:13a boy runs after her, he falls,
13:15he yahoos, and he sings
13:17Yaar Kil Bula.
13:19Eventually that
13:21thing all culminated
13:23in a song.
13:25In the whole situation, the whole scene of Jangli
13:27is built on this.
13:29That here is a man who doesn't smile,
13:31who is absolutely an introvert,
13:33who hasn't expressed
13:35anything in life.
13:37Except he knows what money is.
13:39And for the first time he falls in love.
13:41He's
13:43caught down by the storm,
13:45he's got snow around him, everything.
13:47But there's a beauty who overcomes everything.
13:49And then eventually,
13:51when the doors and windows
13:53open up,
13:55comes out with that one expression.
13:57And that was yahoo.
13:59And the whole song was made because of that.
14:01After that you were called
14:03the yahoo star.
14:05Oh, I don't know.
14:07But that was a good song.
14:09It was a very good moment in the picture.
14:11It was a very good expression.
14:13I think very original.
14:15Mr. Kapoor, is this right that
14:17once you really took off,
14:19you did not really
14:21go for established girls to work with you?
14:23You made it a point to have new girls with you?
14:25Because I think it made no
14:27difference to me.
14:29I had the experience of having worked
14:31with... I had worked with Ameeta.
14:35It was a super hit picture.
14:37Dil Dekhe Dekho
14:39Mein Asha Paari. It was her first picture.
14:41It was a super hit picture.
14:43Jangli Wa Saira Bano.
14:45Now three times if I can do it with new girls,
14:47why can't I continue?
14:49That's what I did.
14:51And it made no difference to me.
14:55Would you be able to tell me a little bit about these three girls?
14:57Asha Paari,
14:59her first film.
15:01Asha Paari is a fabulous girl. Basically she is a very fine person.
15:03And she tries very hard.
15:05She tried very hard also.
15:07And
15:09Achcha Naachti Hai
15:11Achcha Naachti Hai
15:13She is a good character.
15:17She worked very hard.
15:19She came up. She is a star.
15:21Mujhe Chacha Bulaati Hai.
15:23Unn Dinu she had just been dropped
15:25from a film which she had shot for, isn't it?
15:27Gunjuti Shain Nahi.
15:29She had been dropped from it but she got her break with you.
15:31And she made it.
15:33I don't know much of her history.
15:35I really don't.
15:37But I believe so. You are right I think.
15:39You are right.
15:41Yes, she was dropped and
15:43Amitabh was taken in place of her.
15:45And Amitabh was taken because
15:47Tumsa Nahi Dekha Bata Hai.
15:49Yes, yes, yes.
15:51I remember that.
15:53Okay.
15:55Toh Asha Paari
15:57kaise thi jab pehli film
15:59jawab ke saath?
16:01What was she like as a newcomer?
16:03She was a very
16:05nice person.
16:07Aapko kya accha lag raha hoon
16:09ki aapne haan kahe diya ki
16:11in ke saath mein kaam kar hoon?
16:13I had total belief in Mr. S. Mukherjee.
16:15And Nasir was a friend,
16:17very dear friend of mine.
16:19Humne saath mein
16:21Tumsa Nahi Dekha Bata Hai thi aur peh
16:23badi umedhi thi ki aage chalke bhi kuch karenge saath mein.
16:25Aur
16:27ek faithwari baat hoti hai.
16:29I don't know, it's blind faith.
16:31Why didn't we work with Usha Khanna?
16:33Who is Usha Khanna?
16:35It was fabulous music.
16:37I think there were 200 songs in that picture.
16:39Itne gaane the.
16:41Aur har gaana
16:43bada achcha tha.
16:45Situation bhi bada hota tha.
16:47There was a brain S. Mukherjee behind the whole thing.
16:49And Nasir was there to do it.
16:51We all did a good job and
16:53Asha was very nice.
16:55She made a very fine effort and she was very successful.
16:57What about
16:59Saira Bhanu? Aapne jab unke saath
17:01Chandli mein kaam kiya hai,
17:03can you tell me little bit about Saira?
17:05And as an actress, the first time she
17:07worked with you.
17:09Saira Bhanu ke baare mein bhi main baahut kam
17:11jaanata hoon. Very little.
17:13And that is
17:17when she came, she
17:19had a very
17:23jisse kehate hain
17:25a head
17:27advantage over all the other
17:29girls. She was a very pretty
17:31girl.
17:33She was very young.
17:35Phir wo London se aayi thi.
17:37Aamare yaan
17:39Kalba Devi aur Goregaon se nahi.
17:41And she
17:43had the background. Her mother,
17:45Naseem Bhanu.
17:47Look at the family and
17:49look at everything.
17:51So she came on a pedestal.
17:55And the fact that she was
17:57very pretty kept her going.
17:59Then eventually,
18:01the picture was very successful.
18:03And people liked her immensely.
18:05And she became a good actress
18:07after that.
18:09When these girls, Sharmila
18:11Tagore was another person.
18:13Sharmila came from a
18:15background where she had already
18:17worked with Satyajit Ray.
18:19Uthna exposure tha usse.
18:21Ke acting kya hai.
18:23Only thing is she got into the wrong vehicle.
18:25Wo gaadi thiye, wo Bengali
18:27gaadi nahi thi. Wo yahoo
18:29gaadi thi yahaan par.
18:31Aur yahaan par wo yeh gaane aur yeh
18:33karna aur wo uchhal kood karni.
18:35Bechari she got.
18:37But she wanted to
18:39become a commercial artist.
18:41And that's what she did.
18:43Eventually she did.
18:45The next picture after this, she was a
18:47super hit star.
18:49But she was a good actress. Basically, she was a very fine actress.
18:51She was a very intelligent girl.
18:53Padhi likhi ladki hai.
18:55She came from a very intelligent family.
18:57She often said that
18:59you swept her off her feet.
19:01I did, did I?
19:03I must have.
19:07She was a nice kid.
19:09There was also
19:11Evening in Paris after that, isn't it?
19:13We did Evening in Paris. At that time, Patodi swept her.
19:15She got
19:17married after that.
19:19Aapne Shakti Saaman ki saath
19:21kaafi filme ki?
19:23Shakti ki saath
19:25My first movie with Shakti
19:27was Singapore.
19:29We shot that
19:31in Singapore as a matter of fact with Padmini.
19:33And then he took me into
19:35his company. I did
19:37Chinatown with him. I did
19:39Kashmir ki Kali.
19:41I did Evening in Paris.
19:43I did Jaane
19:45Anjaane.
19:47What did you like about his
19:49working style?
19:51Shakti is a very
19:53what you'd call a very
19:55correct man.
19:57Very correct producer.
20:01A little feeble director but
20:03he's made hit movies.
20:05So he's to the point, he doesn't
20:07go around experimenting or something.
20:09He knows his script. He knows what
20:11he wants to do. And that's that.
20:13And he's a very fine man.
20:15A very fine man.
20:17He's a very dear friend of mine.
20:19Mr. Kapoor jab
20:21unhone
20:23after Evening in Paris he started
20:25working with Rajesh Khanna.
20:27Because Rajesh Khanna was the next big thing
20:29in Aradhana and other films.
20:31Did that hurt you?
20:33Were you able to take that transition?
20:35How were you able to tell yourself
20:37look it doesn't work anymore?
20:39It didn't hurt me
20:41at all as a matter of fact.
20:43Rajesh Khanna coming into
20:45the movies
20:47Rajesh Khanna
20:49used to be at my house over here.
20:51Baccha mere saamne bada hua
20:53in the film industry.
20:55Aur us
20:57usne jo kuch kiya hai
20:59usse main kaise hurt ho sakta ho?
21:01And I knew where
21:03he was going.
21:05So Shakti Babu
21:07took him down. Not at all as a matter of
21:09fact. I encouraged I used to go
21:11on the sets of Katipathan
21:13before Aradhana.
21:15And I suggest as a matter of fact
21:17I sat on the music of
21:19R.D. Burman's Katipathan
21:21songs.
21:23So Kaka
21:25was a good friend
21:27till he became a superstar.
21:29I think you did
21:31Andaz also which was one of your last films
21:33as a hero.
21:35And
21:37how did you feel when
21:39just this guest appearance of this
21:41walked away with all the accolades?
21:43That's what
21:45that's what
21:47superstars are all about.
21:49I was on my
21:51way out. He was on his way
21:53to the top.
21:55And he was excellent.
21:57That role fit him to a glove.
21:59As a matter of fact
22:01I suggested him for that role.
22:03Because the whole movie
22:05was built around characters
22:07which
22:09Sachin Bhaumik
22:11Ramesh Sippy, myself, we sat
22:13on the script.
22:15And the script was directly
22:17taken from a French movie.
22:19An Om-Ethiophan
22:21Man and a Woman.
22:23And
22:25he was just perfect for it.
22:27He would go that far in it
22:29and they would give him that much footage
22:31and he got a super song
22:33behind it. A super hit song.
22:35Don't forget that super hit song
22:37Zindagi
22:39goes places.
22:41So when your luck is running
22:43you better any number it comes in.