'My parents once went to watch Rajkumar Kohli's Insaniyat Ke Dushman. In the film, I "rape" Anita Raaj.'
'My father was very upset. My mother left the theatre.'
'Years later, my father asked me to do a positive role with a heroine like Hema Malini. Unfortunately, I never got to do that. I played her brother-in-law in Satte Pe Satta.'
'Now in Ramesh Sippy's Shimla Mirch, I am romancing her, but my father is not alive to see it.'
Shakti Kapoor, straight from the heart.
Shakti Kapoor gave us a peek into his life, as he spoke about his beginnings and his famous daughter Shraddha Kapoor.
In this part of his fascinating interview with Patcy N/Rediff.com, he reveals more never-told-before nuggets, some featuring filmi friends.
With Satte Pe Satta, I realised I could do comedy and I enjoyed it.
Director Raj Sippy told me he wanted to make a film with seven male actors and that all the characters should be weird.
Amitabh Bachchan was an all-rounder, so he was the hero. Sudhir did mostly villain roles in a different style. Kanwaljit did hero roles those days, Sachin was the chocolate boy, I did villain roles and there was Mahendra Sidhu and Paintal. The film worked because of the odd combination.
Then I signed Tohfa where I did comedy and played the villain and people loved that.
I don't have to make an effort to play my characters. I just give a little thought to how I will play the character and then I don't leave the track midway.
I have done so many films, but none of my films are similar. I have often had two releases on a Friday, like Insaaf and Satyamev Jayate, both starring Vinod Khanna.
In Satyamev Jayate, I was a contract killer. In Insaaf, I was the comic Inspector Bhende. My dialogue in the film -- 'Ala re aala Inspector Bhende aala, haath me leke kanoon ka taala' -- was written about.
Even though I played the villain, people were not scared of me like they were of Pransaab.
There are about 100 songs picturised on me. I am in a dance competition with Sanjay Dutt in Rocky, in the song Aa Dekhe Zara.
I do a disco dance with Mithun Chakraborty in Shatranj, with Amitabh in Inquilab and with Govinda in Marte Dum Tak.
Kalpana Iyer played the vamp in many of my films. She was a dancer, so in every film we had a dance together.
In fact, Amjad Khan called me Disco Queen.
In many films, I was the love interest of the heroine, even though I played a negative role, because I looked handsome.
Many girls called me the sexiest villain.
My parents once went to watch Rajkumar Kohli's Insaniyat Ke Dushman.
In the film, I "rape" Anita Raaj. My father was very upset.
He said, 'Yeh dekh, parde pe kya kar raha hai ye, ladkiyon ko chedta hai sharam nahi aati isko (see what he is doing on screen; he doesn't feel ashamed of troubling women)'.
My mother left the theatre. She told me she would never watch my films with my father.
Years later, my father asked me to do a positive role with a heroine like Hema Malini. Unfortunately, I never got to do that. I played her brother-in-law in Satte Pe Satta.
Now in Ramesh Sippy's Shimla Mirch, I am romancing her. But it is a one-sided romance. My dad is not alive to see even this 50 per cent romance of mine.
'Oww Lolitaa'
'I had many signature dialogues in my films -- some were given to me by the film writers and others by my friends.
The 'Nandu saba ka Bandhu' dialogue from Raja Babu came from Govinda.
One of my friends from New York had this habit of saying, 'Pappu Chala Chappu' when he would drive his car. I used this in Jamai Raja.
'Crime Master Gogo naam hai mera, aankhen nikal ke gotiya khelta hun main' was (director) Raj Santoshi's dialogue.
Tohfa was the remake of a Telugu film, Devata. In the original film, Mohan Babu said the line, 'Oww Lolitaa'. I just copied it.
'Jeetendra advised me to buy property'
I have done a lot of South remakes with Jeetendra. I learnt a lot from him about how to respect money and not waste it on cars.
I was fond of sports cars, so I would buy them. He advised me to buy property instead, and get settled.
Today I have a house in Juhu, Mumbai, one in Greater Kailash in Delhi, one in Madh Island, and one in Lonavala.
'He is the only person in the industry, who can slap me and I won't mind'
Govinda is younger than I am. He has a way of making me do what he wants in a scene by saying, 'Shaktida, isse aise karke dekho toh sahi majaa aayega (Shaktida, if you do it like this, it will be fun)'.
Indirectly, he tells you what changes you can bring to a scene. You don't feel bad getting beaten up in a scene by an actor like Govinda. With him, I have done both villain and comic roles.
Govinda's mother would tell me, 'You are like a potato, you can be added to any vegetable; whatever character you play, the film comes out nicely.'
I have done 100 films with Mithun. He is the only person in the industry who can slap me and I won't mind. I don't listen to anyone from the industry, but I listen to him.
He is from FTII, a year senior to me. He helped me even when he was poor. He would not eat, but if I went to his place, he would give me his food. We are the best of friends.
Whenever I was stuck or had an important decision to make, I would go to Mithun for advice. He stood by me in the toughest times. Even when I was in love, I went to him for advice -- not just (his wife) Shivangi, I fell in love many times!
Nowadays, we don't meet much, as he lives in Madh Island (northern Mumbai). But if he calls me even in the middle of the night, I will go to him. Likewise, I know he will be there for me.
I have also done 100 films with Kader Khan like Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri, Umar 55 Ki Dil Bachpan Ka, Tohfa, Mawali, Justice Chaudhary, Farz Aur Kanoon, Naseeb...
I call him Guru. I learnt a lot from him.
We became so popular as a pair that if there was a poster of a hero and heroine, we demanded a poster of us too.
Director David Dhawan was my junior and a friend at FTII.
When he directed his first film -- Taaqatwar -- he cast me. It had Sanjay Dutt and Govinda in the lead.
I have been in all his movies. I have done 18 films with him.
'I was asked to give money to get an award for Dhanwan'
I got my only Filmfare award for Raja Babu.
But I never went after awards. If someone wants to take this award too they can take it, just give me Rs 10 lakh!
There was a time when awards could be purchased.
I played a south Indian coconut vendor in Dhanwan with Rajesh Khanna. Everybody told me I had done a brilliant job and would grab all the awards that year.
I was later asked to give money to get the award. I said, 'I can spend money on food, but not on some award.'
The award for Raja Babu was genuine. No one asked me to pay any money.
I was happy because my mother was with me that day and attended the award function.
'The sting operation was fake'
The sting operation (Shakti Kapoor allegedly asked a journalist, posing as an aspiring actress, for sexual favours in 2005) proved to be fake.
It was done for a new channel to boosts its TRPs, and they apologised to me.
The Film and TV Producers Guild banned me for three days. The whole industry was divided.
The casting couch is in all professions and all over the world. It is not just women, men are also targeted.
Why do girls say yes to all these things? Nobody is raping you, somebody is asking you for it, so you can say no.
'If people come to my house, they will listen to cabaret and Shraddha will be dancing like mad!'
I worked in Rajshree Production's Hum Saath Saath Hain. Working with them is like going to a temple; everyone is god over there.
(Director) Soorajji (Barjatya) speaks so softly 'Sirji, shot ready hain.'
These are all genuinely good people, very soft spoken.
They are all pure vegetarians and come on the sets only after pooja path. There are bhajans playing in all the rooms and on the sets too.
But there are some people in the industry who are put on. I am what I am. If people come to my house, they will listen to cabaret and Shraddha will be dancing like mad.
'What Shakti Kapoor is in real life, that is what people saw in Bigg Boss'
I went on Bigg Boss to prove a point to my daughter.
My daughter said whenever he comes home, he goes straight to the bar; he doesn't spend time with us, he is more interested in his alcohol.
I just drink two or three pegs, but she still tells me this.
The people from Bigg Boss had been asking me to join their show for four years as I am a very controversial character. So I told my daughter I was going into the Bigg Boss house for a month and I will not get any alcohol there. I decided to take this show as a challenge.
When I came out, my daughter hugged me and said, 'Papa, you have proved it.'
What Shakti Kapoor is in real life, that is what people saw in Bigg Boss.
I was sent into the house with 13 girls and I was the only guy. People thought there would be a lot of controversies, but I conducted myself well. I treated all the girls like my sisters, friends and even mother.
After I came out of the Bigg Boss house, I saw so many jokes on me on social media. There was one picture of all the 13 girls pregnant because I was in the house!
I laughed because this is what people thought of me. But when they saw me in the house they came to know that I am a family man.
'There was a misunderstanding with Salman, but it is sorted out now'
I was not upset with (host) Salman Khan when I left the Bigg Boss house. I just wanted to know who evicts contestants from the house. I felt they evict people randomly and say it is done on votes.
Salman said he won't call me to his house. I said there is no need for me to go to anyone's house, my bathroom is bigger than their house. But I did not mean it personally.
We have a great relationship with Salman and his family. My wife and my kids went to his house recently.
My wife is very close to his mother. I respect Salman. He has done a lot for me. His father helped me get so many films.
There was just one misunderstanding, but it is sorted out now.
When Salman was a kid, his father and I would regularly sit in their balcony and drink. After a few pegs, I would be high. I would call all the three brothers (Salman, Arbaaz, Sohail) and ask them to dance.
Even today, Salman jokingly says, 'You tortured me as a kid, now I will make your kids dance on the road.'
But he is very fond of (Shakti Kapoor's son) Siddhant and Shraddha.
I prayed for him when he was sick (Salman suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia).
Salman's mother feeds people. They make food for 40 people every day. Salman's father spends about Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) every day on poor people. He doesn't give cash. If someone is sick, he will go to the hospital and pay the doctor's bill.
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