Shammi Kapoor at ITC the sonar on saturday. Picture by Aranya Sen

Don’t be fooled by the wheelchair. Shammi Kapoor is still very much the ‘yaaahoooo’ star — flamboyant, charming and witty, chatting along merrily but never missing the chance to eye a pretty girl passing by!

t2 caught up with the wheelchair-bound 77-year-old actor at ITC The Sonar Calcutta’s Darjeeling Lounge on a rain-soaked afternoon over cheese cubes and grapes. The larger-than-life man was in town with wife Neila Devi to inaugurate a retrospective of director Shakti Samanta...

How does it feel to be back in Calcutta, where you spent your childhood days?

Well, I have been coming on and off to Calcutta. The last time I was here was for an awards function (Anandalok Awards). That was seven years back.... I spent my kindergarten days here. But I was born in Bombay and my father (Prithviraj Kapoor) shifted here as he used to work with New Theatres at that time. I lived here till I was seven. We left Calcutta in 1939, that was when Shashi was born.

What childhood memories do you have of Calcutta?

Oh, many! Raj, my elder brother, studied in St Xavier’s and I was in a school next to him. We lived somewhere in Hazra. I had gone searching for the house 40 years back, but I couldn’t locate it. I believe Shashi has (located it). There were tramlines in front of the house and I was very scared of that. I still remember during Diwali my elder sister Umi took me to the tramlines and left me there. And my god I was scared to death.... We used to live on the second floor and my grandfather was on the first.

There’s another incident I remember vividly. Raj, who was seven years older, promised to take our domestic help and me to Metro cinema to watch Gulliver’s Travels. My mother gave us a one-rupee coin. Raj asked us to wait while he bought the tickets. We waited and waited and he came back after two hours saying there were no tickets. It was much, much later that I realised he had actually watched the film alone so that he could pocket the rest of the money! There are lots of memories yaar, it will take us a lot of time.

Back then did you dig into a lot of Bangali khabar?

Why then? I do even today. I ate, what is it called, chorachori today (he meant chochchori), chingri maachh and mutton curry. And what should I say about the mutton (blows a kiss in the air)!

During your theatre days in Calcutta, did you also stay in Fairlawn Hotel like Shashi Kapoor?

No, that’s Shashi’s place. My favourite place was Grand Hotel. I performed Pathan and Deewar in Lighthouse in 1949 and 1951.

Did you ever meet Satyajit Ray?

I met Manikda (Satyajit Ray) once during the silver jubilee celebration of my film Professor in Calcutta. At that time I was also working with Rinku (Sharmila Tagore) for the first time in Kashmir Ki Kali and he (Ray) told me that you are working with my protege, go make her a commercial star. I have worked with Uttam Kumar too in Desh Premi. He was a gem of a man. I have immense admiration for him.

How was it working with Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir Ki Kali? She was a newcomer and you were already a star...

Oh, I love working with new girls (chuckles)! At least they don’t go about ‘Mera role kya hai’ and all those nakhras. Rinku was very easy to work with, no hassles. I worked with Ameeta, a newcomer in Tumsa Nahin Dekha. Even Asha Parekh was a newcomer in Dil Deke Dekho, Saira Banu in Junglee, Kalpana in Professor...

Your Bengali association continued even after you left Calcutta as you acted in six Shakti Samanta films...

Yes and I did a Bangla film too — Parapaar with Tapas Pal and Anup Kumar in 1990. We shot in Darjeeling. I have done a film with Sandhya Roy too, Jaane Anjane.

Then we shot the climax of Shakki’s (Shakti Samanta) China Town with the Hooghly as the backdrop. With Shakki I did some great films. It started with Singapore, then China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening In Paris, Pagla Kahin Ka and Jaane Anjane. I knew what he wanted from me.We shot Evening In Paris in Canada, Beirut, Switzerland and he was so organised. During the song recording Aasmaan se aaya farishta in Evening In Paris, I suggested to Shakki why don’t we shoot the song in a helicopter. I told him and forgot but after a few days Shakki told me that we were shooting the song in a helicopter. My god, I fell off the sofa! On the day of the shoot I drank two glasses of brandy and we did it and I even jumped 200 ft from the helicopter into the sea.

Do you watch today’s Bengali films?

Not really, I have watched a film by a new director, what’s his name (Rituparno Ghosh, we suggest). Yes, the film was Raincoat. His Last Lear has got bad reviews in Mumbai.

What do you think of Ranbir and Kareena as actors?

I watched Saawariya. The film didn’t work but everyone liked Ranbir. And Kareena, she is the most beautiful woman after Madhubala. That’s why Saif (Ali Khan) loves her so much. I loved her in Jab We Met.

What is a day in the life of Shammi Kapoor now?

Well, I surf the Net, watch films, meet friends. Due to renal failure I cannot walk and I visit the hospital three days a week for dialysis. The rest of the four days I have great fun with family and friends. I look at the greener side of life. I hope you don’t mind my wheelchair, do you?!