As the youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor and as younger brother of Raj and Shammi Kapoor, Balbir Raj aka Shashi Kapoor was bound to get into films and he did. Right from the tender age of 10, he was marked for stardom by his performances as a child artiste in Aag and Aawara. In a career spanning more than four decades, he acted in 200 films and became the most recognizable Hindi actor in Hollywood films- (mostly Merchant- Ivory productions) like Shakespeare Wallah, Heat And Dust and In Custody.

Handsome and charming, Shashi was a natural actor. As a solo hero, his films like Jab Jab Phool Khile, Fakira and Chor Machaye Shor were big hits but mostly he shone in multi-starrers like Waqt, especially he shared a special chemistry with Amitabh in films like Deewar, Kabie Kabhie, Trishul and Namak Halal. As a film-maker, he made sensitive films like Kalyug, Vijeta, Utsav, Junoon and 36 Chouranghi Lane – the latter starring his wife Jennifer, with whom he established the legendary Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai in 1978 . After his wife’s death in 1984, Shashi slowly faded away from the film scene, becoming the typical obese Kapoor- figure but he has kept himself busy in charity work for cancer patients.

 Dharmputra (1962) is Yash Chopra’s first movie as director and Shashi’s first as a hero, and that rawness shows. For social obligations, a child born out of wedlock is raised as his own, by the unfortunate mother’s (Mala Sinha) raakhi brother (Man Mohan Krishna). The prodigal son (Shashi), unknown to him, is now raised in another faith and with bad company, becomes a religious fanatic fanning communal riots. In the end, on learning the truth, he questions his actions and realizes his folly. It’s a convoluted film about religious amity.

 Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965) portrays an unlikely romance between a rich city girl (Nanda) and a simpleton Kashmiri house-boat owner (Shashi). After marriage, he comes to city- only to find himself out of tune with modern society and returns back to his simple life. It is an interesting love-story with friction of values and with some superb songs like Pardesiyon Se Na and Yeh Sama.