Following roles in continued box-office flops, he had his breakthrough with Tumsa Nahi Dekha (1957), which attained him the image of a stylish playboy and dancer, and subsequently gained further recognition with Dil Deke Dekho (1959).

Kapoor rose to widespread recognition with the romantic blockbuster Junglee (1961), and went on to become one of the most marketable Bollywood stars throughout the 1960s, appearing in a number of highly successful films such as - Professor (1962), Dil Tera Diwana (1962), China Town (1962), Rajkumar (1964), Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), Janwar (1965), Teesri Manzil (1966), An Evening In Paris (1967), Brahmachari (1968) and Prince (1969).

His notable such roles include - Parvarish (1977), Prem Rog (1982), Vidhaata (1982), Betaab (1983), Hero (1983), Sohni Mahiwal (1984), Wanted (1984), Hukumat (1987), Daata (1989), Tahalka (1992), Chamatkar (1992), Gardish (1993) and Rockstar (2011), which was his final film.

[7] Though born in Mumbai, he spent a major portion of his childhood in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where his father was involved with New Theatres Studios, acting in films.

[8] Kapoor had a short stint at Ramnarain Ruia College after which he joined his father's theatrical company Prithvi Theatres.

[10] Shammi Kapoor debuted into Hindi films in 1953, with the release of Jeewan Jyoti, starring Shashikala and Leela Mishra.

[11] Kapoor's career started unsuccessfully in the early 1950s with him acting with established actresses playing second fiddle in woman-oriented movies: with Madhubala in films such as Rail Ka Dibba (1953) and Naqab (1955), with Nutan in Laila Majnu, with Shyama in Thokar and with Nalini Jaywant in Hum Sab Chor Hain and Mehbooba Shama Parwana (1954) with Suraiya, comedy flick Mem Sahib (1956) with Meena Kumari, and thrillers like Chor Bazar (1954), as well as in the tragic love story Mirza Sahiban (1957) opposite Shyama.

[13] He had his first major success with Filmistan's Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite Ameeta[14] and with Dil Deke Dekho (1959), he attained the image of a light-hearted, and stylish playboy.

[15] With the hugely successful Junglee (1961) his new image was cemented and his subsequent films were all in the romantic comedy and musical thriller genres.

[17][18][19] In the first half of the 1960s, Kapoor was seen in successful films like Junglee, Rajkumar, Professor, Dil Tera Diwana, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, Bluff Master, Janwar and Teesri Manzil.

[26] In the late 1960s, his successful films included Budtameez and Sachaai with Sadhana, Brahmachari with Rajshree, Latt Saheb with Nutan, Tumse Achha Kaun Hai with Babita, An Evening in Paris with Sharmila Tagore and Prince with Vyjayanthimala.

[32] In the 1990s he also appeared on television such as in the social drama serial called Chattan which aired on Zee TV for more than a year in the 1990s.

[48] Shaikh Ayaz of Indian Express said, "Shammi Kapoor, along with Dev Anand, set the template for our typical Bollywood hero.

"[3] Dinesh Raheja of Rediff.com noted, "Shammi Kapoor was an effervescent hero who had so much energy that even a 35 mm screen could barely contain it.

"[50] Journalist Rauf Ahmed added Kapoor on his "Biggest stars in Hindi filmdom" list and noted, "He was an original and a natural.

He broke the mould of the Hindi film hero, gave him am erotic presence, revolutionised the love scene and invested the song-and-dance-routine.

[52] Kapoor was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai on 7 August 2011 suffering from chronic kidney failure.

The entire Kapoor family was present to pay their last respects, including Shashi, Krishna, Rishi, Randhir, Rajiv, Babita, Karisma, Kareena and Ranbir.

[56] Bollywood personalities including Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Subhash Ghai, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, were among others who attended the funeral.

[57] On the occasion of 100 years of Indian cinema, a postage stamp bearing his image was released by India Post to honor him in May 2013.