Biography of Shammi Kapoor

(October 21, 1931 - August 14, 2011)

Shammi Kapoor was an icon in the 1960's. Shammi Kapoor was born as Shamsher Raj Kapoor in 1931. The son of Prithviraj Kapoor and younger brother of Raj Kapoor, he was initially employed in his father's Prithvi Theatres. His entry into the world of Hindi films was nothing sort of a disaster. Though he had worked with most of the major actresses of his time, his career did not take off.

Then he changed his image. He shaved his pencil mustache and changed his hairstyle. He worked with the new image in the film ‘Tumsa Nahin Dekha' directed by ‘Nasir Hussain. The film 'Junglee' elevated Shammi Kapoor to the cult status. He delivered hits like Dil Tera Deewana', Professor', 'Rajkumar', ‘Jaanwar', and 'Teesri Manzil’.

Shammi's performance in the film 'Brahmachari' was appreciated and he won a Filmfare Award for the film. The success of his films was also due to the extremely hummable and catchy songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and O.P. Nayyar. Later, Shammi started to play character roles.