A Tribute To Shammi Kapoor

PRESS RELEASE


‘Tum Mujhe Yun Bhula Na Paaoge’ – Shammi Kapoor Resurrects
A tribute to late Shammi Kapoor – An exhibition of memorabilia (9th October – 22nd October 2011) at CSMVS, Mumbai

An opportunity to revisit the magic of the Dancing Hero of the 1950s and 60s Indian cinema is right here at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India) as the Museum presents an exhibition ‘Tum Mujhe Yun Bhula Na Paaoge’ – an exhibition of memorabilia related to late veteran actor Shammi Kapoor’s movies.

This exhibition is a nostalgic tribute to the veteran actor and will outline his journey of two decades as a film hero through posters, photographs, songbooks, press cuttings and censor board certificates of his movies.

Shamsher Raj Kapoor (born 21st October 1931) popularly known as Shammi Kapoor began his career in 1951 with ‘Jeevan Jyoti’ with debutant Chand Usmani. However, his career took off only in 1957 when ‘Tumsa Nahi Dekha’ hit the screens and with it was reborn Shammi Kapoor in a swashbuckling, debonair avatar. Cleanshaven, hair cropped in a Presley duck-tail, he exploded on the Indian film scene at a time when Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were ruling the roost. Shammi Kapoor threw convention out of the window with his boisterous, mad, rockstar bearing, never seen before on the Hindi silver screen and swept with him an entire generation of Indian cinemagoers. Hailed as the ‘Elvis Presley of India’, he became the face of the swinging 60s and had the young audiences deliriously yelling ‘Yahoo!’ after him.

Success came with several hits like Dil Deke Dekho, ‘Junglee’, ‘Professor’,‘Kashmir Ki Kali’,‘Chinatown’, ‘Janwar’, ‘Teesri Manzil’, and ‘An Evening in Paris’. His ‘Brahmachari’ fetched him his only Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 1968. His versatility pervaded through all these films as he silenced his critics with films such as ‘Junglee’, ‘Budtameez’, ‘Bluffmaster’ and ‘Brahmachari’. After an accident whilst singing on an elephant back, dancing became painful and he took to doing only character roles. His ‘Chhote Sarkar’ was his last film as a Hero. His last film, ‘Rockstar’ awaits release. He died on 14th August 2011, just two months short of his 80th birthday. He lived a full life and gave great joy and many happy memories to millions.

The collection to be exhibited has been generously offered to the Museum for exhibition by Mr. Rajan Jayakar, who is an avid collector of historic material and memorabilia. An advocate by profession, Mr. Jayakar has curated several exhibitions 125 years of Bombay High Court in High Court Building (1987), 125 years of Bombay at Port Trust at Durbar Hall of Asiatic Society (1998), 50 years of Supreme Court of India in New Delhi (2000) and many more such exhibitions on several themes related to Bombay and its history.

Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Director, CSMVS said:

‘This exhibition is a unique initiative on part of the Museum as for the first time a collector’s personal collection will be on display in the Museum. This will create access for the general to such priceless memorabilia. I would urge people not to miss out on this exhibition. The Museum will also be planning other programmes in conjunction with the exhibition.’

The exhibition will be inaugurated by Shammi Kapoor’s son Aditya Raj Kapoor and Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra on 8th October 2011 and will be open to public from the 9th until 22nd October, 10.15am to 6.00pm. There is no extra fee for the exhibition.