Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore in a frame from Kashmir Ki Kali

Shammi Kapoor was one of a kind… a unique actor… a unique human being.

I did my very first Hindi film Kashmir Ki Kali with Shammiji. In a way he introduced me. He was already a big star then. My earliest memories of him were in Nehru Park in Srinagar, where we shot the song Deewana Hua Badal on the first day. Since I hadn’t done Hindi films before and being from Bengal, I had no idea what to do with playback songs. It was Shammi Kapoor who taught me what to do during a song. He taught me about music and rhythm. We went on to shoot at beautiful locations in Kashmir for a month or so.

I did just two films with him but those were two very important films — Kashmir Ki Kali and An Evening in Paris. During An Evening in Paris also, we shot at very beautiful places. We shot in Paris, in Interlaken in Switzerland and then at the Niagara Falls. All in all we had a very, very nice time shooting the two films. On the sets he was very unpredictable. No one knew what he would do during the take. In the rehearsals we would do something and in the take he would do something else.

But whatever he did was always very good and a lot of fun. Whenever I met him I always found him to be full of energy. Even when he was not keeping well and undergoing dialysis, he was so cheerful and would travel all the time. He didn’t allow his illness to bog him down at all.

He really made the most of life and there lies a lesson for all of us. Shammi Kapoor was also very good with young people. He vibed really well with them. What he did then, all the young people are doing now. He was a rebel doing new things all the time.

I don’t think there can be anybody like him. I would remember him as someone who gave joy to a lot of people. Music was always important in cinema and he understood music. He was a very underrated actor… he had great presence and a unique sense of comedy. His contribution to Hindi cinema is enormous. He was charming and despite not being actively involved with films for so long, his place has been untouched. Everybody will miss him. He will live on forever because you cannot imagine Shammiji without life and life without Shammiji.