Shakti Kapoor, the Star of Radio Tarana Diwali in Auckland

Sunday, November 4, 2018 at Manukau Sports Bowl
Venkat Raman, October 28, 2018
One of the most prolific actors of the Hindi film industry will be the star attraction at the ‘Radio Tarana Diwali 2018,’ this weekend.
Shakti Kapoor, the man who millions of fans around the world ‘love to hate’ and ‘laugh and cry’ will appear at the mega, free-for-all day-long event, scheduled to be held on Sunday, November 4, 2018. While the event will commence at 12 pm with a series of cultural programmes and other items, Shakti Kapoor will appear on stage at 2 pm and again at 7 pm before the fireworks are held as a part of the grand finale.
Shakti will be accompanied by his wife Shivangi Kolhapure, elder sister of the famous actor Padmini Kolhapure and mother of Shradda Kapoor (who is now a busy thespian in Indian films) and Siddanth.
As in the past Radio Tarana shows, Shakti will appear on stage, speak and mingle with the audience and pose for photographs. He is expected to say extracts of some of the dialogues that made him famous over the years.
Veteran of Indian Cinema
With more than 700 films to his credit, Shakti has been featured as ‘the worst, funniest, craziest and woman-chasing character’ and yet, he is considered to be a fine human being by those who know him well.
The way he was portrayed as the ‘villain who deserves to die’ was the sign of the times. Audiences expected the ‘bad character’ to be unscrupulous, greedy, torturous, always accompanied by a vamp and always out to destroy the hero and discredit his heroine.
Villains on the wane
“But villains are disappearing from the modern cinema,” he bemoaned along with Gulshan Grover, another ‘Bad Man of Hindi Cinema’ at a TV show.
“Bollywood has always been adamant on creating a unique experience for a villain’s character, but a romantic sequence by a villain can only happen in the modern times. The trend is changing, there are no more villains and an actor has to be very versatile and good with every role,” Shakti said.
Gulshan agreed and said, “Cinema has taken acting to a whole new level, we don’t see anyone playing a dedicated role of a villain in modern movies. So, keeping the changing trend in mind, actors have to be good and engrossed with all the roles.”
Early Life
Shakti Kapoor (born as Sunil Sikanderlal Kapoor on September 3, 1952) in Delhi to a Punjabi family. His father ran a tailor shop in Connaught Place. He was keen on Hindi films but struggled to become an actor.
He was spotted by the late Sunil Dutt who was then making his ‘Rocky’ to launch his son Sanjay. He gave his screen name as ‘Shakti’ and his portrayal as ‘RD’ brought him to the attention of other producers and directors. His earlier role as ‘Vikram’ in Feroz Khan’s mega hit ‘Qurbani’ also brought him fame.
Blockbusters lift Shakti
However, his roles with Kader Khan as ‘comical and evil duo’ in more than 100 films created cinematic history in Hindi films. The 1980s and 1990s were the busiest years for Shakti.
In 1983, he had powerful roles in ‘Himmatwala,’ a highly successful film featuring Jeetendra and Sridevi and the Subhash Ghai directed movie ‘Hero,’ with Jackie Shroff (who was at Radio Tarana Diwali at the same venue in 2015).
Comedy with finesse
In the 1990s, Shakti diversified to perform positive comic roles with equal ease.
He was nominated for the Filmfare Award as the ‘Best Comedian’ category and won once, for his performance as ‘Nandu’ in David Dhawan’s film, Raja Babu in 1994.
Among his notable comic roles are as ‘Inspector Bhinde’ in ‘Insaaf,’ as Prasad in ‘Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri,’ ‘Crime Master Gogo’ in ‘Andaz Apna Apna,’ as ‘Kaamesh Singh’ in ‘Tohfa,’ as ‘Batuknath’ in ‘ChaalBaaz’ and as ‘Goonga’ in ‘Bol Radha Bol.’
Mimicry Artiste
Shakti has been a reference for mimicry artistes who emulate his style and dialogues such as “Aaaooo Lolita” (‘Tohfa’), “Main Nanha sa Chotta sa Bachcha Hoon” (‘Chaalbaaz’) and “Nandu Sabka Bandhu, Samajhta Nahi Hai Yaar” ‘(Raja Babu’).
Shakti has been a regular actor in Priyadarshan films, including ‘Hungama,’ ‘Hungama,’ ‘Hulchul,’ ‘Chup Chup Ke,’ ‘Malamaal Weekly’ and ‘Bhagam Bhag,’ a Malayalam remake.
Other Languages
Shakti also acted in a few Bengali films of Kolkata, an Odia and Assamese feature film.
He has appeared in ‘Aasman Se Gire Khajoor Pe Atke,’ a musical comedy, with his sister-in-law Padmini Kolhapure and in ‘Da Garriage,’ a Punjabi film.
He is also the Brand Ambassador of Servokon.
In 2011, Shakti Kapoor was a contestant in the popular controversial Indian Reality Show ‘Bigg Boss,’ (Season 5). He was the Captain of the House the first two weeks but was eliminated in the fourth week.
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There are more villains in Hindi Cinema, says Shakti Kapoor
(Picture Courtesy: India TV)