Shammi Kapoor

No one could shimmy like Shammi–no one in classical Indian cinema, at least. In the mid-’50s, Shammi Kapoor, who died at 79 in Mumbai on Aug. 14, imported Elvis Presley’s rhythmic abandon and added a charismatic giddiness all his own. The middle sibling in a film-family dynasty–seven years younger than Raj Kapoor, the smoldering star-director, and seven years older than dreamboat Shashi–Shammi was the irrepressible one: half party animal, half coquette.

India in the 1950s had great films (Awara, Pyaasa, Mother India), but they were oh so serious. With his 1957 Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Shammi showed his country how to lighten up. In his signature tune–“Yahoo,” from the 1961 Junglee–Shammi bats his soft brown eyes, flips his jet black pompadour and careers down a snowy hillside. Kitsch nirvana!

Life threw a few snowballs Shammi’s way. His first wife, actress Geeta Bali, died of smallpox at 34, leaving him to care for their two children. He put on too much weight to play romantic leads and retreated to character roles. Toward the end, illness required him to have three dialysis treatments a week. But he never lost his good nature or curiosity: he was one of India’s first computer enthusiasts and the chairman of the Internet Users Club of India. At his passing, fans all over the world shed tears … and shouted a nostalgic “Yahoo!”