Personal Life
In 1953, Shammi Kapoor dated Nadia Gamal, a belly dancer from Cairo. Shammi quoted in an interview that "We met in Ceylon and we were in love. Somehow things did not work out and she went back to Cairo." Kapoor met Geeta Bali in 1955, during the shooting of the film Rangeen Raaten, where he was the leading actor and she played a cameo. Geeta Bali was a well established actress and a popular star at this point of time and Shammi had not tasted any success. They fell in love during the outdoor stints of the movie at Ranikhet, an ancient Army based hill-station in the Kumaon region, but since she was a year older to him and had acted with his elder brother in Bawren Nain and his father in Anand Math, they were skeptical. Four months after they first met, they married at Banganga Temples, near Napean Sea Road of Mumbai with Hari Walia as the sole witness. They informed their parents only after their marriage. Geeta Bali also did cameo in Shammi starrer Mujrim (1958). They were paired together in Miss Coca Cola, a box office dud and Coffee House. After their marriage Geeta Bali acted in 14 films and retired from the film industry. Geeta Bali's last film as a lead was Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hai opposite Pradeep Kumar, in which Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor made special appearances.
Shammi and Geeta lived a life of bliss in the coming years. They had a son, Aditya Raj Kapoor, on 1 July 1956, at Shirodkar's Hospital, Mumbai, a year after they were married. Five years later, in 1961, they had a daughter, Kanchan.
Tragedy struck in 1965, during the filming of Teesri Manzil. Geeta died of small pox, leaving Shammi with two small children.
In 1969, he married Neela Devi Gohil from the former royal family of Bhavnagar in Gujarat. He was gaining weight rather significantly now and this ended his career as a romantic hero in the early 1970s. Andaz (1971) was one of his last hits.
Shammi Kapoor was the founder and chairman of Internet Users Community of India (IUCI). He had also played a major role in setting up internet organizations like the Ethical Hackers Association. Kapoor also maintained a website dedicated to the Kapoor family.
In 2006, he told interviewers that he underwent dialysis three times a week. Irrepressible even then, this punishing regimen has failed to depress him. Rather, he said that he was thankful to God for giving him so much.
He died of renal failure around 5:15am on 14 August 2011 at Mumbai's Breach Candy hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for chest infection.
Read more about this topic: Shammi Kapoor
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