In the forthcoming Shahid Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra starrer Teri Meri Kahani (TMK), Shahid's character reflects Shammi Kapoor's mannerisms, body language and style of wooing the ladies. He even has a signature love song, which pays a direct homage to the yesteryears actor.
Prasoon Joshi has penned the song — Dil Ko Uff Tujhpe Marna aa Aaya — that epitomises the romantic spirit of the late Kapoor. Also, it has been filmed in the way Kapoor sang his zany numbers.
Shahid's romance with Priyanka in the film also carries distinct elements of Kapoor's courtship of Geeta Bali. Director Kunal Kohli extensively researched the workings of the Hindi film industry in the 1960s before setting the Shahid-Priyanka romance in that era.
To play his part, Shahid has been familiarising himself with the world of Kapoor through DVDs of his films. "I had the privilege of spending time with Shammi saab before his death. I'm very close to his children Aditya and Kanchan.
I'm also very close to Kanchan's husband, Ketan Desai, who is the son of one of my favourite filmmakers, Manmohan Desai," says Kohli, admitting that a special screening of TMK for Shammi Kapoor's near and dear ones is on the anvil.
Says Kohli, "If you happened to be a young man in the 1960s, you couldn't get away from the Shammi Kapoor influence. And for that matter the influence of Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand.
With the help of my art director Munish Sappal, I've recreated the film industry and Mumbai of the year 1960 on a studio floor. We've built the streets of Mumbai with trams cruising back and forth.
We've also recreated monuments and eye-catching locations of Mumbai such as Marine Drive and the Taj Hotel the way they used to be," says Kohli.
Interestingly, one of the filmmakers that Shahid meets in the course of his adventures in the Hindi film industry in TMK is Raj Khosla.
Priyanka Chopra plays a discovery of this legendary filmmaker.
