Veteran Indian actor, Shashi Kapoor, passed away on Monday at 79 years old due to prolonged liver cirrhosis. He was a part of the famous Kapoor family dynasty in Bollywood, and was in memorable films such as Deewar, Jab Jab Phool Khile, and Junoon.
- Shashi was born in 1938 to Prithiviraj Kapoor (who was also an actor) and Ramsarni Kapoor. He had two other brothers (Raj and Shammi, who were actors as well) and a sister, Urmila.
- He worked as a child actor in films like Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951) before making his debut as a leading man in Dharmputra (1961).
- He went on to be in 116 Hindi films, some of which include films like Deewar (1975), Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Junoon (1978), and Kalyug (1981). Shashi was frequently paired with Nanda, Sharmila Tagore, Rakhee, and Shabana Azmi in his films. Many of his films also co-starred Amitabh Bachchan, and the two maintained a close friendship off screen.
- Shashi also crossed over to a few British and American films that were produced by Merchant Ivory. Some of these films include The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970), and Heat and Dust (1983).
- Shashi married English actress, Jennifer Kendal, in 1958. They had three children together, Kunal, Sanjana, and Karan. Shashi and Jennifer remained married until she passed away from cancer in 1984. Jennifer's death was reportedly the turning point in Shashi's life and he never recovered from it. He was completely shattered by her death and he began letting himself go, and started gaining weight, drinking, and developing health problems.
- After suffering from prolonged liver cirrhosis, he died on Monday at the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai surrounded by his loved ones. He was cremated on Tuesday and many Indian celebrities such as the Kapoor family, Bachchan, family, Shahrukh Khan, and Naseeruddin Shah attending his funeral proceedings.
(Amitabh Bachchan actually wrote a touching memorial to Shashi on his Tumblr, you have to click the link on his tweet.)
(The the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan)
SOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCESOURCERIP Shashi. He was one of the few good men from the Kapoor family and the best looking one too.