Amitabh Bachchan 'babbua' pays tribute to late Shashi Kapoor

Bachchan, whom Shashi Kapoor called  "babbua' fondly, tweeted: " To Shashji from your 'babbua' .. !!"

Bachchan has also turned emotional for his Deewar co-star Shashi Kapoor in his personal blog 'Bachchan Bol'.

For the handsomest actor, Bachchan said in his blog: "Standing elegantly without a care in the world, I saw him standing by a Mercedes Sports car, a convertible, a smart trimmed beard and moustache, adorning involuntarily, the face of this incredibly handsome man. It was a picture that filled almost an entire page of a magazine."

"Shashi Kapoor …  son of Prithviraj Kapoor, younger brother to Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, making a debut in a forthcoming film, is what the caption read .."

"And I said to myself, as very uncertain thoughts raced through my mind of wanting to become a film actor, that, with men like him around, I stood no chance at all .." Bachchan added.

The living legend even revealed  how Shashi Kapoor used to call him as "babbua'. "He fondly addressed me as ‘babbua’ .. and with him have gone many incredible unread chapters of his and my life .. "

Bachchan, who had delivered several dialogues towards Shashi Kapoor on screen, revealed that he refused to see the late actor in hospital as it would have been unbearable for him to see.

"He had been ailing  .. somewhere he had let himself go after the passing away of his dear wife Jennifer .. I had visited him on occasion in Hospital during some of the times he had been hospitalised earlier .. but I never went to see him again .. I would never have .. I never ever wanted to see this beautiful friend and ‘samdhi’ in the state I saw him in hospital .." he said.

"…. and I did not today, when they informed me that he had gone ..."

The most heart touching and highly emotional dialogue came in one of the last lines where Bachchan said: “how long could I have preserved this exquisite and expensive book of life ; the pages of the book were damaged ..”

Shashi Kapoor was well-known for his partnership with Amitabh Bachchan as the duo had worked in several hit films and was considered as a successful twin hero pairing of the age. Often they played siblings.

The popular dialogue-'mere paas ma hai'- which was mouthed by Shashi in Deewar addressing Amitabh Bachchan is still an all time favourite. The dialogue is considered as one of the most iconic pieces in the history of commercial Indian cinema.

He was the most handsome Kapoor with a cherubic smile and a dimpled cheek who could have just been happy serenading the most beautiful Bollywood heroines and basking in the hysteric female fan following. But Shashi Kapoor was more than just the charm and hotness he exuded.

He was as much a quintessential Bollywood hero as the one who forged an international connection with several Merchant-Ivory Productions collaborating with screenplay writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, thus taking Bollywood beyond the shores to the highest platforms of world cinema and in the festival circuits.

So for every Bollywood superhit like Sharmilee, he had acted in Merchant-Ivory Productions like  a marital discord comedy The Householder (1963) or a wistful romance like Shakespeare Wallah (1965) or some other bold films like Bombay Talkie (1970) and Heat and Dust (1983).

He also did movies like Siddhartha (the 1972 American film based on the novel of the same name by Hermann Hesse, directed by Conrad Rooks) which courted controversy for the nude scenes with actress Simi Garewal.

Shashi, who was part of the iconic Kapoor dynasty, had worked in numerous Bollywood movies which included Sharmilee, Kabhi Kabhie, Baseraa, Deewar, Jab Jab Phool Khile, Satyam Shivan Sundaram, A Gale Lag Ja, Suhaag, Kanyadaan and Utsav among others.

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

Image: Creative Commons.