The Retrospective on Shashi Kapoor a matter of pride: Kunal Kapoor

The retrospective opened with the screening of the film Junoon. Shashi Kapoor, the handsome actor of yesteryears and famous for his chocolaty looks has been  given the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2014.

The special retrospective on Shashi Kapoor will screen eight films from ‘ The Householder’  to ‘Muhafiz’, covering more than three decades of his career.

One of the earliest actors to go international, his versatility as actor made him an incredible asset in both artistic and popular cinema. The films to be screened under retrospective include Deewar, Junoon, Kalyug, Muhafiz, New Delhi Times, "Shakespearewallah", The Householder and Utsav.

Addressing the press conference, Kunal Kapoor said that it is a matter of honour that his father was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award this year and a retrospective is being organised on him at IFFI, 2015.

He said that his father, Shashi Kapoor has grown in theatrical background as he has been associated with the Prithvi theatres.

Prithvi Theatre is one of Mumbai's best known theatres and was built by Shashi Kapoor in memory of his father Prithviraj Kapoor , Kunal explained.

Shashi Kapoor has contributed to the continuity of Prithvi Theatre after the death of his father Prithviraj Kapoor. This is a ‘constructive tribute’ to his father, he said.

“We are striving to take forward the legacy of the great Prithvi Raj Kapoor in various ways and restoration of the films of my father is one of them” , said Kunal. 

“I thought of restoring the films made by my father and much to my shock I found them lying in our garage”, disclosed Kunal . Junoon has been lucky from restoration point of view but Utsav is less fortunate since it got damaged in floods. A copy of Utsav has been found with  NFAI which will help them in the task of restoration," Kunal explained.