As condolences continue to pour in and celebrities pay tributes to veteran actor Shashi Kapoor who breathed his last on Monday, Amitabh Bachchan penned a heartfelt note sharing his fondest memories of the star. Bachchan and Kapoor shared a good bond and the duo have starred together in a bunch of superhit movies including Namak Halaal, Deewar, Silsila and Kabhie Kabhie.
In the long blog post titled To Shashi Kapoor from his 'babbua', Bachchan recalls a picture of Kapoor that was published in a magazine. “Standing elegantly without a care in the world, I saw him standing by a Mercedes Sports car, a convertible, a smart trimmed beard and moustache, adorning involuntarily, the face of this incredibly handsome man. Shashi Kapoor … son of Prithviraj Kapoor, younger brother to Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, making a debut in a forthcoming film, is what the caption read ..” he wrote. “And I said to myself, as very uncertain thoughts raced through my mind of wanting to become a film actor, that, with men like him around, I stood no chance at all ..”
He talked about Kapoor's 'infectious humble self' and shared anecdotes about a significant habit he picked up from Kapoor—that of self introduction. “I must admit .. it was a technology that remained with me as a learning, assisting me in using it during those uncomfortable times, when out of the blue someone would come out to you and address himself as a long lost buddy.”
Through yet another interesting anecdote, Bachchan recalled the hair style inspiration he took from Kapoor. “The next .. was his semi curly hair on head, falling carelessly over his forehead and ears, not quite covering it .. and my upper story mumbled again : ‘hey ! maybe you should think of covering your ears as well ..’ … and off I went to Hakim the hair dresser at Taj Hotel with my plan .. and executed, it remained till date,” he wrote.
Though he had visited Kapoor a couple of times whenever he was hospitalised, Bachchan wrote that he stopped visiting as he could never bring himself to see his “beautiful friend” in such a state.
He ended the post by writing: “He fondly addressed me as ‘babbua’.. and with him have gone many incredible unread chapters of his and my life .."
