This year, famous Bollywood actor Shammi Kapoor’s name had been removed from the Padma awards short list. His name was recommended by the search committee. He was listed no.24 on the list but the Padma Awards Committee, who makes the final decision, removed his name. The information was disclosed to Subhash Chandra Agrawal, on February 24, 2010. He filed an RTI (Right to Information) application with the home ministry. Others whose name had been removed were Leander Paes, Drupad singers the Gundecha brothers, and painter S.G. Vasudev.
The Kapoors ruled the Indian cinema, in the 50s and 60s and Shammi Kapoor is one of the top actors from the Kapoor family. Born on October 21, 1931, to Ramsarni Mehra and Prithviraj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor started his acting career by joining his father’s theatrical company, Prithvi Theatres. In 1948, he started acting in movies. He started out as a junior artist with a salary of Rs.50 per month. Till 1952, Shammi Kapoor worked with his father. In 1953, he made his debut as a hero in Mr. Mahesh Kaul directed Jeevan Jyoti. In the movie, Shammi Kapoor was paired up with Chand Usmani. Initially, he started with comedy movies but gradually went on doing serious films with established Bollywood actresses of that time including Madhubala, Asha Parekh, Saira Banu, and Sharmila Tagore. Shammi Kapoor acted in many hit movies and came to be known as one of the finest actors ever produced by Bollywood. Some of his movies are Dil Deke Dekho Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Junglee, Professor, China Town, Char Dil Char Rahen, Raat ke Raahi, Dil Tera Diwana, Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, Bluff Master, Janwar and Rajkumar.
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