When Raj Kapoor gave Shammi a ‘firing of his life’ after he worked on tobacco ad with Ashok Kumar: ‘Aren’t you ashamed’

Shammi Kapoor and Ashok Kumar have never worked in a film together. However, they did work on an advertisement together. In the 90s, Shammi and Ashok came together for a commercial of a tobacco brand. The ad became so popular that Shammi and the Kapoor family had fans sing the jingle at the Hong Kong airport. 

While Shammi was not new to this, the sight did not go down well with his brother, actor-filmmaker Raj Kapoor. In a video, shared on YouTube, the yesteryear star revealed he got an earful from Raj at the Hong Kong airport. 

After they entered the airport, Raj took Shammi aside and asked, ‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?’ “I didn’t know what to say. What have I done? He gave me the firing of my life. I haven’t forgotten that. He said, ‘With all your years and your contributions to the film industry, your work as an actor, where is all your Junglee gone and your Teesri Manzil gone, your Professor and Dil Deke Dekho and all? Where are they gone? Finished!’ People will remember you now by Pan Parag,'” Shammi recalled. 

“He was very right in his own way. But how could I tell him that was one of my main desires in life to work with Ashok Kumar and my only chance to work with him was in that ad. The Pan Parag ad. It was alright, it was fun, great fun,” he added. 

Also read: When Shammi Kapoor was smitten by Madhubala, kept forgetting his lines out of nervousness: ‘Hit by a thunderbolt’

Shammi starred in a number of hit films from the 1950s. These include Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Kashmir Ki Kali, Teesri Manzil, and An Evening in Paris. He last appeared in Rockstar, headlined by his grandson Ranbir Kapoor. The film was released shortly after his death, in 2011.