Mumbai: ‘Aajkal tere mere pyaar ke charche har zuban par’.
That’s an all-time classic song which evokes immediate memories of the late Shammi Kapoor and Mumtaz.
Even 56 years after the release of ‘Brahmachari’, images of Mumtaz and Shammi dancing to the tune of the melodious song sung by Mohammed Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur are evergreen.
The two met on the sets of ‘Brahmachari’, produced by GP Sippy and Ramesh Sippy, and directed by Bhappi Sonie, and love blossomed immediately.
At 37, Shammi was already an established star, while Mumtaz was relatively new in the industry.
The whirlwind romance led to Shammi proposing to Mumtaz, but their love story ended as quickly as it had begun.
Though Mumtaz was madly in love too, she refused to tie the knot with Shammi.
Recalling her short-lived romance with the ‘Junglee’ actor in a recent interaction with Rediff.com, Mumtaz recalled she was just out of her teens and she had her entire career ahead of herself.
Admitting that she turned down Shammi’s proposal, Mumtaz said, “Yes. But he wanted me to give up my career when I was just 17. I don’t think anyone can give me the same amount of love that he showered on me. I never forgot him. Even today when his name is mentioned, tears well up in my eyes. It was not a love affair, it was much more. We loved each other deeply.”
Mumtaz further explained that since women in the Kapoor family weren’t allowed to work at that time, she had to choose her career above Shammi’s love.
“Unfortunately, womenfolk in the Kapoor family did not work during those days. He had to respect his family’s wishes, I had to respect my career. So you gave up love for your career? What else could I do? I had a family to support. I was being paid Rs 8 lakh even as a struggler. I was the highest-paid actress of my time. As a child, when my mother asked whom I wanted to marry when I grow up, I’d say I wanted to marry the son of the Shahenshah of Iran. I wanted only the best in life.”
While Mumtaz still has fond memories of Shammi Kapoor, in an archival interview shared by YouTube channel Lehren Retro, Shammi spoke about how their romance turned into a “nightmare.” He said, “At that time, I was a widower and Mumtaz happened to be a very pretty little girl and for a little short while, we both had dreams and then it turned into a nightmare. I’m happy as I am today.”
Shammi was a widower at that time, as his first wife Geeta Bali had passed away due to smallpox, and he was a single father to son Aditya and daughter Kanchan.
Shammi later married Neila Devi, and the two were together till his death in 2011.
