Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor passes away at 79

He died in a Mumbai hospital. He was suffering from prolonged old age related illness. 

One of the foremost actors from the Kapoor clan of Bollywood, he had acted in a large number of Hindi films besides in a few English-language films. He also directed movies.

He acted in some of the superhit movies of 70s with co-actor and Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, often playing siblings.

His romantic paring with many Bollywood heroines led to several super hit films.

Photo: In Deewar

He was born as Balbir Raj Kapoor and was the youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor and the younger brother of iconic superstars Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. His wife Jennifer Kendal (sister of actress Felicity Kendal) had died in 1984. They had three children- Karan Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, and Sanjana Kapoor.

He was conferred  the Padmabhushan by the Indian government in 2011.

He acted in some of the superhits like Sharmilee, Kabhi Kabhie, Baseraa, Deewar, Jab Jab Phool Khile, Satyam Shivan Sundaram, A Gale Lag Ja, Suhaag, Kanyadaan among others romancing heroines like Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman, Rakhee, Asha Parekh, Mumtaz, Nanda and others.

He had also acted in films like Bombay Talkie  by Merchant Ivory Productions.

Photo: With late wife Jennifer and actress Helen in Bombay Talkie 

Shashi Kapoor had started as a child actor in the late 1940s, appearing in commercial films including Sangram (1950) and Dana Paani (1953) besides working in Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951), where he played the younger version of hero Raj Kapoor. In Sangram (1950) he played the young Ashok Kumar. He worked in four Hindi films as a child artiste from 1948 to 1954.