Today, March 18, Shashi Kapoor would have turned 80 – the ever charming, always classy actor passed away last year after a long illness. Copious tributes had poured in for the actor-producer, who was respected; the man who was well loved.
Eventually it was son Kunal who had given the world a more personal look into the life and times of his famous father. Excerpts from an interview he had given at the time Shashi Kapoor was still alive…

Zoo visits at 6.30 am!

As children, none of the Kapoor siblings, Kunal, Karan and Sanjana were aware of just how popular their father was, simply because they were not brought up as part of the industry. “We knew he was an actor,” says Kunal. “Everybody in my mother (the legendary Jennifer Kendal)'s and my father's family were actors. We were aware that going to public places with him in Mumbai was a problem. If we went to the zoo, it would have to be at 6:30 in the morning. And we would have to run away as soon as a crowd gathered.”

The Family Breakfast

During the late Seventies and early Eighties, Shashi Kapoor used to work in many films simultaneously and even do six shifts at a time! However, Sundays were sacrosanct. He never worked on Sundays and spent the whole day with the family. They would have all three meals together. He never invited his friends over on Sunday, either.
Another ritual was the family breakfast… “We would sit for breakfast at 7.30 am. No matter what time he came in the previous night, he would be at the breakfast table at 7.30.”

Integral Bonding
Kunal shares, “Our father was an integral part of our life. He was not strict. Very few fathers in our culture have a close relationship with their children. Fortunately, we had a great one-to-one relationship with him… My father didn't have such a relationship with his father. My father would try and schedule his outdoor shootings to coincide with our school holidays so that we would be together. But we were not taken on the sets of the film. Nowadays, we shoot early in the morning, but in those days, the shooting would start at 9:30 am or 10 am and end by 4 pm, so there was plenty of time to be together. For five or six years we went to Kashmir every summer during the shooting.”

When Raj Kapoor loaned Shashi money to marry…

Kunal refutes the suggestion that his maternal grandfather (Geoffrey Kendal) did not want his parents to marry. “My grandfather was concerned about losing his leading lady. My mother played all the lead roles in the Shakespeareana theatre company run by my grandfather. It would be hard to find better grandparents than my mother's parents. They were the most amazing people. Before my parents got married, they both worked with Shakespeareana.” He shares that his parents were in Singapore and Malaysia for a show, but the shows were cancelled and they were broke! “They wanted to get married so Raj (Kapoor) Uncle gave them money for their tickets and they came to Mumbai and got married (in 1958).” He maintains, “My parents were in love with each other; they took care of each other. My mother died when she was just 50. My dad was 46 then. Our mother's death caused us and our father a lot of grief; we had our own way of dealing with it.”

Turning producer

An admirer of his father’s early work, Kunal states, “The early films he did -- Dharamputra, Waqt, Householder, Char Diwari, Shakespeare Wallah and Jab Jab Phool Khile -- were very interesting films. In the 1950s, people made good films. The industry changed and the quality of films made in the late 1970s started deteriorating. Seeing that good films were not being made and the industry was run by loan sharks making commercial potboilers, my father started his own production company, Film Valas. He made Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1980), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Vijeta (1982), Utsav (1984) and Ajooba (1991).”
He avers that his father was very professional and easy to work with. “He had no tantrums, no starry airs, he never misbehaved on the sets, he was punctual and everybody liked working with him.”
He also shares that his father was no hard-nosed businessman. “My father directed only one film, Ajooba. The film was a big party on the sets. Everybody had a blast. I don't think he was interested in direction. He is an actor. Likewise, he is not a businessman to produce a film. He made great films because he gave his cast and crew whatever they wanted.”

Lean times Kunal also touches upon the slump that Shashi Kapoor’s career witnessed. “In the late '60s, he did not have any work. We saw a lot of him then. That was also the time we discovered Goa. He sold his sports car. Mum also started selling things because we didn't have money. After Sharmilee (1971), things changed again. There have been many ups and downs, but it never bothered us.
“My father was one of the earliest actors to do crossover films, with Merchant-Ivory. He did films like Householder and Shakespeare Wallah that are considered classics today,” he says, with more than a hint of pride.

Shashi Kapoor: An actor, a man, and most importantly a father to be proud of…