Amitabh Bachchan’s Feelings For Shashi Kapoor

Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor had at one time ruled the Indian film industry. They had worked for some memorable films like ‘Deewar’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Namakhalal’, ‘Kala Patthar’, ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ etc but now things have changed for Shashi Kapoor, who is sadly confined to a wheelchair. Amitabh Bachchan in his blog expressed shock at the plight of the veteran actor, who received the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award in a wheelchair.

Amitabh Bachchan, who gave the Filmfare Awards a miss owing to conflict with Mumbai Mirror, wrote, “At the Filmfare Awards, when Mumbai Mirror had not appeared, the affable editor Jitesh Pillai had asked me if I would give the Lifetime achievement Award to Shashi Kapoor and I had agreed. I missed that more than the expectation of winning the best actor award. Seeing him confined to a wheel chair, was something I could never associate with Shashi ji.”
“Shashi Kapoor, that handsome gentle man. A smile on his face forever. A considerate calling on each meeting, now in this condition? Never!” the actor wrote.
Big B further wrote about his wonderful association with Shashi Kapoor. “He had pulled me out of a scene in his film where I, because I was hungry and did not have the money to feed myself, had taken the job of an ‘extra’ a junior artist, in the film where he played the hero. It was a James Ivory - Ismail Merchant film, ‘Shakespearewala’. A funeral scene was being picturised at the sea rocks off Bandra Band Stand. I took up an offer to be part of the crowd that had come to mourn the death of the ‘Hero’ Shashi Kapoor; part of the funeral party. He was not supposed to be there at the shoot - the scene was his funeral!! But he was there and he spotted me. Came up, pushed me out of the crowd, chided me with ‘Are you mad! You have bigger things in store for you, don’t do this’ and walked away.”
“Film after film we did together, Shashi ji and I, and shared some of my most memorable times together in the Industry. He is now my relative. His elder brother, the great Raj Kapoor’s daughter Ritu’s son Nikhil is married to Shweta. I spoke to him on his birthday some days ago and then again when I wanted to invite him to the premier of ‘Paa.’ He had sounded weak in voice and expressed his inability to come. ‘I am not well’, he had whispered faintly and I told him I would arrange a special screening for him. But I had never expected him to be the way I saw him at the Award function in the pictures a few