Shammi Kapoor was one of the renowned actors of his times. He was born on October 21, 1931, in Mumbai to the renowned Kapoor family. His father was the legendary actor, Prithviraj Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor had two brothers, Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor besides his career remain in news for his personal life.
Shammi Kapoor and actress Nutan grew up together as they were neighbours to each other. It is said that Shammi was in love with Nutan right from his childhood. Nutan’s mother, Shobhna Samarth had separated from her husband, and it was her actor-friend, Motilal on whom she could rely for opinions and suggestions. It was Motilal, who had rejected Shammi and Nutan’s union.
Shammi Kapoor once along with his brothers, Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor had gone to Sri Lanka for a star-studded cricket match. He had met, Nadia Gamal. Nadia was, back then, the best cabaret performer in the world, and is often thought to have invented modern belly dancing but their love story ended. Shammi Kapoor had met his first wife Geeta Bali on the sets of the film, Rangeen Raatein.
The the two had fallen in love with each other. After Shammi Kapoor and Geeta Bali had returned to their homes in Mumbai, they had realised that they could not live without each other. But the two were very fearful of confessing their love. It would have been the same way if Geeta Bali would not have decided to get married suddenly. It was August 23, 1955, when sitting in a hotel room, she had exclaimed, “Let’s get married now!”
Soon after the wedding proposal by Geeta Bali, by the next morning, they were married. In the evening, Shammi and Geeta had gone to Banganga Temples – a famous temple complex in Mumbai but the priest had asked them to come in the morning. And the next day, on August 24, 1955, Shammi Kapoor and Geeta Bali had gotten married to Hari Walia, the priest, as the only witness. Shammi had once said, “Geeta took out a tube of lipstick from her purse and asked me to apply it on her maang.
In January 1965, Geeta Bali had fallen ill on the sets of one of her films. She was diagnosed with smallpox and was admitted to a hospital for days. Geeta Bali had died because of smallpox on January 21, 1965.
Shammi Kapoor had started his acting career with the 1953 film, Jeevan Jyoti but the film had tanked at the box office. However, it was in 1957 that the film, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, had shot Shammi Kapoor to fame. And then, there was no looking back for the actor and he had starred in numerous super-hits like Dil Deke Dekho, Singapore, Junglee, College Girl, Professor, China Town, and Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, among others. His last film, before his death, was Rockstar.
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