Legendary actor Shammi Kapoor passed away early Sunday morning of chronic renal failure. He was 79. The actor who ruled the Indian cinema in the 1950s and 60s was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai last Saturday.

His condition over the past week had been serious and he was put on ventilator since the day he was admitted.

Shammi Kapoor joined the cinema world in 1948 as a junior artist for Rs.150 a month. His debut in Bollywood came in 1953 with the film ‘Jeevan Jyoti.’ In a career that stretched into the 1970s, the tall, athletic and green-eyed hero had his share of struggle before he made it big. And his recipe to the success was his makeover as a flamboyant yet lovable lover boy who would twist and turn his body in amazing way in his dance numbers and had the girls swooning over him.

Thanks to the freshness and style, Shammi managed to deliver big hits like ‘An Evening in Paris,’ ‘China Town,’ ‘Kashmir Ki Kali,’ ‘Janwar’ and ‘Junglee.’

Shammi was also a very religious person and in one of his interviews he had said that it was the influence of his mother Ramsarni ‘Rama’ Mehra who first taught him to chant the ‘Gayatri Mantra.’

His second wife Neela used to believe in Baba Haidakhanwale and she was the one who introduced him to his guru.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan paid his condolences on microblogging site Twitter and said, “Shammi Kapoor ji passed away this morning at 5:15 am .. Rushing there now .. the flamboyance and joi de verve of the Industry lost !(sic)”.

“Shammi ji ... An entire life full of optimism and happy spirit, caring loving to all ... Now suddenly silent(sic)”.

The actor's son, Aditya Raj Kapoor addressed the media and said that the last rites of the late actor will be held on Monday at 9 am at Ban Ganga crematorium, Mumbai.