Shammi Kapoor passes away

MUMBAI: Veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, hailed as 'Elvis Presley of India' and whose famous yell 'Yahoo' signified the arrival of a rebel star against the reigning trio of his time Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar, passed away here on Sunday morning due to chronic renal failure.
The 79-year-old legend, who was often compared to Elvis Presley due to his looks, was in the ICU of Breach Candy Hospital and breathed his last on Sunday morning, family sources said.
The funeral will take place on Monday morning, they informed.
Kapoor is survived by his wife Neeladevi, son Aditya Raj, daughter Kachan Desai.
For the last few years, he was undergoing dialysis for three days a week.
Born Shamsher Raj Kapoor on October 21, 1931, Kapoor was the middle son of veteran theatre and film actor Prithviraj Kapoor and younger brother of showman Raj Kapoor.
Despite his family background, Shammi's entry into Bollywood was initially not successful even though he worked with major heroines like Madhubala in Rail ka dibba, Suraiya in Shama Parwana and Nalini Jaywant in Hum Sab Chor Hai.
His initial movies flopped at the box office. He reinvented himself with Tumsa Nahi Dekha cutting his hair in the famous duck-tail style of the 50s and never looked back since then.
With the success of Junglee in 1961, an entire decade reeled under its colourful impact.
Shammi heralded the swinging 60s and a large part of his appeal was primarily due to the immensely catchy and upbeat numbers like "Suku Suku","O Haseena Zulfo wali", "Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche", "Aaja Aaja Main hoon Pyar tera" where he was at his boisterous best.
Even though success came with light weight tales like Kashmir ki kali, Rajkumar, Jaanwar and An evening in Paris, his performances in flicks like Junglee, Badtameez, Bluff Master and Pagla Kahin Ka, Teesri Manzil, Brahmachari silenced his critics.
Andaz released in 1971 was his last movie as a leading man but his character roles in Vidhata, Hero, Prem Rog were well received.