
Jaipur,Rajasthan.✍

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TRIBUTE TO SHANKAR JAIKISHAN–30
HUSNLAL BHAGATRAM
SOMETHINGS HAPPEN IN LIFE DIFFERENTLY……FOR EXAMPLE, AS SHANKAR WAS A GOOD DANCER, HE DANCED WITH ‘DHOLAK’, IN ”PYAR KI JEET”, FOR WHICH , STORY, SCREENPLAY, DIALOGUES AND FEW SONGS WERE WRITTEN BY SONG WRITER, RAJENDRA KRISHAN, UNDER THE BANNER OF FAMOUS PICTURES….. AND THE MUSIC DIRECTORS WERE THE THEN FIRST PAIR OF HINDI FILM MUSIC, HUSNLAL BHAGATRAM, AND INCIDENTALLY BOTH WERE BROTHERS TO JOIN THE FILM INDUSTRY……HUSNLAL WAS A GOOD VIOLINIST AND BHAGATRAM WAS A HARMONIUM MASTER……WHEN THEY WERE ASSIGNED THE FILM ”PYAR KI JEET”, SHANKAR WAS THEIR ASSISTANT AND PLAYED ON DHOLAK AND TABLA AND BEING A DANCER HIMSELF. DANCED IN THE FILM AS STATED ABOVE……
…SHANKAR BESIDES DANCING HAD A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC AND WAS INTERESTED TO PLAY DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS…….AND LATER AS A MUSIC DIRECTOR WITH JAIKISHAN, HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON, MAKING TUNES ON SITAR AND PIANO & SHAILENDRA WAS MASTER WRITING SONGS ON HEARING BOTH THE INSTRUMENTS…..THIS WAS A GOD GIFT TO SHAILENDRA……
….IT IS THE DESTINY, THAT SHANKAR MADE PAIR WITH JAIKISHAN AND BOTH WITH A BRILLIANT MIND, WENT ON TO BECOME THE MOST SUCCESSFUL OF MUSIC DIRECTORS, AND HUSNAL BHAGATRAM, WENT INTO OBLIVION WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME….
…HUSNLAL’S FATHER-IN-LAW WAS A WELL ESTABLISHED PERSON AND SUPPORTED HIS SON-IN-LAW, AFTER BEING FAILURE AS MUSIC DIRECTOR, WITH BHAGATRAM…..AND THEN HUSNLAL TOOK TO PLAY VIOLIN….AND BHAGATRAM…..SORRY TO SAY….BEING ALONE , STARTED TO PLAY HARMONIUM UNDER THE DIRECTION OF HIS DISCIPLE, NONE OTHER THAN SHANKAR, WHO ONCE PLAYED DHOLAK AND TABLA UNDER HIS DIRECTION………WHAT WUD U CALL IT….DESTINY?…………to continue…….gshroti@in.com……………
Srigopal Shroti's
TRIBUTES TO SHANKAR JAIKISHAN
VITTHAL BHAI PATEL.•
TUM MUJHE YOUN BHULA NA PAOGE…………..IT was certainly a bad for all music lovers in general and S-J fans in particular……on the demise of Shankarji, all the ‘’swaras” of SAPTAK have gone out of ‘’sur”……they are also reluctant to come out of throat to create a new ”MUKHADA”……..”ONCE UPON A TIME DURING 50s, the then musicians were called ”BAJA PETI MASTER”…… SHANKER JAIKISHAN WELL TRIED TO GIVE THE HINDI FILM ITS DUE RESPECT……BUT ON THEIR TALENT, THEY GOT THE TOP OF THE POPS AND AQUIRED DUE CREDIT TO THEIR MUSIC BUT ALSO THEY BECAME THE HIGHEST PAID MUSIC DIRECTORS…….IT WERE ONLY THEY WHO STARTED THE TREND OF USING 100 PIECE ORCHASTRATION WITH RHYTHM AND MELODY HAVING GOT THEIR BEAUTIFUL SYNCHRONISATION WITH EACH INSTRUMENT INDEPENDENTLY, AND THE SONGS BECAME HITS…….THEIR CREDIT HAD THE ESSENTIALITY OF FILM’S SUCCESS….AND THE FILMS CELEBRATED SILVER JUBILEES ON THE BASIS OF THEIR SONGS.
STARTING FROM PRITHVI THEATRE THE S-J’S MUSIC FLAG FLEW ALL OVER THE WORLD……THEY CREATED A PAIR OF THEMSELVES WHICH WAS LATER FOLLOWED THE OTHER MUSIC DIRECTORS e.g. KALYANJI ANANDJI, SAPAN JAGMOHAN, LAXMI-PYARE…….IT WAS NOT COINCIDENCE THAT THE TUNES MADE BY S-J FOR THEIR FILMS AND WHAT THEY STARTED AS S-J MUSIC, THE LATER COMPOSERS WERE VERY MUCH AFFECTED BY THE ORCHASTRATION AND TUNINGS SIMILAR TO THE S-J’s WHICH WAS EVIDENT IN THEIR FIRST FEW SONGS……BUT THEIR WAS NO RIVALRY, AND OTHER COMPOSERS SOON MADE THEIR OWN WAY.
JAIKISHAN WAS A CHARMING AND VERY FRIENDLY WITH OTHERS WHOM HE MET, BUT SHANKAR KEPT HIMSELF RESERVED, AND EGOIST FOR FEW…..BUT THAT DOES NOT SEEM FROM THE MUSIC HE RENDERED…..IT MAY BE PEOPLE’S MISCONCEPTION.
PATELJI WRITES THAT HE WAS A LITTLE BIT SCARED THE WITH SO FAMOUS,AND HIS FAVOURITS MUSIC DIRECTOR, HOW HE WILL DEAL WITH AND WRITE SONGS FOR HIM. BUT WHEN HE MET SHANKAR, HIS FEAR WENT AWAY AND FOR ”SANYASI” HE WROTE ”BALI UMARIA BHAJAB KARUN KAISE”……SHANKER ALSO PROMOTED SUMAN KALYANPUR, NEERAJ, VERMA MALIK, PT.VISHWESHWAR SHARMA AND PATELJI HIMSELF…..THE DUO IN THE BEGINNING ITSEF PROVED THAT ANY FILM CAN CELEBRATE SILVER JUBILEE ONLY ON THE BASIS OF THEIR COMPOSITIONS….HE ALSO RECORDED ONE SONG OF PATELJI FOR ‘DO JHOOTH”……HIS HUMBLE HOMAGE:
”KAL HAM JAHAN MEIN RAHENGE NANIN,
YAADEN HAMARI RAHENGI YAHIN.”’
……to


TRIBUTE TO SHANKAR JAIKISHAN (28th eisode)–PREMNATH•
Srigopal Shroti
PREMNATH, RAJ KAPOOR’S B-IN-LAW WAS ALSO A PART OF THE PRITHVI THEATRE…..AND WAS PLAYING THE ROLES AS ASSIGNED BY PRITHVIRAJ KAPOOR…..HE WAS ALSO IN LEAD ROLE ALONGWITH RAJKAPOOR IN ”BARSAAT”. …IN HIS WORDS: ”’WHILE DOING PLAYS WITH PRITHVI I GOT TO PRACTISE MUSIC WITH THEIR MUSICIANS….RAM GANGULI WAS THE MUSIC DIRECTOR….WE HAD SHANKAR ON THE TABLA AND JAIKISHAN ON HARMONIUM EARNING Rs40/- and Rs.60/- A MONTH….AFTER REHEARSALS WE WILL SIT LATE INTO THE NIGHT FOR OUR SESSIONS. ….SHANKAR JAIKISHAN USED TO COMPOSE TUNES AND MADE ME LISTEN TO A FEW…..AROUND THAT TIME RAJ KAPOOR WAS ON THE LOOK OUT FOR A MUSIC DIRECTOR FOR BARSAAT. …I ASKED HIM TO LISTEN TO THESE…RAJ HEARD TWO TUNES AND THE REST IS HISTORY……
SHANKAR NEVER FORGOT MY GESTURE. WHEN MY FRIEND MAJOR AHLUWALIA WAS MAKING A FILM ON HIS HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION AND COULDN’T AFFORD A BIG MUSIC DIRECTOR, I APPROACHED SHANKAR….HE READILY AGREED TO PROVIDE THE MUSIC FREE. AND IT GOT THE DUO PADMASHRI…..SHANKAR WAS A NICE CHAP. GOD BLESS HIM.””…..SO WERE THE EMOTIONS OF THE PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS WITH WHOM S-J WORKED. AND WITH THEIR MUSICIANS TOO, WHO PLAYED ON THEIR TUNES WHILE RECORDING A SONG. AND THE MUSICIANS WERE DEPENDENT FOR LIVING ON THE WORK OR FILMS MUSIC DIRECTORS SIGNED.
AND IT WAS SHANKAR WHO WILL HILLARIOUSLY COME TO THE MUSIC ROOM AFTER SIGNING FILMS AND ADDRESS THE WORKING MUSICIANS THAT HE HAD SIGNED SO MANY FILMS AND DON’T WORRY FOR MONEY…..”KHOOB BAJAO”…
"Ke mar ke bhi kisi ko yaad aaenge
Kisi ke aansuon mein muskuraenge
Kahega phool har kali se baar baar
Jeena isi ka naam hai"
Shailendra was born in Rawalpindi on 30th August 1923 as Shankardas Kesrilal Shailendra. He was the eldest of the four sons of Parvati Devi and Sri Kesrilal. During his childhood days his family moved to Mathura for good but the accidental death of his mother after the shift caused a deep pain for Shailendra, which almost turned him an atheist. Shailendra started his career with the orthodox method of joining the government organization and lead his secure life. His job in Indian Railways brought him to the city of Bombay in 1947, when the Indian freedom struggle was at its best. The stereotype and technical aspect of his job was totally out of line with is artistic nature. He spent more of his duty hours writing poetry than toiling in the workshop. His Incharge always used to complain about his working habits and was the cause of general resentment.
Shailendra considered his life as his real poetry. He used to derive inspiration from his walks along Juhu beach every morning. He wrote songs for almost all occasions of life, let alone ordinary situations. Those lyrics were vibrantly alive, in the sense they went far beyond the context of the film situation for which they were intended, and lived on long after the film itself had passed from memory. There is a Shailendra song for any emotion, any situation, from birth to death, such was his versatility.
Raj Kapoor with whom Shailendra gave his best, heard him in a 'Kavi Sammelan' when he was reciting one of his poem. Raj Kapoor saw an emerging star for Indian history and expressed his desire to buy his poems. Shailendra, the young patriot blood refused to do so. But due to some domestic reasons and responsibilities, Shailendra approached Raj Kapoor and agreed to his terms. His first project was 'Barsaat'. Shailendra wrote his first song 'Barsat Mein Tum Se Mile Hum Sajan..' for Raj Kapoor. Eventually, Barsat was also the first film for the emerging music director duo Shankar-Jaikishan. The film proved very successful and after the success of Barsaat Raj Kapoor, Shankar-Jaikishan and Shailendra always worked together.
No doubt, Shailendra gave his best with Shankar-Jaikishan, but he shared equally pleasant rapport with musical giants of those days, like Salil Chowdhary, S. N. Tripathi and S.D. Burman. He was an active member of Progressive Writers' association and one of the founder members of Indian Peoples' Theatre (IPTA). Shailendra won the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist thrice. Out of the three two were won in consecutive years. The first came in 1958 for the song 'Ye Mera Deewanapan Hai..' from the film Yahudi, and the second in 1959 for 'Sab Kuch Seekha Ham Ne..' from Anari. In 1968 Shailendra won it again for the third time for 'Main Gaaoon Tum So Jao..', from the film Brahmachari.
It is quite ironical that for the man who loved life so much, the spectra of death always haunted him. He was obsessed by death. There was no fear involved, but a kind of helplessness drew him towards it. His producing Teesri Kasam caused him several heart aches and it was also the ultimate cause of his death. Shailendra was admitted to the hospital on December 13, 1966. Shailendra died on the following day, which also happened to be Raj Kapoor's birthday. Lyricist Shailendra is most remembered for his outstanding achievements with Raj Kapoor and Shankar-Jaikishan in almost all the R.K. films. His death on December 14, 1966 saw one of the leading lights of the film industry extinguished.