Love, romance and YAHOO in Shammi Kapoor's Junglee

In this series, we re-visit great Hindi film classics. Today, we look back at Shammi Kapoor and Saira Banu in Junglee (1961).

There was a time when Kashmir formed the backdrop of every single significant romance in Hindi films.

Its lush green valleys, snow-clad mountains, picturesque gardens, serene lakes adorned by pretty shikaras and welcoming locals clad in traditional costumes and accessories produced an air of peace and pleasantness providing a rejuvenating break from the stuffy air of studios and its stilted art direction.

And while there's no denying the region's contribution for its sublime imagery in celluloid history, Shammi Kapoor's legendary spunk enhanced its appeal even further. He's one of those rare dynamic personalities whose energy diffuses any space he occupies, lends it an infectious, buoyant vibe that's impossible to resist. And after 1961's Junglee, it came to be known as 'Yahoo' or to be precise, 'YAAAHOOO!!!'

Smile, didn't you? More than 50 years have passed but the response to Subodh Mukherjee's frothy romance brimming on the ebullience of its adorable leading man and puckish debutante Saira Banu is unequivocally favourable