Shashi Kapoor straddled the cinema of India and the West. His filmography includes some of Hindi cinema’s biggest hits such as Chor Machaye Shor and Deewaar, and he effortlessly divided his time between mainstream Hindi cinema and his international forays. His English-language film career began with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant’s debut production, The Householder (1963), followed by Shakespeare Wallah (1965) and Bombay Talkie (1970).

Team Woods spoke to some of Shashi Kapoor’s colleagues for their memories.

SALIM KHAN Writer

Salim Khan wrote more than half-a-dozen films starring Shashi, including Deewaar, Kala Patthar, and Shaan.

For Salim, Shashi was “a very professional and competent actor and more than that he was a very good human being. I have worked with him on so many films, I have never seen him get angry. Once he got his narration about the role, he never had any problem and never questioned even if it was a weaker role.”

PADMINI KOLHAPURE Actress

Padmini played the young Roopa (Zeenat Aman) in Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) and has many interesting memories about Shashi. “He was one of the most charismatic and stylish actors of his times. I was a huge fan and would go weak in my knees,” says Padmini. “I had a very close association with him as I acted in Satyam Shivam Sundaram though not with him. Shashiji would come home also. He was instrumental in getting me in Silsila (the original cast was Amitabh, Padmini and Parveen Babi).”

ASHA PAREKH Actress

She worked with Shashi Kapoor in five films of which the most memorable was the 1969 super hit Pyar Ka Mausam. Reminisces Asha: “He was a fun-loving person. He cracked jokes and spent a lot of time with the unit members. ” Speaking about her first film with Shashi Kapoor, 1968’s Kanyadaan, Asha recalls: “After shooting, we went up the mountains with the director (Mohan Segal) and his wife along with the army people. While coming back, our car broke down and we had to walk down. There were bears on the way. Shashi came running to pick us up.”

PRADEEP “TUTU” SHARMA Producer

Tutu’s first production Neeyat (1980) starred Shashi. Char Diwari (1961), the actor’s first movie as a leading man, was produced by Tutu’s father Jagan Sharma. Tutu revealed that Shashi wanted to act opposite Nanda in Char Diwari. “When my father asked him for his fee, Shashi Kapoor had said Rs 5,000. My father said: ‘Pagal hai kya, hero 
5,000 nahi mangta’ and gave him Rs 25,000.”