In 1997 the then editor of a magazine I was working for had assigned the task of doing nostalgia pieces for the magazine. Every month I had to meet a veteran actor and walk down the memory lane with them....most I met lived in the past glory. Shammi Kapoor, however, was different

As I had entered his tiny office inside his residence, I was nervous. I had heard of the famous Kapoor moodiness. He was working on the computer and he abruptly turned to me, as if I was encroaching on his precious time. He asked me a few questions to see if I was prepared enough, keeping his eyes closed all the while. And. Five long minutes later, he opened his blue eyes and flashed a big mischievous smile. And then he asked in a warm tone, "Do you want to see what I am working on?" I wasn't prepared for this. Right in front of me was a black and white poster of a film, starring him and Madhubala and he was in the process of colouring it.u00a0 When I expressed my amazement at the fabulous colour combinations that he had used, he had said with a smile, "Such immense possibilities ufffdthis computer ufffdI am most excited ufffd". Only two decades later, the hindi film industry woke up to the possibilities of colouring of old black and white movies. And in the meanwhile Shammi Kapoor went on to become the founder and chairman of the internet users community of India (IUCI). He also used to maintain a website about the Kapoor family.