Shammi Kapoor Death Anniversary: Lesser-known Facts About the Actor

A superstar of his era, Shammi Kapoor passed away on August 14 in the year 2011. Shammi was the second of the three sons born to Prithviraj Kapoor. He made his Bollywood debut with movie Jeevan Jyoti in 1953, and delivered a number of hits including Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Junglee, Professor, China Town and Sachaai, among others.

Even after enjoying such a grand fame, Shammi’s life was not as open as it was expected. On his 8th death anniversary, here are some lesser-known facts about the actor.

Popularly known as the Indian Elvis Presley, the real name of Shammi Kapoor was Shamsher Raj Kapoor.

Even though he was the second son of the famous actor Prithviraj Kapoor, Shammi was not launched by his famous father. In fact, he started off his career by working in his father’s Prithvi Theatre as a junior artist where he used to get the monthly salary of Rs 50.

It is still not known to many that Shammi was the Founder and Chairman of Internet Users Community of India, and tried hard to enable the setting up of Ethical Hackers Association.

Shammi Kapoor met his first wife, Geeta Bali, in 1955 on the sets of Rangeen Raaten. They married just four months after meeting.

The actors were so much in love that they decided to have an immediate marriage, and Shammi called in Johnny Walker to get his suggestion. When they got an affirmation from Walker, Shammi called Hari Walia. However, since it was already late for the day, the duo reached the temple at 4.30 in the morning. Hari Walia was the sole witness of their marriage.

Their love life was perfect, with a son Aditya Raj Kapoor and a daughter Kanchan Kapoor. However, in early January 1965, Geeta Bali was diagnosed with smallpox. The actress passed away on January 21, 1965.

The loss of his love made Shammi slip into depression.

Four year later, Shammi married Neila Devi, who belonged to erstwhile ruling family of the royal kingdom of Bhavnagar. However, Shammi kept a condition to never have kids again.

Shammi always had a lot of admirers, including Mumtaz and socialite Bina Ramani.