Bollywood actor Shammi Kapoor dies, aged 79
Veteran Bollywood actor Shammi Kapoor has died in the western Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) at the age of 79.
Kapoor had been suffering for some time from kidney disease and had been admitted to hospital last week.
He belonged to a famous family of filmmakers and actors, and was a prominent star in 1950s and 1960s.
One of the most popular actors of his generation, Kapoor starred in hits like Junglee, An Evening in Paris, Chinatown and Kashmir Ki Kali.
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan tweeted that with Kapoor’s death the “flamboyance and joie de vivre of the [film] industry [was] lost”.
Shammi Kapoor acted in more than 100 films. Fans called him the “Elvis Presley of India” for his frenetic and nifty dancing.
He developed a style of his own and moviegoers flocked to the theatres just to see Shammi Kapoor’s antics and mannerisms.
With his infectious on-screen persona and energy, Shammi Kapoor was Bollywood’s first real star, say correspondents.
via BBC News.
