Shashi Kapoor Movies

Those familiar with Pakistan's history will be most likely to appreciate this elaborate tribute to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the man who created the Muslim nation in the wake of Great Britain's relinquishment of control over India. The story begins on a fantastical note, as an ailing Jinnah (Christopher Lee) expires and then finds himself in a heavenly place awaiting final judgment on his deeds. That could take some time, for the celestial bureaucrats in charge have misplaced Jinnah's file and the whole heavenly computer network is down. With nothing but time on his hands, Jinnah answers the many questions of his guide (Shashi Kapoor). His responses comprise the main story. Jinnah's tale begins in 1947 as England prepares to grant India its freedom. Muslims have always been a minority in the diverse country and Jinnah wants to create a country especially for them. The Muslim leader's nemesis, Viceroy Mountbatten (James Fox) finds Jinnah's proposal disturbing and so attempts to convince Ghandi (Sam Dastor) and Nehru (Robert Ashby) to dissuade Jinnah from starting more trouble, but it is to no avail. The story then jumps backward to 1916 when Jinnah (played as a young man by Richard Lintern) served as a prominent member of the India Congress Party. It was during this time that he married a beautiful Parsee (Indira Varma). As the guide continues his questions, a deeper understanding of Jinnah and the bloody events surrounding the genesis of Pakistan emerges. Jinnah played at the 1998 Montreal Festival of New Cinema & New Media. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Indian film industry, which claims to be the largest producer of films in the world, is parodied in this movie. It is based on Shashi Tharoor's book Show Business. The film follows the many exploits of Ashok, a serious stage actor, who after deciding that money is more important than art, becomes a movie star. His first role is in the action movie "Godambo." To get good reviews, he cozies up to a nymphomanical gossip columnist. He also has many other affairs. His wife bears him triplets. He is part of a political scandal. This is but a sampling of the trouble Ashok gets into. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This hard-hitting political drama was hit equally hard by Indian distributors and television, who declined to run the film. The controversial storyline features a newspaper editor who uncovers corruption, murder, and bribery in high office. When a politician is killed, an journalist discovers that a member of parliament had the man assassinated. What's more, the same member of parliament is an underworld gangster. As the editor digs deeper, the complicity of higher-placed politicians comes to the surface, which leads to riots in one town and an attempt to suppress his story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In a fast-paced comedy straight out of the Kamasutra -- a 4th-century Hindu manual on love-making -- a married man learns all the secrets of great sex from an expert courtesan. She is running away from the unwanted attentions of an aristocrat and takes refuge with the married man in the meantime. His newfound sexual expertise benefits his wife, who has reason to be grateful to the courtesan for her timely intervention. The narrative may have enough sub-plots and secondary characters to muddle up the picture, but the humor and sensuality are a balance of sorts -- for audiences open-minded about sexual situations. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Two women, related but separated by one generation and 60 years, have parallel experiences in the evocative mystical environment of India in this period drama from producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Although a little slow-paced for some, and slightly confusing because the stories of the two women are intercut, the scenery and script evoke a time and place that mesmerize. Based on the 1975 novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, a long-time collaborator in Merchant-Ivory Productions, the story begins with Ann (Julie Christie) who discovers some letters written by her grandfather's first wife Olivia (Greta Scacchi) that open up a whole new world as Ann travels to India to continue researching her grandmother's past. The letters reveal that when she was young, the free-spirited grandmother fell in love with an Indian nobleman (Shashi Kapoor) and left her husband -- an administrator in the British colonial government -- for her lover. After Ann arrives in India, her life and the modern rush of cars and people are played off against flashbacks to Olivia's life in a colonial setting. When the environment of each woman is compared and the nature of their momentous decisions placed side-by-side, their rites of passage and the society that dominated their choices stand out in high relief. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala won "Best Adapted Screenplay" at the 1983 British Academy Awards for her script of Heat And Dust. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Shiv Kumar is a responsible man who takes care of his wife and children, and devotes himself tirelessly to his job as a police officer. He also lives with his two directionless brothers, Ravi and Vijay, who eek out a living as con-men. Everything changes, however, when Shiv is killed. Angry and broken hearted at the loss of their brother, Ravi and Vijay turn over a new leaf, giving up their waywardness in order to hunt down the man who took Shiv's life. What they find, however, might be even more than these two ruthless men can handle. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Three men become unlikely heroes in the midst of a disaster in this grand-scale drama from India. Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) is a former Naval officer who, after a deadly episode at sea, was forced to leave the military in disgrace; humiliated and suicidal, Vijay has taken a job in a coal mine, relishing the dangerous work with an attitude that borders on the suicidal. Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha) is a convicted felon who escaped from custody and found work in the mine along side Vijay. And Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) is an engineer who is attempting to improve the deplorable conditions of the coal mines, but runs into severe interference from the mercenary owners of the facility. When disaster strikes at the mine, trapping hundreds of men below the surface, Ravi must devote all his strength, imagination, and courage to find a way to bring the men back to safety, while Vijay and Mangal struggle to help rescue their co-workers and find redemption under trying and perilous circumstances. Kaala Patthar was inspired by a real-life mining catastrophe, and director Yash Chopra brought in top-rank special-effects men from the United States to give the mine sequences the necessary realism. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Deadly Thief is the American video title of the Indian feature Shalimar. The title character is played by, of all people, Rex Harrison. He's an eccentric millionaire who assembles the cream of the world's criminal crop for the mother of all heists. They are to steal a valuable ruby-from Shalimar himself. If they fail, the penalty is death-which may be preferable compared to the perils they face in trying to succeed. Interesting variation on themes explored in earlier Harrison vehicle The Honey Pot. The Hindi-language version of Shalimar did OK in Indian theatres, but the English-language version never received British or American release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide