Shailendra, Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan.

Shailendra, Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan.

Poet and lyricist Shailendra had glorified the world of bollywood with his romantic words. He had tremendous combination with legendary composer Shankar Jaikishan. Both of them in turn had magical relationship with immortal singer Mohammad Rafi.

The magic combination came together in the film Boot Polish with the song “nanhe munne bacche tere mutthi me kya hai” which had become immortal over the years. In the film Shikast, the combination came together in the song “gham me jal raha hai”.

In the mid-50s, all of them Shailendra, SJ and Rafi became superstars and icons in their individual departments. SJ composed excellent song with the words of Shailendra sung by Rafi,Mukesh and Lata in Raj Kapoor’s film Shree 420 titled “ramaiya vasta maaiya”. In 1955 the film ended up being blockbuster. In Seema, the song “kahan jaraha tu” stands out. Manna Dey’s song “tu pyar ka sagar hai” was also a masterpiece.

Rafi made the audience spellbound with the song “duniya na bhaye mohe” in the film Basant Bahar. Shailendra and SJ were brilliant as ever. Rafi’s song “mai rickshawala” in the film Choti Behen had realistic andaz. In Dev Anand’s Love Marriage, Rafi’s songs “kaha ja rahe the” had romantic andaz. In Shararat, the combination got together with the song “ajab hai dastan” which was very melodious.

The same soft romantic Shailendra with SJ and Rafi changed their gears in aggressive songs of Shammi Kapoor in the film Junglee with the songs “yahoo, chahe koi mujhe jungle kahe”, “ayi ayi ya suku suku”, etc. The combination made the audience spellbound in Rajender Kumar’s film Sasural with the song “ek sawal mai karoon.”

In Shammi Kapoor’s song “dil tera diwana” in the film Dil Tera Diwana, really the song balanced the lightning and rain. The combination continued in Shammi Kapoor’s film Professor with the songs “mai chali mai chali”, “khuli palak me” etc. The same combination brought tears in the eyes of the audience in Rajender Kumar’s film Dil Ek Mandir with the song “yaad na jaye”.

The magic combination continued together in the blockbusters of the mid 60s, including Biswajeet’s April Fool in 1964, Shammi Kapoor’s Janwar and Rajkumar in 1965, Rajender Kumar’s Humrahi in 1963, Ayee Milan Ki Bela in 1964, Aarzoo in 1965, Suraj in 1966, Joy Mukherjee’s Love in Tokyo in 1966, Dev Anand’s Pyar Muhobbat in 1966, Uttam Kumar’s Choti Si Mulakat in 1968, to name a few.

The unfortunate death of Shailendra in 1966 ended the marathon that was played by Rafi and SJ with the immortal lyricist for more than 20 years. His lyrics were used in films that were released later after his death in films like Shammi Kapoor’s Bhramchari, Rajender Kumar’s Jhuk Gaya Aasman and Dharti, Jeetender’s Mere Huzoor, to name a few.

Articles after articles can be devoted to the genius Shailendra, Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi who had produced only gems after gems during the golden age of Indian music. They had made the audience laugh, smile, cry and repent with the words, tunes and rendition of voices. The songs and the films should be preserved.

Remembering romantic poet Shailendra on his birth anniversary.

Remembering romantic poet Shailendra on his birth anniversary.

The country remembers romantic writer and poet Shailendra on his birth anniversary on 30th August, 2010. He was one of the legendary lyricist of the golden age and glorified the music of RK films and Shankar Jaikishan with his romantic words.

He was also known as Shankardas Kesarilal and born in 1923. He was an employee of Indian Railways. He started his career with Raj Kapoor in the film Barsaat in 1949. The two songs that he wrote which were composed by Shankar Jaikishan included “patli kamar hai” and “barsaat me”. Both became super hit. From that time onwards the great combination of Raj Kapoor, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan blossomed and ruled bollywood film industry for the next 20 years.

Shailendra won the filmfare award for the best lyricist in 1958 for his brilliant lyrics “yeh mera deewanapan hai” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in Dilip Kumar’s film Yahudi. The tragic song was sung by Mukesh. In 1959, he won the filmfare award for the best lyricist for the epic lines in Raj Kapoor’s film Anari, titled “sab kuch seekha humne na sikhi hoshieri”. Each and every song in the film was an asset and the film ended up being super hit. The tune was again composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

Shailendra also composed legendary songs with Salil Choudhury for Bimal Roy’s epic film Madhumati. All the songs in the film were super hit including “dil tarap tarap ke keh raha hai aabhi ja”, “suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen”, “tute hue khwabon ne”, “aaja re pardesi”, to name a few. Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala stormed bollywood in 1958 with the romantic film.

Shailendra was instrumental in the success of Raj Kapoor’s comedy films Shree 420. His songs “ramaiya vastamaiya”, “mur murke na dekh”, “mera joota hai japani”, became trend-setters in the mid-50s. Shailendra received filmfare for the best lyricist again for the lines “mai gayoon tum so jayo” in Shammi Kapoor’s film Brahmchari in 1968.
Basu Bhattacharya’s film Teesri Kasam was produced by Shailendra in 1966. Raj Kapoor and Wahida Rehman acted in the film and it was critically acclaimed. All the songs in the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan became super hit including “duniya bananewale”, “sajan re jhoot mat bolo”, to name a few. Even his songs in Raj Kapoor’s Sangam was unforgettable including “dost dost na raha”.

Under Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra struck gold in films like Awaara, Jagte Raho, Kanhaiya, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi, Sasural, Junglee, Professor, Dil Ek Mandir, Brahmchari, Deewana, April Fool, Janwar, Mera Naam Joker, Love In Tokyo, Around The World, Suraj, to name a few. Other than Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra wrote memorable lyrics for Salil Choudhury, in films like Do Beegha Zamin, Parakh, etc., for SD Burman in Guide, Bandini, for C. Ramchandran in Anarkali, to name a few.

The contribution of Shailendra was so huge, that it is difficult to highlight the great work of the legendary poet in a small article. In 1966, unfortunately the great poet died, and his pen stopped pouring fragrance in the life of Indians with his romantic thoughts and expressive words. His films and lyrics should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Raj Kapoor.

Happy birthday to Raj Kapoor.

Raj Kapoor is remembered by the nation on his birthday on 14th December, 2009. He was probably the most popular actor of bollywood films of the 40s, 50s and 60s other than Dilip Kumar.

Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor still remain the most popular actors of bollywood cinema in the last 70 years. One of the reasons of their immense success includes the superlative class of music being given to the giant actors by Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan.

Naushad gave classic tunes to Dilip Kumar in the films Uran Khatola, Kohinoor, Mughal-I-Azam, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Aadmi, to name a few. Rafi and Shakeel Badayani were the other players in the deadly combination. Rafi’s songs for Dilip Kumar like “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “woh dur ke musafir”, “tere husn ki kya taarif karun”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”, “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “aaj purani rahon se koi mujhe awaaz na den”, “na aadmi ka koi bharosa”, “do sitaron ka zameen par hai Milan aaj ki raat”, etc., remain one of the greatest creations of all times. If Naushad was unparallel as a composer, Shakeel Badayani was unparallel as a lyricist, Rafi was matchless as singer and Dilip Kumar matchless as an actor.

Producer director Raj Kapoor was the closest competitor of Dilip Kumar during the 40s, 50s and 60s. In fact both the giants had acted together in the film Andaz in 1949. Raj Kapoor’s deadly combination with Shankar Jaikishan had produced super hit films like Barsaat, Aah, Awara, Shree 40, Chori Chori, Anari, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, to name a few. The music of those films were equally popular and successful. Songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey like “ramaiya vasta maiya”, “mur murk e na dekh”, “sab kuch seekha humne”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “o mehbooba”, “dost dost na raha” “aa aab laut chalen”, had not lost their flavor even after 50 years of their creation. As Raj Kapoor had other qualities besides acting including production, direction, editing, etc., he is considered the greatest showman of all times even today.

As far as the compositions of Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan are considered, both the composers had very strong classical orientation. Naushad gave folk tunes to Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jumna sung by Rafi including “nain lad jaiy he” and Lata in “dhoondo dhoondo resaajna”, etc. Shankar Jaikishan gave folk tunes to Raj Kapoor in Teesri Kasam in songs like “chalet musafir” sung by Manna Dey, to name a few.

If Naushad displayed the muslim culture of Lucknow, Aligarh with his classical tunes in films like Leader, Kohinoor, Mughal-i-azam, Shankar Jaikishan displayed the European tunes in Raj Kapoor’s films Sangam, Around the World, etc., where the westernized orchestrations complimented the colourful scenary of the foreign countries. In fact, SJ’s tunes “chale jana zara theheron” showed the brilliance of Lake Erie and Niagra Falls stretching from Canada to USA, and mesmerizing the audience. Even in Sangam, the creation of SJ picturised in the snow-clad Switzerland titled “ishq the ishq, I love you” showed SJ’s capability of adapting to European tunes. The musical fountain in Around the World, showed the brilliance of SJ in the film Around the World.

The lyrics written by Shakeel Badayani in Dilip Kumar’s films where music was composed by Naushad were as innovative as the lyrics written by Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’ films composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The lyrics contained urdu shairy, bhopuri language, ultramodern lyrics, rural language, etc. and appealed to the masses.

Naushad had composed music in more than 15 films of Dilip Kumar and the same is the case of Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’s films. The music of each of those films can be analysed and revisited.

It is impossible to say whether Dilip Kumar’s combination with Naushad was greater than Raj Kapoor’s combination with Shankar Jaikishan, but it is true that the two giants had left assets for generations to cherish which had ended up being masterpieces. New actors, composers, singers, directors learn from the success of the Showman and Tragedy King and the works should be revisited.