Shammi Kapoor & His Yahoo Mantra Are Immortal



When we began this Blog, we called it Cinema Rasik. It is also our nom de plume. When our coverage changed, we changed the title to Macro Viewpoints. But our identity shall always be Cinema Rasik.

The art of being a Rasik, we learned from Shammi Kapoor. There has been no one else like Shammi Kapoor. As his co-star Sharmila Tagore said this week “There won’t be another Shammi Kapoor,  ever“.

That’s OK with us. We don’t want another. The original Shammi Kapoor will always be with us.

From what we hear and read, Mumbai treated his passing as a celebration of his life and remembered the joy he gave to all rasiks. People stood in the balconies, people lined up in the streets and loudspeakers along the route of the funeral played his iconic song “Yahoo”.

His son Aditya Kapoor said,
People peeped into the ambulance, threw flowers inside and said, ‘Yahoo.’ I realised my father’s mantra only after he died. Shammiji ka mantra Yahoo tha. At that moment I had the full and complete realization of what it meant to be Shammi Kapoor’s son,”

For those who have not heard the Mantra, here it is:





Shammi Kapoor had so many great hits that choosing one or two is impossible. To quote from one of his songs:

सभी हसीं सभी जवान (Sabhi Haseen Sabhi Jawaan) – All are beautiful, All are Young
कहाँ पे  दिल को  हारिये (Kahan Pe Dil Ko Haariye) – Where do I lose my heart
सभी है दिल की मेहमान (Sabhi Hai Dil Ki Mehmaan) – All are guests in my heart
किसे किसे पुकारिए   (Kise Kise Pukaariye) –  Whom Shall I Call

Every one of his songs remains evergreen and gorgeous. We love them all. Many of the famous songs are fast, vibrant and great fun. But Shammi Kapoor was just as gifted in soft, delicate and poetic seduction. Just watch the clip below:




I owe a great deal to this great star. On this Blog, we often deride the species which calls itself the ‘educated Indian’. By education and by upbringing, I could easily have been one of these ‘educated’ types. Even now, I occasionally lapse into one of their habits. But then, I watch a Shammi Kapoor song and he instantly brings me back to my core.

This may be the secret to the Shammi Kapoor magic. He was absolutely genuine.

Finally, allow us to feature the stylish song from which we quoted the lines above:





We are taught that the physical body may perish but the Atma is immortal. This is especially true of Shammi Kapoor because his Atma lives in us all.



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