Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor left for heavenly abode after prolonged illness in Mumbai today. He breathed his last around 5: 15 pm at Kokilaben Hospital where he was hospitalised for treatment of chest infection. Shashi Kapoor's nephew confirmed the news to IndianExpress saying, "Shashi Kapoor passed away at 5.15 pm. We all are very sad about it. He had kidney problems.” The late actor is survived by his two sons (Kunal and Karan) and a daughter (Sanjana).
While Shashi Kapoor has acted in over 150 films in his career spanning about half a century, he was last seen in an English movie titled Side Streets which released in 1998. Directed by Tony Gerber, the film also starred Shabana Azmi, Miho Nikaido, Art Malik, Victor Argo, Valeria Golino, Rosario Dawson and Jennifer Esposito in significant roles.
Side Streets had five short stories and it gathered huge critical acclaim. It was also selected for several film festivals like Sundance and Venice film festivals.
Shashi Kapoor was seen portraying the character of Vikram Raj. His character was supposed to be a noted Bollywood actor in his younger days but he turns alcoholic, overweight and very lazy later on in his life. The film also has an interesting twist when Vikram says that he got a call from Al Pacino, who wants to meet him to discuss a film script.
Though, Side Streets got much critical acclaim, it failed to gather audience to the theatres in India. The last feature film of the legendary actor remained unnoticed.
