By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
Satyendra Kappu, the subject of this write up, made his film debut with “Kabuliwala”(1961) starring Balraj Sahni & Usha Kiran. The film was based on a story written by Rabindranath Tagore followed by another masterpiece “Bandini”, directed by Bimal Roy featuring Nutan, Ashok Kumar & Dharmendra. The film won National Award & several Filmfare Awards.
There was no looking back for the actor as he received many assignments one after another like-‘Sapno Ka Saudagar’ (1968), ‘Khilona’, ‘Kati Patang’ (1970), ‘Amar Prem’, ‘Jawani Diwani’, ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, (1972), ‘Anhonee’, ‘Keemat’, ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’ (1973), ‘Benaam’ (1974), Sholay’, ‘Deewar’& ‘Dharmatama'(1975), Vishwanath'(1978) , ‘Natwar Lal’ (1979), ‘Kudrat’, ‘Naseeb’,’Lawaaris’, ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’ (1981), ‘Namak Halaal’ (1982) ‘Coolie’ (1983) & ‘Khel’ (1994) to mention some.
He played the role of Amitabh Bachchan’s father in “Deewar” (1975), the film which turned the tide for the mega star. It was a Blockbuster directed by Yash Chopra for producer Gulshan Rai.
In the film industry people sing hymns in praise of those who are financially well off, popular & can dictate their own terms & conditions. Yet, some manage to make their presence felt. Satyen Kapoo was one of those lucky few as is indicative by the the number of films he has worked during his long career between 1961 to 2006. “Sarhad Paar” (2006) starring Sanjay Dutt, Chandrachur Singh & Mahima Chaudhry was his last film. Kappu enacted all kind of roles in films-negative, positive & thought provoking to suit his personality & temperament. Co-starred Rajesh Khanna Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra & Mithun Chakraborty in several films.
I met the actor twice. First during the cocktail dinner hosted by the producer of “Mitti Aur Sona” at Hotel Sun-n-Sand & later during the shooting of “Khel’ (1992)starring Mala Sinha, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit & Prem Chopra. A soft spoken & reasonably cool person, Kappu also featured in TV serials- ‘The Sword of Tipu Sultan’ & ‘Aarohan’ to mention two. Breathed his last on 27 October 2007.
