Sharmila Tagore detailed Shashi Kapoor's near death experience during Suhana Safar shoot

Sharmila Tagore and Shashi Kapoor have paired in numerous films together and their 'jodi' is unforgettable, both on and off screen. They have worked together in numerous movies like Waqt, Aa Gale Lag Jaa or Aamne - Saamne. However, it was during the shoot of 1970-released movie Suhana Safar that their journey almost took a perilous turn.

Sharmila Tagore nearly hit Shashi Kapoor with her car during their Suhana Safar shoot, but Shashi was left unhurt

During the launch of Aseem Chhabra’s book Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star, Sharmila Tagore brought up how she almost injured Shashi when she lost the control of her car, but the man took the hit like a champ!

“We were shooting Suhana Safar, and there was a scene where I was supposed to drive downhill, and Shashi was to jump out of the way. But something went wrong—I just could not control the clutch and brake and sped into a culvert. While the poor light man holding a reflector fell, Shashi remained unscathed."

“Later, he quipped, ‘Do that again, and Jennifer will come to you with three children and say she doesn’t have money for milk!’ He could always joke, and yet remain cordial and respectful."

He was referring to his wife Jennifer. Shashi Kapoor was married to Jennifer Kendal, who he met while working in theatres, back in 1956 and he immediately knew he wanted to marry her—something he admitted in an interview.

He went on to marry her when he was 20 and Jennifer was 25 and stayed with her until she passed away from colon cancer. He did not want to remarry after that.

The movie Suhana Safar was about a woman named Sapna, played by Sharmila, who was trying to meet her love Ujjwala, a poet who she has only met through his poetry. She ran away from home and met Sunil, played by Shashi Kapoor, on her journey.

Not all of Shashi Kapoor's 1970 movies plots were as demure however. Some were violent and quite regressive. His 1974 movie Chor Machaye Shor was about how his character Vijay was falsely accused of raping his girlfriend Rekha, played by Mumtaz, so he made up his mind to commit revenge rape on her once he was released.

In the book Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star, Shashi Kapoor's daughter Sanjna Kapoor said ‘I remember asking my mother, “How could he work in such crap?” Really, I am not a great feminist, but there is a whole period of Hindi cinema which upsets me so much—not only the violence, but also the way women are treated.’ 

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