/> "He was my first co-star in Hindi cinema, in Kashmir Ki Kali and therefore special. But Shammi was special in his own right. And he remained special—vibrant full of life and so young right till the end. Not that he was an idol. You know one looked at Yusuf Saab (Dilip Kumar) as the ultimate actor and Shashi Kapoor as the most handsome actor.

Shammi Kapoor was something else. He taught me a lot about lip-sync singing. In Bengal where I started ny acting career we didn't have lip- sync singing at that time. I'd say he really enjoyed his illness.

He was having the time of life till the last day of his life. His utterly-devoted wife Neela Devi would smile indulgently even when Shammi would have a beer. I think it was Yash Chopra who played matchmaker between Shammi and his wife Neela Devi...Intead of allowing the illness to rule his life he used it as an opportunity to expand his horizons, to do everything that he ever wanted to do.

Shammi's zest for life was infectious. I remember we had gone recently to Pune to receive lifetime achievement awards together. Shammi was so much in his element.

Though confined to a wheelchair he insisted on driving himself to the venue in Pune on the Mercedes that a friend had presented him. At the venue he would, 't let me occupy a seat in the back. He insisted on watching me give my speech. He was so full of life and so young.

On another occasion recently he called me up from the little town in Switzerland where he had shot the Akele akele song in An Evening In Paris. He just remembered the time that we had shot together and called me on the spur of the moment. It's a gesture I won't forget.

It brought back all the memory of my shooting with Shammi for my first Hindi film Kashmir Ki Kali and the cult hit An Evening In Paris. What songs these films contained! He was so clued into the music.

His body had its own rhythm. And he followed his own rhythm till his last days. I remember him hanging out of a helicopter in a dressing-gown singing Deewane ka naam to pucho and jumping into Dal Lake in Kashmir for another song.

Only Shammi Kapoor could do such things. Being a non- conformist came easily to him. He connected so well with the youth of today. Imran Khan told me he visited Shammi in hospital to get to know more about (filmmaker) Nasir Husain (Imran's grandfather)...Shammi and Nasir were very close from the time of Teesri Manzil..... Shammi's zest for life reminded me of Dadamoni (Ashok Kumar).

So sad to see such exuberant people go. "