Shammi Kapoor Introduced These 4 Screen Queens
- Asha Parekh in Dil Deke Dekho (1959): Shammi Kapoor’s second film with producer-director Nasir Hussain was Asha Parekh’s first. Initially Shammi Kapoor wanted Waheeda Rehman in DDD. And then Sadhana. When Nasir Saab insisted on the 17-year-old newcomer, Shammi relented. They went on to do another superhit Teesri Manzil with Nasir Hussain. Also, much later, Shakti Samanta’s Pagla Kahin Kaa which was among Shammi’s most accomplished performances.
- Saira Banu in Junglee (1961): When it came to his leading ladies, Shammi could be an amazing sport. He not only approved of a new heroine in this musical blockbuster, he also went all out to promote Saira Banu as the new beauty queen of Hindi cinema. The entire focus of the publicity campaign was on the debutante rather than the superstar hero. A female version of the Shankar-Jaikishan composed timeless ghazal Ehsaan tera hoga was recorded for Saira in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice, although Lataji admitted to me that the notes were too high for a female singer.
- Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir Ki Kali (1964): When a Satyajit Ray heroine decides to make her Bollywood debut, what does she do? She chooses the most commercial subject under the stewardship of Shakti Samanta, who was to later make far more serious-minded films with Sharmila. With Shammi, Shakti Samanta made this frothy musical. Sharmila admits she was in awe of Shammi, and to have him croon Taarif karoon kya usski jissne tumhein banaya was very flattering. Interesting anecdote: the film’s title came from a hit Lata Mangeshkar song in Junglee: Kashmir ki kali hoon main mujhse na rootho babujee.
- Kalpana in Professor (1962): Of all the leading ladies that Shammi Kapoor introduced to the screen, and these included Sharmila Tagore and Asha Parekh, only one lost her way. And that was Kalpana (not to be confused with Dev Anand’s better-half Kalpana Kartik).
Kalpana made her high-profile debut with Lekh Tandon’s Professor, where she rocked the box office with Shammi Kapoor and songs like ‘Awaaz dekar humein tum bula lo’ and ‘Ho Koi Ayega’. Every box office pundit predicted Kalpana would be the next big thing after Sharmila Tagore. But fate had other plans for Kalpana. In spite of a blockbuster beginning, there weren’t too many producers willing to sign her. She soon found herself struggling for survival. Her marriage to the reputed screenplay writer Sachin Bhowmick did nothing to win back her reputation. Success can be a cruel mistress, and cruellest to those who are in a hurry to make hay while the sun shines. She did do a couple of films after the superhit Professor, but nothing to write home about.
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