Bollywood Retrospect: The best of Shankar-Jaikishan in 10 songs - Part 1

Shankar–Jaikishan were arguably the most commercially successful Hindi film music directors during the 1950s and 1960s. Shankar Singh Raghuvanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal were an unlikely pair brought together by circumstances. It was Raj Kapoor who first spotted their talent during the making of the film Aag (1948) – Shankar and Jaikishan were assisting music director Ram Ganguly in the film. A tiff with music director Ram Ganguly resulted in Raj Kapoor picking the newcomers over him to compose music for his next film Barsaat (1949). The spectacular success of Barsaat and the chemistry and camaraderie they enjoyed with Raj Kapoor established them as RK Films’ in-house music directors over the next two decades or so.

Shankar–Jaikishan’s musical talent was matched by their keen business sense and their music evolved with the changing taste of filmgoers. The duo went from composing folk-influenced melodies in the beginning of their career to raucous crowd-pleasers towards the end. An important facet of their music was the creative tension between Shankar and Jaikishan. Although they recorded their songs together, they composed music independently. They never took individual credit officially and a Shankar–Jaikishan film had a mix of songs composed by each. Another important aspect of their career was their steady partnership with lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. If a producer engaged Shankar–Jaikishan, it was understood that Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri were part of the deal. Such was Shankar–Jaikishan’s affinity to their partner lyricists that they turned down a film as prestigious as Waqt (1965) because BR Chopra insisted on engaging Sahir Ludhianvi for writing the film’s lyrics.

A series of tragic events virtually ended the Shankar–Jaikishan’s career in 1971— Shankar’s favourite lyricist Shailendra passed away in 1966, Raj Kapoor parted ways with them after Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) and finally, Jaikishan passed away in 1971. Even after Jaikishan’s death, Shankar continued composing for films as Shankar-Jaikishan till he died in 1987.

I mark Shankar’s 29^th death anniversary on April 26 with my pick of the duo’s top 20 film albums in this two-part post.

Barsaat (1949)

Barsaat was the coming together of RK Films’ dream team for the first time— Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Shankar–Jaikishan, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. The film’s preeminence in RK Film’s filmography is evident from the fact that its poster art went on to become the logo for RK Films. Remarkably, the entire team of music directors and lyricists in the film consisted of debutants. History tends to forget them but other than Shankar–Jaikishan, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, two other lyricists made their debut in the film— Ramesh Shastri and Jalal Malihabadi. This feat of a rookie team coming up with a score that’s counted amongst the best Hindi film scores of all time remains unmatched to this date. My pick from the film is ‘Hawa Mein Udta Jaye’, featuring the honey-voiced Lata Mangeshkar. Lyricist Ram Shastri wrote a few more songs in his short career but ‘Hawa Mein Udta Jaye’ remains his lasting legacy.

Awara (1951)

RK Films’ dream team returned with Awara and, with its success, proved that Barsaat wasn’t beginners’ luck. In the span of two years, Shankar–Jaikishan had grown as composers and in Awara they delivered a score that was more eclectic and sophisticated than Barsaat. Awara was a fantastic score overall with songs for every mood and a spread of musical genres. One song in the film was the essence of its score in this regard, the famous dream sequence medley of ‘Tere Bina Aag Yeh Chandni’ and ‘Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi’. Talking about Shankar-Jaikishan’s growth as musicians, part of it was about them drawing inspiration from other artists. ‘Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi’ was a fairly close adaptation of the 1935 song ‘Ala Baladi Elmahboub’ by the Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum. Also on display in this song was their craft at composing songs to fit the film’s narrative. The fact that the song represented a dream allowed Raj Kapoor to take artistic liberties. The result was a theatrical sequence with elaborate sets, smoke, special effects and extras. A sequence this elaborate needed music to match and Shankar–Jaikishan delivered exactly that. The song’s mood ebbed and flowed, the chorus was dramatic and the arrangement elaborate, but the song’s core—Lata’s singing and a mandolin— was simply exquisite.

Patita (1953)

Patita doesn’t get talked about enough in Shankar–Jaikishan’s discography perhaps because it doesn’t sound much like their typical film album. Perhaps because they had reserved Mukesh’s voice for Raj Kapoor, they chose Hemant Kumar and Talat Mahmood for Dev Anand. They chose a ghazal-based, mellower sound for Patita, instead of the simple, folk sounds that worked well with Raj Kapoor’s ‘Raju’ persona. ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kahan Ho Tum’ has already appeared in the post on Hasrat Jaipuri in this series. My other pick from the album is Talat Mahmood’s dulcet solo, ‘Hain Sabse Madhur Woh Geet Jinhen Hum Dard Ke Sur Mein Gaate Hain’. Shailendra’s mukhda for the song was inspired by a line from PB Shelley’s ‘To A Skylark— “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought”.

Seema (1955)

Naushad’s Baiju Bawra (1952) made classical music an important part of Hindi film music of that period and Shankar–Jaikishan realised that it would have to be a part of their repertoire. They made concerted efforts in this direction in “Seema”. The result was a semi-classical Manna Dey solo, ‘Tu Pyar Ka Saagar Hai’— a Lata song with some fantastic sarod play by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, ‘Suno Chhoti Si Gudiya Ki Lambi Kahani’ and my pick from the film, ‘Man Mohana Bade Jhoothe’, an excellent Raag Jaijaivanti composition rendered superbly by Lata Mangeshkar.

Shree 420 (1955)

Shree 420 was the most evolved product of a formula Raj Kapoor had worked on refining in Barsaat and Awara. The results at the box office validated Raj Kapoor’s vision and Shree 420 became the first film to break the Rs 2 crore barrier. Raj Kapoor and Shankar–Jaikishan faced a significant roadblock during the film’s making. After singing two songs for the film, Mukesh excused himself from it. Mukesh had aspirations of becoming an actor and for a lead role in Mashooqa, he had ill-advisedly signed a contract that forbade him to sing for other films till it was released. Left high and dry, Shankar–Jaikishan brought in Manna Dey. A quirk of fate resulted in Manna Dey singing what is one of the most romantic songs in Hindi films—‘Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua’—and gave his career the boost he deserved. My pick from the film is Shree 420 is ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya’. The story is that ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya’. The story is that Shankar, who grew up in Hyderabad, composed the song using Telugu lyrics. When he sang the tune for Hyderabad, composed the song using Telugu lyrics. When he sang the tune for Raj Kapoor’s approval, he asked Shankar to retain the Telugu lyrics. The song was a big hit. Telugu lyrics. The song was a big hit. Raj Kapoor’s inputs were an integral part of Shankar–Jaikishan’s music making process and resulted in many such hit songs.

Basant Bahar (1956)

Basant Bahar was Shankar–Jaikishan’s answer to Naushad’s Baiju Bawra. Unlike Baiju Bawra, which was a critically acclaimed film, the only redeeming feature in Basant Bahar was its outstanding music. If Naushad leaned on maestros Ustad Amir Khan and DV Paluskar for authenticity, Shankar–Jaikishan sought Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s expertise. It is said that Manna Dey initially resisted the idea of singing (and winning) the competition jugalbandi ‘Ketaki Gulab Juhi’ with the maestro. He even went into hiding after the film’s release to escape possible embarrassment. He need not have worried. The audiences overlooked the cinematic liberty and lapped up the film’s music. The song of the film, however, happens to be the Manna Dey solo ‘Sur Naa Saje Kya Gaoon Main’. He sang the song with so much soul, sensitivity and finesse that he probably outdid Mohammed Rafi’s Baiju Bawra with just this one song.

Chori Chori (1956)

Chori Chori was the last time Raj Kapoor and Nargis came together to play lead roles. Their chemistry was so palpable that despite very little physical intimacy, they sizzled on-screen, especially in the two Lata-Manna duets ‘Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi’ and ‘Aaaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein Hum’. My pick from the film is ‘Aaja Sanam’ because it showcases an instrument that featured prominently in Shankar–Jaikishan’s music and came to be identified as Raj Kapoor’s instrument of choice onscreen— the accordion. The nifty accordion play in ‘Aaja Sanam’ was by Goody Servai, the steady accordionist in Shankar-Jaikishan’s team. Chori Chori won the music director duo the first of their nine Filmfare Awards.

Anari (1959)

Anari saw an old friend returning to Shankar–Jaikishan’s team. Mukesh decided to resume focus on his singing after losing a precious few years in pursuit of an acting career. Shankar–Jaikishan welcomed back Mukesh as Raj Kapoor’s singing voice with open arms. Mukesh’s return resulted in a simpler, folksier score than the ones Shankar–Jaikishan has composed without him. My pick from the film is the waltzy Mukesh-Lata duet ‘Dil Ke Nazar Se’. Melodious and easy on the ear as the tune is, two elements in the song are nothing short of breathtaking— Lata Mangeshkar’s singing and the blistering accordion. Shankar–Jaikishan won their second Filmfare Award for Anari.

Ujala (1959)

Ujala is one of the coin-toss picks in this list. It was Shankar–Jaikishan’s first film with Shammi Kapoor and the beginning of a collaboration that would be mutually beneficial to both but would come at the expense of Shankar–Jaikishan’s music taking on a louder, noisier texture to suit Shammi Kapoor’s onscreen persona. ‘Jhoomta Mausam Mast Mahina’ was a milder version of what we would see a lot more of from Shankar–Jaikishan in the 1960s. Interestingly, they chose Manna Dey and Mukesh for Shammi Kapoor’s voice in the film even though Rafi had done a fantastic job in the actor’s first hit Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957). My pick from the film, ‘Duniyawalon Se Door’, is the rare Mukesh song on Shammi Kapoor.

Jis Desh Mein Gagna Behti Hai (1960)

Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai was a wholesome, typically Shankar–Jaikishan score with a combination of Mukesh and Lata duets and solos. My pick from the film, ‘O Basanti Pavan Paagal’, is an example of a strategy that worked very well for Shankar–Jaikishan. Many of their songs originated as tunes they experimented with in the background score of past films. For example, they first formulated ‘O Basanti’ in the score for Awara. Lata Mangeshkar, although a tad dramatic in places, sings her heart out.