Today is the death anniversary of Shashi Kapoor, who is called the legend of Bollywood. He passed away in the year 2017 after a prolonged illness. Shashi Kapoor, who gave many blockbusters, used to be the heartbeat of crores of hearts at one point of time. Shashi acted in about 160 films, most of which were hits. Shashi Kapoor’s real name was Balveer Raj Kapoor. In the year 2011, he was honored with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India. In 2015, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2014. But do you know that Shashi Kapoor did not even have money to fulfill his needs after some time after the start of his career.
Shashi Kapoor made his debut in the 60s which was successful. During this time he did about 116 Hindi films, out of which 61 were as solo heroes. But just as the fast shining sun gets eclipsed, in the same way Shashi Kapoor’s career also got eclipsed. In this decade, he fell short of work and stopped getting work. Shashi Kapoor became disappointed due to lack of work. But the house had to be run… Some work had to be done and money was needed for that.
In compulsion, Shashi Kapoor had to sell his sports car. To support the husband and take care of the family, his wife Jennifer Kendall had to sell goods. This was told by his son Kunal Kapoor in an interview. Kunal Kapoor said, ‘Dad had to sell his sports car. We did not have money, so mother started selling things. And then in the 70s, Shashi Kapoor emerged as one such star. In front of whose brightness the rest of the stars were starting to fade.
Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer married in 1958. However, the Kapoor family was not feeling comfortable about having a foreign daughter-in-law for themselves. But Shashi Kapoor managed to persuade everyone. Within a year, Shashi Kapoor became a father and his father had decided to close Prithvi Theater due to financial problems and health problems. But Jennifer loved Shashi Kapoor so much that even after his death, Shashi remained imprisoned in this love. Jennifer was diagnosed with cancer in 1982. Shashi Kapoor got her done by doctors from Mumbai to London, but on September 7, 1984, Jennifer went to heaven. With this, there was such desolation in Shashi Kapoor’s world which became empty forever. He used to sit alone for hours and cry in the grief of his wife’s departure. Jennifer was remembered by Shashi Kapoor till the time of her death on December 4, 2017.