Shashi Kapoor was born Balbir Raj Kapoor to the famous actor Prithiviraj Kapoor in 1938 and began his acting career at the age of ten starring in ‘Aag’ - his elder brother Raj Kapoor’s first home production. After ‘Aag’, Shashi started appearing in several mythological films till he debuted as the leading man in Yash Chopra’s ‘Dharmputra’ in 1961. He instantly became popular and soon became one of the most successful actors of 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s acting in over 100 films. Also starring in a number of international projects, Shashi Kapoor’s most notable performances have been the Merchant Ivory productions, ‘Shakespeare Wallah’, ‘Bombay Talkie’ and ‘Heat and Dust’ in which he co-starred with his British wife Jennifer Kendal. Shashi then set up his production house Film Valas in 1980 and produced critically acclaimed films such as ‘Kalyug’, ‘36 Chowringhee Lane’ and ‘Utsav’.
