Shashi Kapoor becomes the third ‘Kapoor’ to get the Dadasaheb Phalke award

Often touted to be the first family of Bollywood, the Kapoors have roots that go deep in Indian cinema. One doesn’t even need to mention how much the family has and still is contributing to Hindi cinema. Needless to say, the Kapoor family has been time and again honoured with many awards for this contribution.

Talking of honours, the highest honour one can get for contribution in Indian cinema is the much-coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and the Kapoor family has had not one but three people who have been facilitated with the honour.

The first Kapoor to get this award was Prithviraj Kapoor, who lay the foundation stone for his generations to rule the hearts of millions of Bollywood fans worldwide. He is the only person to have won this award posthumously. For his immense contribution to the budding Indian cinema, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award for the year 1971. His son Raj Kapoor accepted the award on his behalf, after his death in May 1972.

The second Kapoor to have been honoured with the award was none other than the great showman Raj Kapoor, who followed his father’s steps and became the face of Indian cinema for years to come. For his role in shaping the Indian cinema, he got the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1987. However, while attending the event to collect the award, he suffered a massive heart attack and was admitted in the hospital for one month before he succumbed to his medical conditions.

The third and latest name in the list is that of Balbir Raj Kapoor, better known to the world as Shashi Kapoor. A highly successful actor and the younger brother of Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor is regarded for being one of the producers and directors who didn’t play safe and invested in risky coming-of-age cinema; something that played a huge role in making Indian cinema what it is today. Shashi Kapoor would be given the honour in 2015, as announced yesterday.

Talking of the award, it includes a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh, and a shawl.

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