This star kid’s mother tried to kill him, he sold car for money during lean phase, battled depression after...

Star kids do get an easy way out in the industry, however, maintaining the stardom and winning the hearts of the audience depends purely on their talent and hard work. One such star kid, who made his mark in the industry and became a superstar, once had to face financial struggles and had to sell his car to run his house. 

The actor we are talking about comes from a family of superstars and has given several hits and blockbusters. His mother, however, didn't want to give birth to him. He is none other than Shashi Kapoor. 

Shashi Kapoor was the youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor. When his mother got pregnant with him, she got sad because before him, she had two children, Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, and she didn't want to give birth to this third child. Shashi Kapoor told in an interview with Filmibeat in 1995 that his mother tried to abort the pregnancy. Sometimes she fell from the bicycle and sometimes from the stairs. Sometimes she would jump rope. After all these efforts failed, on 18 March 1938, she gave birth to a third son, who later became a superstar. 

Shashi Kapoor started acting at a very young age. His best-known performances as a child actor were in Aag and Awaara, where he played the younger version of the characters played by his elder brother Raj Kapoor. He worked in four Hindi films as a child artist.

His father Prithviraj wanted him to first struggle and make a career as an actor with his hard work. So Shashi Kapoor joined his father's theatre group. In 1956, Shashi Kapoor met his wife Jennifer Kendall while both were working for their respective theatre groups. After their subsequent meeting, they both fell in love with each other. Though Shashi Kapoor's mother had no objection to their marriage, his father was against a foreign daughter-in-law. On the other hand, Jennifer's parents were also against their marriage. 

However, nothing could stop them and they both tied the knot against the wish of their parents in 1958. When he got married, Shashi Kapoor realised a sense of responsibility towards his wife and decided to return as an actor in the entertainment industry. He finally made his debut in 1961 as a leading man in Yash Chopra's Dharmputra, however, the film failed to perform well at the box office. 

After doing films like Prem Patra, Char Deewari, and Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath, Shashi Kapoor's career saw a downfall as he started getting typecast, due to which he stopped getting work in films. This period was such that there was no money to run the house. Shashi's son Kunal Kapoor had said in an interview that Shashi sold his sports car due to financial constraints and his mother Jennifer also started selling her valuables. However, actress Nanda helped him come out of this phase and they starred together in Jab Jab Phool Khile which turned out to be a turning point for Shashi Kapoor.

1982 was a difficult year for Shashi Kapoor as he came to know that his wife had colon cancer. Just 2 years later, Jennifer lost the battle with cancer which left Shashi completely broken. After the death of his wife, he got obese and used to sit alone in his apartment for hours, not talking to anyone. This led the actor into depression, from which he could never recover.

His son Kunal told in an interview, that after Jennifer's death, Shashi Kapoor cried for the first time when he once went in the middle of Goa to the deep sea with a boat and cried for hours screaming. He also sat quietly in his room for hours. He spent 28 years with Jennifer, but after her death, he lived 31 years with her memories. He himself said that in 31 years, he never thought of a second marriage. Shashi Kapoor passed away in 2017 at the age of 79 after suffering from prolonged illness.