But that was not so uncharacteristic for him. At the beginning of his career, he did films like Dharmputra and had a long collaboration with Ismail Merchant and James Ivory in films such as The Householder and Shakespearewallah, an association that lasted for decades. In Bollywood, Shashi started off as a child artiste (playing Raj Kapoor as a child in the latter’s debut-making venture, Aag), but he hit a purple patch in Bollywood as a leading man with the success of movies like Waqt, Jab Jab Phool Khile, Pyaar ka Mausam and Sharmilee before he went on a signing spree through the Seventies. His dialogue, “Mere paas maa hai” from Deewar remains one of the most popular dialogues ever in Hindi cinema.