Shammi Kapoor

He finished his matric schooling from New Era School at Hughes Road . Kapoor had a short stint at Ramnarain Ruia College after which he joined his father's theatrical company Prithvi Theatres. He entered the cinema world in 1948, as a junior artiste, at a salary of Rs. 50 per month, stayed with Prithvi Theatres for the next four years and collected his last paycheck of Rs. 300, in 1952. He made his debut in Hindi Films in the year 1953, when the film Jeewan Jyoti was released.

It was directed by Mahesh Kaul and Chand Usmani was Kapoor's first heroine. He was in a relationship with Nadia Gamal , a belly dancer from Cairo and Egyptian actress, from 1953–55 after they met in Sri Lanka on an occasion while he was on a holiday trip, but their relationship ended when she moved back to Cairo. Shammi Kapoor debuted into Hindi films in 1953, with the release of Jeewan Jyoti , starring Shashikala and Leela Mishra .

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 .

From 1953 to 1957, none of his films made him popular. He had his first major success with Filmistan 's Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite Ameeta and with Dil Deke Dekho (1959), he attained the image of a light-hearted, and stylish playboy. With the hugely successful Junglee (1961) his new image was cemented and most of his subsequent films were in the romantic comedy and musical thriller genres.

Mohammed Rafi was frequently chosen as his playback voice in the movies that he did and contributed to the success of his films. In the 1960s he was often paired with new actresses such as Asha Parekh , Saira Banu , Sharmila Tagore and Sadhana all of whom went on to have very successful careers. In the first half of the 1960s, Kapoor was seen in successful films like Rajkumar , Professor , Dil Tera Diwana , China Town , Kashmir Ki Kali , Bluff Master , Janwar and Teesri Manzil .

In 1968, he received the first Filmfare Award for Best Actor of his career for Brahmachari . He made a unique place for himself in the industry as he was the only dancing hero in Hindi films from the late 1950s till the early 1970s. He used to compose dancing steps in the songs starring him and reportedly never needed a choreographer. This earned him the name of Elvis Presley of India.