On the occasion of his 77th birthday, Subhash K Jha picks 10 iconic songs of Shashi Kapoor

By Subhash K. Jha -

March 19, 2015 - 10:32 AM IST

1. 'Pardesiyon se na aankhiyan milana': Jab Jab Phool Khile: Playing the innocent Kashmiri shikara owner, Shashi looked completely in love with Nanda, even as he sang his broken heart out in this superhit musical.

2. 'Bekhudi mein sanam uth gaye jo qadam': Haseena Maan Jayegi: Shashi's first double role paired him with his uncle Randhir Kapoor's future wife Babita. Among the many interesting sidelights of this film, Shashi got into a drag to sing a parody of 'Pardesiyon se na aankhiya milana'. But, it's the romantic number sung to soulful heights by Rafi Saab and Lataji for which this film is most remembered.

3. 'Tum bin jaaun kahan': Pyar Ka Mausam: R D Burman's soulful ballad saw Shashi excelling at expressing the romantic restlessness of a man on the run. Shashi could emote to romantic songs better than most of his contemporaries. Interestingly, there are two versions of this evocative song. The Kishore Kumar version which is more popular in hindsight was filmed on Bharat Bhushan. Shashi sang this melody in Mohd Rafi voice.

4. 'Saari khushiyan hain mohabbat ke zamaanein ke liye': Suhana Safar: A road film inspired by the Frank Capra classic It Happened One Night (the same source material used in Chori Chori and Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin). Shashi played escort to the woman on the run Sharmila Tagore and got to sing some terrific numbers. Sharmila is one of Shashi's favourite co-stars.

5. 'Likhe jo khat tujhe woh teri yaad mein hazaaron rang ke sitaare ban gaye': Kanyaadan: Dazzling with his toothy grin, and displaying a body language that was far removed from his brother Shammi Kapoor's quirky moves, Shashi could whip up romance with just a smile and a song. The object of adoration in this number was Asha Parekh.

6. 'O meri sharmilee': Sharmilee: In a film where Raakhee had a double role, and the best songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Shashi turned on the charm full blast in Kishore Kumar's naughty number, as too in the soulful tracks 'Khilte hain gul yahan' and 'Kaise kahen hum pyar ne humko'.

7. 'Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata koi': Aa Gale Lag Jaa: Among all his films, Manmohan Desai considered this is his favourite. Shashi simply dazzled as Kishore Kumar gave voice to this emotional father-son song.

8. 'Le jayenge le jayenge dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge': Chor Machaye Shor: Such was the impact of this Ravindra Jain composition that when years later, Aditya Chopra made a film with the title taken from this iconic song, he couldn't dare to do a song with the same words. Shashi taunting his screen Sasurji (Karan Dewan) while dancing with Mumtaz remains a vivid visual of the actor's joie de vivre.

9. 'Nain churaakar chayan churana kisska hai yeh kaam': Aamne Saamne: The only time in his career when Shashi danced like his brother Shammi. Doing the twist with such uninhibited relish Shashi shimmied, or shall we say Shammi-ed in style.

10. 'Suhani chandni raatein humein sone nahin deti': Mukti: The image of a pained bearded Shashi tapping this soulful R D Burman tune on the piano remains. ...Pain seldom manifested itself so wonderfully in any actor's eyes. Incidentally, this was one of the last songs that Mukesh sang before his untimely death. The other swan song in Mukesh's career was 'Chanchal sheetal nirmal komal' from Satyam Shivam Sundaram. And that too was filmed on Shashi Kapoor.