'I was a crazy fan'  

Shabana Azmi talks about her first co-star who never had a kind word to say to her but was rock solid in a crisis.

I would save my pocket money to buy Shashi Kapoor's posters from Grant Road which I would get him to autograph when he came to Prithvi Theatre on Sunday. I was a crazy fan and to suddenly land a role opposite my childhood idol in Shabana Azmi was unbelievable!

On the first day, we were shooting the song Dil mein tujhe bitha ke. During rehearsals when the dance director, Satyanarayan, demonstrated the moves, I was aghast! I couldn't get so intimate with Shashi Kapoor, I told my hairdresser, and burst into tears in my make-up room.

Minutes later, my hero was banging on the door wanting to know what the problem was. When I tearfully explained, he mocked, "Mummy, mummy mujhe actor banna hai!" Calling me a silly girl, he told me to come out when the shot was ready. When I arrived on the set, I found that he had changed all the moves so I'd be more comfortable.

He never had a kind word to say to me. He always scolded, bullied or made fun of me. But in a crisis, he was rock solid. In '86 I had taken up the cause of slum dwellers in Colaba whose homes had been demolished to make way for an MLA hostel. We knocked on several doors, demanding alternate housing for them, before Anand Patwardhan and I, along with three slum dwellers, went on a hunger strike.

No actor had gone on a hunger strike before and our fraternity was confused about whether to express support for me. On the fifth day, my blood pressure started falling and my mother was worried. Shashi Kapoor turned up wanting to know our demands. He left soon after and went straight to the Chief Minister, Shankarrao Chavan, telling him that the film industry had always supported the government in a crisis and he couldn't let the demands of one of its members go unheard. The Housing Minister conceded to them on the CM's instructions and urged me to have a glass of juice.

I was on stage, about to thank Shashi Kapoor for negotiating the deal for us, when I saw him step away from the media glare, slip away into an alley and disappear. He didn't want any accolades and never spoke about it, ever. That's the kind of person he is.

He was the only mainstream actor at the time who put his money, not into real estate or any other speculative business, but into theatre and cinema that wasn't commercially safe. Films like 36 Chowringhee Lane, Junoon, Kalyug and Vijeta. Aparna Sen, whose 36 Chowringhee Lane he produced, admits she's never known a more generous producer. I can attest to that. During Junoon which featured many theatre actors, moving away from the norm, he refused to segregate his cast into 'small' and 'big' actors and insisted everyone be put up in the same good hotel.

When we went for the Moscow Film Festival, with just eight dollars in foreign exchange, we were all strapped for cash. But despite the presence of bigwigs like FC Mehra and Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor footed every bill.

I'm over the moon to know that he's the recipient of this year's Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He has been a trailblazer in so many ways. He was the first actor to have worked in Hollywood.... The first mainstream actor who on turning producer made art cinema.... He built an institution like Prithvi Theatre which has given the city a vibrant cultural space. All that he earned he gave back to the world of art.

'When he heard the news, dad smiled, laughed a little'  

Kunal Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor's son, goes back in time to remember his father who never brought work home.

Dad never gave much importance to awards. For him the only two serious recognitions were the President's Golden Medal and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award which he's just received. When he heard the news he smiled, laughed a little.

Dad never brought his work home but he'd try to schedule his outdoor schedules to coincide with our school holidays. Since most of the films then were shot in Kashmir, we went to the valley often. If he packed up early, we'd go out for lunches, long walks, shikara rides and even picnics.

One of my earliest memories are of Jab Jab Phool Khile, though I was too young then to even know the name of the film.

Dad plays a poor Kashmiri boatman who falls in love with a rich tourist. He dressed like a local in pathani salwar and a cap. His co-star, Nanda, was a top star. I met her during my first mainstream film, Ahista Ahista. She played Padmini Kolhapure's mother and we spoke fondly of dad.

My last trip to Kashmir was for Kabhie Kabhie. Yashji (Chopra) unit was like one big happy family. After pack-up every evening, there'd be badminton matches. Neetu (Singh) was there, it was just before she married Rishi (Kapoor), and Raakheeji who cooked her prawn curry.

After I became an actor and a producer, we often discussed cinema and theatre, but more of other people's work than our own. He admired his older brother Raj Kapoor and respected Satyajit Ray. I recall meeting Sohrab Modi whose Sikander he was impressed by, a couple of times.

We played father and son in Vijeta which he produced. I was really nervous but he made it easy for me, never saying, "Don't do this." On the contrary he'd say that if you don't fall down, how'd you learn to pick yourself up.

I visited the Junoon sets. When director Shyam Benegal learnt that I could ride a horse, he put me int a shot. The film released in '79, but when I was restoring it recently, I realised that over three decades later, it's still a good film, not at all dated.