Asha Parekh Recalls How Shammi Kapoor Was ‘Numbed With Pain’ After Geeta Bali’s Death
Women loved Shammi Kapoor, but whom did he love?
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Shammi Kapoor was a trueblue ladies’ man. He is supposed to have wooed and won the most beautiful women on this planet. The ‘Yahoo’ superstar had affairs with various heroines, including the great Nutan and the gorgeous Mumtaz.
We all know that Shammi Kapoor was a ladies’ man; he attracted the women like a magnet and, well, he hardly resisted.
One of his leading ladies Asha Parekh once told me, “I was aware of his reputation, so when we worked together for the first time I called him Shammi Chacha and Shammi Chacha he remained for me from then onwards. I had two people named Shammi in my life who were very dear to me. One was Shammi Kapoor and the other was the actress Shammi. Both brought so much joy to every life they touched.”
Who knows what really happened between Nutan and Shammi Kapoor when they worked together for the first time in Laila Majnu in 1953? From what one gathers, it was a one-sided infatuation, and nothing more.
According to Shammi Kapoor’s biographer, a veteran journalist, Rauf Ahmed, Shammi considered Nutan a cerebral actor with an uncanny ability to lend depth and individuality to the characters she was assigned to play. She was among the very few who could interpret a role with total understanding, not just play it.
Shammi knew Nutan from the time they were children. Shammi's father Prithviraj Kapoor and Nutan's mother Shobana Samarth were good friends. As kids Nutan and Shammi attended the same parties and according to Ahmed, Shammi escorted Nutan to the premiere of her debut film Nagina.
However, there is no evidence of any serious relationship between the two.
A veteran actress who worked with Shammi says much of his conquests with a woman was just fantasy.
“Many heroes with macho images threw the names of us heroines around just to garnish their gourmet. Once I had confronted a leading man--please don't mention his name--for spreading the humour of our affair. Usske baad woh bechara mujhe apni soorat nahin dikha paya (after that he couldn't show me his face).”
Flings, imagined or otherwise, the love of Shammi Kapoor’s life was Geeta Bali. Geeta was very adventurous. She was the only woman in the world who could punch Shammi, and get away with it. She is the one who turned Shammi Kapoor into a star. Before Geeta, Shammi Kapoor was under the shadows of his father Prithviraj Kapoor, and his brother Raj Kapoor. Geeta Bali brought that change of image. She made him the 'Yahoo' star.
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Shammi lost Geeta Bali in just fifteen days. It was for a film called Rano, which was later made with Rishi Kapoor and Hema Malini and titled Ek Chadar Maili Si. At that time, Dharmendra was playing Rishi's role and Geeta Bali was playing Hema's role. Then she fell ill with smallpox. Her condition got worse and finally, she died.
Shammi was doing Teesri Manzil at that time. He returned to shooting to film the song Tumne Mujhe Dekha Hokar Meherbaan.
Shammi Kapoor’s Teesri Manzil heroine Asha Parekh recalls the atmosphere on the sets as sombre, “We didn’t know what to say. Shammi Chacha was numbed with pain. I don’t think he ever got over Geeta Bali’s death. Just like his brother Shashi Kapoor who couldn’t get over the death of his wife Jennifer.”
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