It was around 1970, I had been to Natraj Studios,at Andheri. My eyes caught a fancy car. A silver blue with such huge body. Something like an aeroplane. My father was working here in Natraj Studios. He said, “Do you know, this is `Impala’. And this car belongs to Shammi Kapoor.”

During those days films were the craze.  And the new stars were shining on the film horizon. Rajesh Khanna was the undisputed king of filmdom. Then there were many like Jeetendra, Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan ( another rising star on the firmament). We, the kids of that era, were more familiar with these heroes.

So, I couldn’t control myself, and wanted to have a look at the `dancing star’ of the 60s. Here, I am seeing a huge star, Shammi Kapoor shooting with Leena Chandavarkar for `Jaane Anjane’, under the baton of Shakti Samata.

Shammiji was doing very few films as the hero. Perhaps, he was doing his last film with Shakti Samanta, with whom he had created the magic in films like, `Kashmir Ki Kali’, `An Evening In Paris’ and `Aar Paar’ etc. Though, Shammiji was not ruling the Bollywood bazar as earlier, and  he had his age on his side, one thing that one couldn’t miss was his charm even at that age….

A huge built , with those lines of aging on his face, but ….those blue eyes and the complexion that would give complex to many of the heroes of 70s. He was handsome to the core.

The Charm of a Chocolate Hero – personified.

As they say, a true hero will never lie down . Though, he switched to playing different characters like father in `Zameer‘ or `Prem Rog‘ or a cop  in `Vidhata’ or many other roles in many films, there was something `true blue’ quality about him.

The second son of Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Shamsher Raj Kapoor (that his real name) had charted a different course from the beginning of career. While father Prithvi Raj Kapoor was already legend in his own way, Shammi Kapoor had elder brother, Raj Kapoor, the showman of the industry, was making mark with his `Charlie Chaplin’ acts on Indian film industry.

During the initial stages of his career, he had done films like, `Rail Ka Dabba’, `Laila Majnu’ , `Hum Sab Chor Hai’ , `Shama Parvana’ and many films, we could identify true blue Shammi Kapoor films with the names like `Tumsa Nahi Dekha’, `Kashmir Ki Kali’, ` Junglee’ or `Teesri Manzil’ and `Prince’ etc.

We can say, that Shammi Kapoor found his true mien with such films with beautiful songs, wherein he got to dance numbers. The songs were the souls of his films.  He was one of the first dancing heroes of  the Hindi filmdom.

Most of his films music by duo of Shankar Jaikishan, another R K connection. And as for his voice or playback – it was none but Mohammad Rafi.

While Rafi Sa’ab was also known to be voice of Dilip Sa’ab or many of his contemporaries, he had a special touch when he sang for Shammi Kapoor. We cannot differentiate between Rafi Sa’ab’s singing or Shammiji’s lip syncing. Think of songs like, `Yahoooo chaahe koi mujhe junglee kahe…(Junglee) or `Diwana Hua Badal‘ from `Kashmir Ki Kali’ or `Oh Haseena Zulfowali’ (Teesri Manzil).

The legend is that Shammiji was very particular about his songs and  song picturisation. That is the reason he wouldn’t compromise on the music directors, his playback voice and things related with the music and the recordings.  Producers like Shakti Samanta and Nasir Hussain  had tough time convincing him for change of music director like O P Nayyar ( Kashmir Ki Kali) or Pancham R D Burman  ( Teesri Manzil).

But whoever  may be the music-director – Shammi Kapoor movie had its own stamp of music. Full of joie de vivre. His way of dancing. A special rhythm. A  body movement. The fuff of hair on his forehead. His suits. His shoes. His style. Everything was Shammi Kapoor.

One always wondered about  the bone structure of his body. Falling. Thumping and Jumping. That is his way of expressing happiness and dancing.

Can we forget `Chaahe Koi Junglee Kahee…..where he jumped from snow capped mountains? What about ….`Kashmir Ki Kali...where jumps into the Dal Lake.

No doubt, when Rafi Sa’ab left for his heavenly abode, Shammiji was told that he has lost his voice. And there couldn’t be anything truer than that.

Shammiji has gone to meet his lady love, Geeta Bali, his elder brother, Raj Kapoor . His voice Mohammad Rafi. And many of his friends and family.

But we  the lovers of Hindi film world, will always miss our YAHOOO