Mumbai: The God of Film Releases has a wicked and dark sense of humour. Kenneth Brannagh’s Cinderella, which introduces us to a new Prince Charming, could have released on any Friday, but it’s releasing this week, just days after Shashi Kapoor’s birthday.
You can almost hear cackling, evil laughter in the background because how better to make a girl rue the 21st century than by showing her what her generation is too late for: a man who was the living embodiment of Prince Charming, Shashi Kapoor.
Born in Calcutta because that’s how things used to roll back in the early 20th century. Good things came from the Paris of the East. Now it can boast of Mamata Banerjee, which goes to show just how bad things have got for women at the very least — Shashi was one of the Kapoor trinity that kept Indian pulses fluttering for a good 40-odd years.
First, there was Raj Kapoor, who really knew how to do that smouldering gaze thing (just Google “Raj Kapoor Nargis” if you want a reminder). Then there was Shammi Kapoor, who had the face of a Greek god and a flamboyance that made you forget that he had the body of a Punjabi dude who loves food and doesn’t exercise much. And then, there was Shashi Kapoor.
Happy Birthday, Shashi Kapoor. Thank you for the fairy tales. The actor, who has worked in over 100 films in his acting career, has been staying away from the limelight since the late 1990s.
Bureau Report
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