Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star
India�s first biography of Shashi Kapoor sheds light on one of the country�s most enigmatic personalities�an actor who straddles the worlds of commercial Hindi cinema, theatre and small-budget art movies; who is, at once, an earnest householder and a committed star. In this rare book, we are offered glimpses of Shashi Kapoor, the family man�son of Prithviraj Kapoor, husband of Jennifer Kendal, and father to Kunal, Karan and Sanjna. We are led through Shashi Kapoor�s film career�his debut as a bright-eyed child-actor in Awara; his emergence, in the hectic 1970s, as India�s busiest performer�with a slew of hits including Deewaar and Trishul; and his rise to international prominence with Merchant�Ivory�s The Householder and a �trilogy� of films on older men with fading pasts. Equally, we are provided with an astute analysis of Shashi Kapoor, the businessman�the proprietor of Film-Valas; the producer of Shyam Benegal films; and the distributor of Bobby. With luminous and thus-far undisclosed stories by the actor�s family (Neetu Singh, Rishi, Sanjna and Kunal Kapoor), co-stars (Shabana Azmi, Simi Garewal, Sharmila Tagore), colleagues (Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, James Ivory, Hanif Kureishi, Aparna Sen), and friends; a compelling foreword by Karan Johar; and stunning photographs from Merchant�Ivory�s archives, Shashi Kapoor, the biography�by one of India�s best-known film journalists�is as captivating as Shashi Kapoor, the star.
Categories: Fiction
