On His Birth Anniversary
Satyendra Kapoor, commonly known as Satyen Kapp in film circles an ardent stage lover, enjoyed his innings as a character artist of yore for decades, beginning with Balraj Sahni starrer “Kabuliwala” (1961). The film also starring Asit Sen, Usha Kiran & Sajjan, was based on a story written by Rabindranath Tagore with a few lovely songs including “Aye Mere Pyaare Watan” rendered by Manna Dey. The film also starred Asit Sen & It was followed by another masterpiece “Bandini”, directed by Bimal Roy featuring Nutan, Ashok Kumar & Dharmendra. The film won National Award & several Filmfare Awards.
Thus the actor embarked on a journey in the glitter & glamour world receiving many assignments one after another like in ‘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. ‘Sarhad Paar’ (2006) was his last film.
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- ‘Katha Sagar’ (1987) ‘The Sword of Tipu Sultan’ & ‘Aarohan’ (1996). Breathed his last on 27 October 2007.
