Dialysis has done in stronger men, it took a Shammi Kapoor to show the world how full life can still be if you just have the will. And it was his occasional dashes of carefree indulgence that kept him going.
Your diarist recalls one such summer evening at Worli a little over a year ago, a rare one graced by Shammi, his wife Neela and son Aditya, besides Rishi and Randhir Kapoor. It was the birthday party of an old family friend of the Kapoors, Subhash Sanas.
Shammi drove down in his custom built car, and was easily coaxed into singing for the gathering. He started with 'Oh mere sona re sona re' and followed up with 'Gore gore chand se mukh par kaali kaali ankhen hain'.
The infectious mood transported even the usually dour Chhagan Bhujbal into dreamy nostalgia - he launched into 'Tum bin jeevan kaise beeta poocho mere dil se'. But the highlight of the evening was Shammi singing a haunting number from his film Pagla Kahin Ka - 'Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge'.
Like everything else about Shammi, unforgettable.
