Reunited! Shashi Was the Youngest of the Three Kapoor Brothers - Raj and Shammi with Sharmila Tagore Being the Others - in What’S Regarded As Bollywood’S Family No 1
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TOWN & COUNTRY DN page30 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 With Hema Malini hashihah sshi KaKapoor,ppoor whosewhose crooked teeth, devastating good looks and urbane charm made generations of women swoon; MADHURI whose celluloid partnership with Amitabh Bachchan caused serpen- Stine queues before movie halls for films such as ‘Deewar’, ‘Kabhi Kabhie’, and ANIL ‘Trishul’ and many more; who produced the finest in meaningful alternative cinema, built the iconic Prithvi Theatre and was among India’s first crossover stars, passed away in Mumbai’s Kokilaben Ambani Hospital on Monday around 5.20 pm. reunited! Shashi was the youngest of the three Kapoor brothers - Raj and Shammi With Sharmila Tagore being the others - in what’s regarded as Bollywood’s family No 1. Now all three are gone. With Amitabh An era is over. he hit onscreen couple of Bachchan Raj created the golden hearted tramp; songs such as ‘Awara hoon’ and ‘Mera joota hai Madhuri Dixit and Anil Japani’ became global anthems. Shammi’s primeval yell, ‘Yahoo!’ altered the idea of roman- Kapoor are set to reteam tic ardour in Bollywood. Shashi’s screen persona wasn’t clearly defined like his brothers. But for a film after a gap of 17 his imprint on India’s performing arts runs deeper. years for Inder Kumar’s Equally vital was Shashi’s love for theatre - where he found the other great love of his life, ‘Total Dhamaal’. Jennifer Kendal. One of Shashi’s great dreams was to build a place for performing arts. The T Last seen together in dream became a reality when the Prithvi Theatres building was readied in 1978. In the the 2000 film ‘Pukar’, seasons that followed, the centre gave a major boost to quality Hindi theatre in Mumbai. Madhuri and Anil have given several hits The Kolkata-born actor began his career as a child artiste. He was named Balbir Raj but films like ‘Beta’,’Parinda’, ‘Tezaab’, ‘Ram became Shashi Kapoor when he graduated to doing lead parts. Everybody noticed him as Lakhan’ among others. the young right-winger in Yash Chopra’s Dharmputra (1961) but major box-office success Reportedly,”I will be working with Anil eluded him till he played the naive and sentimental shikarawala in the romantic drama, ‘Jab ji after 17 odd years. I am really looking forward Jab Phool Khile’ (1965) in which he serenaded Nanda with the classic Kalyanji-Anandji to it. It is a comedy, an entertaining film,” Mad- composition, ‘Ek tha gul aur ek thi bulbul’. Shashi also had the lead part in the British movie, huri told. ‘A Matter of Innocence’. His scene with an unclad Simi Garewal in Conrad Rooks’s ‘Siddhartha’ The third installment in the ‘Dhamaal’ series, became a major talking point. Later, he also had notable parts in ‘Heat and Dust’ (Merchant- the film will reportedly also star Ajay Devgn, Ivory, again) and Pierce Brosnan’s ‘The Deceivers’, both British Raj flicks. In that sense, he was Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Jaaved the only Bollywood hero of his time who became a familiar face aboard. Jaaferi. It was a different story back home. Despite the occasional box-office smash such as New York-based writer Sri Rao has penned the ‘Sharmeelee’ (1971), his career was more troughs than crests. The surprise success of ‘Chor comedy series about a Bollywood star who set- Machaye Shor’ (1974), still remembered for the wedding band favourite, ‘Le jayenge le tles down in the suburbs of America with her jayenge dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge’, hauled him out of the abyss. bicultural family. When the multi-starrer era came, Shashi adroitly blended with the mood of the times. Madhuri left Mumbai after her marriage to He didn’t have Amitabh Bachchan’s felicity with fists but he positioned himself as a smart Shriram Nene and moved to Denver, US, where and cool romantic-action hero which made him a vital ingredient in big-budget films. she lived for 12 years. The actor returned to India Kapoor’s last memorable performance was as an ailing poet past his prime in the Ismail in 2011, along with her husband and sons. PTI Merchant film ‘In Custody’. The character from an Anita Desai novel, was a poignant reminder of the actor’s own mortality. PTI ‘FIRST THEY MEET KILLED DISNEY’S MY FATHER’ ‘MULAN’ MUST INSPIRE Disney has finally found a lead for VIEWERS its live-action movie ‘Mulan’. ctress-filmmaker Angelina Jolie hopes her new film ‘First They Killed My ccording to the Hollywood Reporter, Chinese actress Father’ will encourage people to go to Cambodia. Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, is set to star in The 42-year-old has directed the film based on author Lung Ung’s Disney’s live-action adaptation of the classic Chinese account of the Khmer Rouge 1975-79 regime in Cambodia. It depicts a tale ‘Mulan’. difficult period in history, but she wants viewers to see past that and A team of casting directors visited five continents embrace the ‘beautiful’ land and its people. and saw nearly 1,000 candidates for the role, which A Reportedly, “I love this country so much and I hope that when people TO MAKE Arequires credible martial arts skills, the ability to see the film, they don’t just see the war and the suffering, but they get to speak English and star quality. really know this Cambodian family,” Jolie told. This new take on the warrior woman sees a young woman disguise her- “My wish is that they see the beautiful culture, language and talented artists. I hope people will TOLLYWOOD self as a man to take her father’s place in the army against the backdrop of come and bring work and travel to Cambodia,” she added. fifth-century China. Jolie, who raises Maddox, 16, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and nine-year-old twins Knox and The movie is being directed by Niki Caro and produced by Chris Bender, Vivienne with estranged husband Brad Pitt, thought it was very “special and beautiful” to work on DEBUT Jason Reed, and Jake Weiner. the movie with local creatives. The movie is eyeing a 2019 release. “I was so proud of everybody in Cambodia and how hard they worked and participated in the crea- unny Leone is all set to The English-language version of the original ‘Mulan’ (1998) featured the tion of the film. It was also important for them because one of the first steps the Khmer Rouge took was to steal hearts of her fans voices of Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer, and BD Wong, while kill all the artists and writers and anyone who could be creative and expressive. So seeing Cambodian artists down south. The actor Jackie Chan voiced Chinese dubs of the movie. The film went on to earn USD contributing to this film was special and beautiful,” she said. Then Hollywood Reporter who was last seen sizzling 304.3 million worldwide. in ‘Deo Deo’ dance number Liu, nicknamed ‘Fairy Sister’ in China, is one of her native country’s most from PSV Garuda Vega, is popular actresses. Since breaking out in various televi- Sall set to make to make sion shows in the 2000s, she has appeared Actor Rajkummar Rao, who has been on an her full-fledged Tollywood in successful films like ‘The Forbidden award-winning spree, said that he is not Not debut in a period drama. Kingdom’ (with Jackie Chan and Speaking about the film the actress said Jet Li), ‘White Vengeance’, ‘Out- dreaming about the Oscars. in a video, “I am so excited to be shooting this cast’ (with Nicolas Cage and period film. I always wanted to shoot for a film Hayden Christensen) and ‘Ip ajkummar was named the Best Actor (Critics) dreaming about like this where I would be playing a warrior - Man 3’. for ‘Newton’ and also won the Best Supporting just be able to do something very different. This ANI Actor honour for ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ at the Star Oscars is my first ever full-fledged South film, not just Screen Awards on Sunday. ‘Newton’ is India’s doing one song. My character is extremely strong official entry for the Best Foreign Lan- and I think if there is any representation of guage Film at the Oscars. woman I would love to play would be her R But the actor said “I am not because she is strong and she is an independ- dreaming about Oscars. I ent woman. I am so excited, I cant wait for know it is better to be just neutral and be happy everybody to see it. Some reports are about the fact that it is India’s official entry for the claiming that this would change my Oscars this year.” In 2017, Rajkummar had six image, I do not believe in any of releases in a row, and they were successful. He said that. I believe everything is a step- it is indeed a ‘sixer’. ping stone towards something “It is kind of a sixer! I am happy about the fact that greater and more amazing. I most of my films did well and people like my efforts love who I am. Why would I and sincerity,” he added. The actor will be attending the want to change myself?” Oscars ceremony next year with the ‘Newton’ The actor would under- team. Next year, Rajkummar will be seen go some strenuous in ‘Love Sonia’, ‘5 Weddings’, physical training for ‘Omerta’,’Shimla Mirchi’, ‘Fanney the movie. We hear Khan’ and ‘Ek Ladki Ko that the ‘Tera Intezaar’ Dekha To Aisa Laga’.