Shammi Kapoor – Legends never die

Nuzhat Aziz, Editor Mid DAY, Pune, India

Yahoo! will always remind us of the flamboyant rock n roll inspired Shammi Kapoor before anything else. His boisterous sensuality and stylish swagger made him the first male pin-up earning him the tag of the Indian Elvis.

His movies like Kashmir Ki kali, Junglee, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, and Professor made him popular even for people who grew up in the 80s. He had attained cult status through his style and gyrating dance moves. It is indeed difficult to pen down the greatness of the legend. For someone who interacted with his fans through twitter and his website junglee.org, it was only obvious that when the news of his demise broke out, the social networking sites were flooded with messages and tributes for one of the most distinguished personalities of Indian cinema.

Amitabh Bachchan, the superstar of Indian cinema was one of the first to express his shock on twitter with the message: “It is an irony of life that one person is able to collect an entire industry only when he is not there to notice it.”

From remembering his songs and movies to mentioning his charismatic personality, fans across the globe paid homage to the 79-year-old doyen of Indian cinema.

And to think Kapoor, a member of one of Bollywood’s most distinguished acting dynasties would continue doing what he did best was only obvious. Even though Kapoor was battling illness for several years, he made an appearance in the 2006 film ‘Sandwich‘ with actor Govinda.

So Kapoor could never have left us without an indelible mark on our minds — his cult status was not attained by sheer luck or chance. He was a born performer and thus even at his age and with his illness he has made a cameo appearance in his great nephew Ranbir Kapoor’s soon to be released Rockstar. That was just the way Shammi Kapoor would have wanted to be remembered as — a rockstar. Because unlike heroes, legends never die.

Photos from https://www.facebook.com/shammikapoor.fanpage