Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor cremated with state honours

Mumbai: Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor, who passed away on Monday, was honoured with a three-gun salute in the presence of his family and the film fraternity on Tuesday. The romantic screen icon of the 70s and 80s was given a state funeral, held amid massive security around 12 noon. About a dozen policemen draped the actor's body in the tricolour, which was later removed for the rituals. The actor-producer's body was taken to the crematorium from his Juhu home in an ambulance at 11.45 am. Hundreds of fans with umbrellas and raincoats gathered at the crematorium, undeterred by the warnings of a cyclone and heavy rain. Bollywood celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Salim Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Ranbir Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Supriya Pathak, Shakti Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Suresh Oberoi among others were present at the cremation. Shashi Kapoor was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2011. In 2015, he was bestowed with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Shashi Kapoor entered Bollywood as a child artist in the late 1940s and appeared in 'Sangram' (1950) and 'Dana Paani' (1953). Some of his best performances were in 1948 film 'Aag' and 1951 'Awaara'. He was also known for his roles in 'Deewar', 'Kabhi Kabhi', 'Silsila', 'Waqt' and 'Satyam Shivan Sundaram'.