He began his career as a child actor in 1948 with his brother Raj Kapoor's maiden directorial Aag, and had his first role as an adult in 1961 with Yash Chopra's political drama Dharmputra.

[5][6] He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a reckless chieftain in Junoon, a businessman in Kalyug, a strict father in Vijeta and an upright journalist in New Delhi Times for which he won National Film Award for Best Actor.

After appearing as a child artist in some highly successful films like Sangram (1950), Samadhi (1950) and Awaara (1951), Shashi Kapoor made his debut as a leading man in 1961 with Yash Chopra's partition drama Dharmputra.

[5] From 1962 to 1964, Kapoor saw two minor successes with - Bimal Roy's Prem Patra (1962) and Kanak Mishra's Yeh Dil Kisko Doon (1963).

[5] In 1966, he starred alongside Kishore Kumar, Mehmood, Kalpana Mohan, Rajasree and Mumtaz in C. V. Sridhar's romantic comedy Pyar Kiye Jaa.

[24] Pyar Kiye Jaa proved to be a hit, but his other release Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare again opposite Nanda did only average business at the box office.

[25] After seeing two more moderate successes in 1967 with Dil Ne Pukara and Aamne Samne, the following year, he delivered a superhit in Kanyadaan opposite Asha Parekh, followed by a hit film Haseena Maan Jayegi co-starring Babita.

[26] The soundtrack of Kanyadaan composed by Shankar-Jaikishan was also very successful with two chartbuster Mohammed Rafi solos - "Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe" and "Meri Zindagi Mein Aate" topping the musical charts.

[5] It started with Ashok Roy's action comedy Chor Machaye Shor which also had Mumtaz, Asrani and Danny Denzongpa in the lead.

[31] Chor Machaye Shor proved to be a blockbuster in India as well as overseas, putting a line of producers outside Kapoor's house and making him top five to six saleable stars of the time.

[32][5] The huge box office success of Chor Machaye Shor was followed by Manoj Kumar's social drama Roti Kapada Aur Makaan.

[40][41][42] One of Kapoor's dialogue "Mere paas maa hai" ("I have mother"), is widely known in India and has become part of Indian popular culture.

[43] His impactful portrayal of a police officer torn between love for his brother and duty met with acclaim and won him Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

[49] It had a massive star cast comprising Waheeda Rehman, Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Rakhee and Neetu Singh.

[48] The following year, Kapoor reunited with Bachchan for Desh Mukherjee's highly anticipated actioner Immaan Dharam, which took a bumper opening, but collections dropped afterwards due to poor reception and it ended up as a flop venture by the conclusion of its run.

[55] This changed in 1978 as he delivered a string of successes with Phaansi, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Trishul, Trishna, Amar Shakti and Aahuti.

[63] That same year, he produced and starred in Shyam Benegal's art-house film Junoon which also had Nafisa Ali, Shabana Azmi, Jennifer Kendal and Naseeruddin Shah in the lead.

[65] In 1980, Kapoor delivered a hit with Swayamvar, but his other releases, such as Do Aur Do Paanch and Neeyat failed to leave a mark while Ramesh Sippy's mega-budget action crime film Shaan ended up as an average grosser owing to huge costs.

[6] His other notable release that year was Govind Nihalani's coming-of-age film Vijeta, which had his son Kunal Kapoor in his acting debut.

[74][75] Post-1982, Kapoor's star power began to wane as he shifted his focus majorly towards parallel cinema and limited his work in mainstream films, accepting only few offers.

[80][81] His another major release of the year was Shibu Mitra's multi-starrer actioner Ilzaam co-starring Shatrughan Sinha, Govinda, Neelam and Anita Raj.

[88] The following year, he appeared in films, such as Farz Ki Jung, Gair Kanooni and Clerk, none of which performed well critically or commercially.

[93] Kapoor also won Special Jury Award for his performance in the 1993 film In Custody and played the Rajah in the TV miniseries Gulliver's Travels (1996).

After their subsequent meeting, the couple fell in love and after facing initial opposition from the Kendals and support from sister-in-law Geeta Bali, they got married in July 1958.

[107] Apart from his work in mainstream Hindi films, he is also known for acting and producing several highly acclaimed and award-winning movies belonging to the genre of Parallel cinema, such as Junoon (1979), Kalyug (1981), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Vijeta (1982) and Utsav (1984).

[108][109] Kapoor's deep attachment and commitment to theatre which started in childhood remained almost untouched even when he was immobile due to age-related complications.

They were a testimony to principles such as clarity of purpose, commitment to nonconformity and alacrity and utmost willingness to be part of creative process which would have enduring value and which would be incorruptible by market forces.