When Shashi Kapoor Revealed That He Had Never Wanted to Become an Actor
For a whole generation of women, the late great actor Shashi Kapoor was their "dream guy" because of his distinctiveness and individuality. In his six-decade career, he appeared in more than 174 films. During his long career, he also appeared as a lead actor in a few English-language films.
While many people know that Sashi Kapoor made his feature film debut in Yash Chopra's 1961 film Dharamputra, most of us are unaware that his first big-screen appearance (as a kid actor) came with Raj Kapoor's 1948 directorial debut Aag.
His cinematic acting career had been impressive. Despite this, he had always wanted to remain out of the public eye. Shashi was well-known for his modesty and the fact that he had never made a big deal about his fame.
For the first time in 1995, Shashi Kapoor opened up about his personal life in an interview with Priya Warrier of The Times of India. Priya had inquired about the superstar's personal style of acting and how he ended up in the business. As a response to this question, Shashi Kapoor had referred to himself as a "lazy actor" and stated that he had never desired to become an actor. Yes!, he stated the following:
"I'm a very lazy actor. My coming into films was kind of thrust upon me, not something I had wanted to do. Being thrust upon me, I did my duty and I worked."
In the interview, Shashi Kapoor had also revealed that he had annoyed a number of filmmakers, including his brother, Raj Kapoor, throughout the course of his distinguished career because of his unique style of acting. When Priya Warrier asked Shashi Kapoor to divulge some insights about his working style, the actor said that he had a rigorous policy of avoiding working on Sundays and key festivals like Diwali, Holi, and others. He had made the comment while discussing his working methods:
"I was on time, very disciplined but did not work on Sundays, took six weeks off from work to be with the family. I did upset a lot of producers and directors, including my brother, Mr Raj Kapoor, when I did Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978). I refused to work on Sundays, Christmas, New Year, Diwali and Holi. In the Hindi film world, there is no such thing like a holiday."
Also Read : Rare Pic: When Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar Attended Prem Nath & Bina Rai’s Wedding
Shashi Kapoor revealed in the same interview that while attending Barnes School in Deolali, he had threatened his mother, Ramsarni Mehra Kapoor, with killing herself. A look back at what happened and why he decided to issue such a scary warning to his mother has been revealed by the actor "I wasn't feeling very happy about my Matric results and he realized that I was in an emotional mess. He took me to Matheran for a holiday. When I was sent to Barnes School in Deolali, it was Shammi ji who came to drop me there. Afterwards, I sent a suicide note: 'The food is not good. I don't like it here. If you don't get me out of here, I'll commit suicide'. My mother told Shammi to bring me back. Khanaa achcha hona chahiye. Shammiji was very soft with me."
Many actors have drawn inspiration from Shashi Kapoor's legacy.
