Rafi’s greatest success with Rajender Kumar, Shankar Jaikishan and Naushad
This article is written by Mr. Souvik Chatterji
Mohd Rafi with Rajendra Kumar
Rafi had a dream run in the 60s, mainly in the films of Jubilee Kumar, Rajender Kumar for more than a number of reasons. Firstly Rajender Kumar acted in the production and direction of biggest banners of bollywood in the 60s. Secondly from 1963 to 1966, all his films ended up in silver jubilee showing his immense popularity and strong presence in the box-office. Shankar Jaikishan was equated with God in the early 60s and the main reason of the box-office success of Jubillee Kumar’s films was the superlative music given to him by both SJ and Naushad.Â
In the film Ayee Milan Ki Bela, all the songs of SJ, picturised on Rajender Kumar and sung by Rafi became super hit The immortal songs include “mai pyar ka diwana“, “aha aye Milan ki bela“, “tum khamseen ho“, “to bura maan gaye“, “o sanam tere ho gaye hum“. Rajender Kumar and Saira Banu’s online chemistry in the film helped in the success of the film.
SJ’s composition in the film Aarzoo, Humrahi and Sasural for Rajender Kumar and Rafi were equally rich. The brilliant songs include “chalke teri aankhose“, “ae nargisi mastana“, “aji ruth kar ab“, “yeh aansoo meri dil ki zubaan hai“, “teri pyari pyari surat ko“, “mujhko apne gale laga lo“, to mention a few. Sadhna complimented the powerful performance of Rajender Kumar in Aarzoo.
The brilliant combination of Rafi, SJ and Rajender Kumar, continued in the film Dil Ek Mandir and Jhuk Gaya Aasman. Prominent songs include “yaad na jaye“, “jahan koi nahi“, “dil ek mandir hai“, “o priya kaun hai jo sapno me aya“, “kahan chal diye“, to mention a few. SJ Rafi and Rajender Kumar continued in the film Aman, where songs like “surahidar garden koel si hi awaz” still mesmerizes the listeners.Â
Mohd Rafi with Rajendra Kumar
Rafi, Rajender Kumar and SJ created history even in the film Suraj. The songs “kaise samjhayun“, “chehere pe giri zulfein“, “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe“, “baharon phool barsao” had become immortal over the years. Rajender Kumar and Vaijayantimala’s screen presence were as majestic as the voice of Rafi and the quality of music of Shankar Jaikishan. The other films where the magic combination of Rafi, Rajender Kumar and Shankar Jaikishan made people speechless include Zindagi and Sangam, with the prominent songs being “pehle milethe sapno me” and “meherban likhoon“.
A big section of music lovers agree that had Jaikishan not died in 1971, Rafi’s dominance in bollywood music not suffered at all. In fact SJ’s tunes were brilliant and were specifically catered towards the likings of common mass. They were not that technical which could not reach the audience. Besides SJ gave tunes in around 10 films per years all along the 50s and 60s, the era when Rafi was unbeatable. RD Burman’s domination in the 70s would have got very strong resistence had Jaikishan survived few years more. The immortal lyrics of Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri also ended with the sad expiry of Jaikishan in 1971.
In the case of Naushad, his gharana was so classically oriented, that his composition for an actor had changed the destiny of the actor. Although Naushad and Rafi’s combination was associated mainly with respect to Tragedy King Dilip Kumar, he preserved a huge treasure of music for Rajender Kumar as well.
Mere Mehboob, stands out as probably one of the greatest creations of Naushad ever in the history of bollywood music. All the songs of Rafi for Rajender Kumar, including “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhobbat ki kasam“, “tumse izhaar-e-haal kar baithe“, “ai husn zara jag tujhe ishq jagaye” had revealed the royal elite culture of Aligarh and Lucknow in the form of shayri and ghazals. Rajender Kumar and Sadhna were at their best in the film.
Naushad and Rafi were sublime in Rajender Kumar’s film Palki. The song “dil-e-betaab ko sine se lagana hoga” shows the class of Naushad. Although Naushad utilized Rafi to perfection in Rajender Kumar’s Ganwar, he used Mukesh in major songs of the film Saathi due to pressure of the producer and director.
Rafi and Rajender Kumar were blessed with the immortal creations of Shankar Jaikishan and Naushad in the 60s and the films and the songs should be preserved as rich assets of the nation which can be cherished for generations after generations.Â
Souvik Chatterji, the author of this article
Â
IT IS ON YOU TUBE
Can someone kindly let me know if there was any interviews given by Rajendra Kumar on Mohd Rafi because in my opinion Rajendra Kumar’s sucess was a lot to do with Mohd Rafi and I’m yet to hear RK praise Mohd Rafi or mention him in any interview?
Matchless voices ion and matchless combination sweet & classical rafi & lata
ya obviously rafi is the glory of india he had magical voice man no bady can compare with rafi saheb and shammi kapur n rajendra kumar had do alot of superhit songs forever n another singer did but not the level of rafi saheb except lata mangeshker c is also the glory of india
dear fans of sj and rafi iam die heart fan of sj their music always been inspired me and echos till date in my ears, sj were not only legendry music cpmposers but they were gods angles who invented such a music that is beyond the limits of other music composers. today media might hilight rd madan mohan etc but they can not be copmared to sj and music lover can fell it easily.
dear raviprasad and das you are both rightly pointed the betrayal of rk towards shankarji after jai death. was!nt sj music greatest strength of rk films but unfortunately rk letdown shankar when he needs his support . but rk cleverly used sj music in all his films whoever may be md of his film.As astaunch fan of sj i cannot forgive rk for his unkind act. we can not imagine rk film without sj music . i am a diehardfan of sj from the days of sangam days. longlive sj and their music inthis world
utthara Says, and all other friends,
Rajendra kumar was the greatest entertainer and also a great actor of indian cinema .But you are humilating him here.you should not do it.
Rajensra kumar was king of romance.
The association of mohd. rafi rajinder kumar and shankar jaikishan have given a numberless hit tunes like kaun hai jo sapno main aaya,baharo phool barsao teri pyari pyari surat ko yad na jaye,khuda bhi aasman se,e phoolon ki rani,kahan chal diye,hum ne jafa na seekhi,chalke teri aankhon se, chehre pe giri zulfe,yeih aansoo mere dil ki zuban hai,pahley miley the sapno main and many many more super hit songs.these songs are stilll very popular. in fact shankar jaikishan was very popular at that time and they were giving hit after hit the untimely death of wizard jaikishan changed the situation entirely otherwise they would have ruled the world of music in the coming years mohd.rafi and shankar jaikishan will always remain in the heart of music lovers.
It was indeed a treat to read all those comments posted above on SJ! In all, apart from Sudarshan Panday, who I believe is indeed a “die hard” SJ fan, the comment posted by Ravi Prasad hit a raw nerve so far as facts are concerned….kudos to you, my friend! I share with you your honest view in that had Raj Kapoor not ditched Shankar after Jai’s demise things would certainly been better, at least for Shankar! What I am trying to say is this….right from the word “go” ie. from Bobby to SSS to Prem Rog to Ram Teri Ganga Maili to Heena, the “ghost” of SJ was evident in every film including their background scores!!! To cap this episode, RK had to lift a Jaikishan tune which became the chart buster in Ram Teri….! All this happened when Shankar was still around! Rightly put, as Ravi mentioned towards the end of his blog, LAW OF KARMA….LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO rAJ KAPOOR AND HIS FAMILY or rather the RK banner….Gone with the wind!
Das
Even now a Shankar Jaikishan fan!
Shanker would have still reigned after Jaikishen’s death if Raj Kapoor had not ditched him. I am surprised that no one wishes to acknowledge this.
Raj Kapoor ditching Shanker led other producers to follow suit thinking that Shanker could no longer give music. Raj Kapoor hit Shanker below the belt. I think this was the most low down act he ever did. I lost all respect for Raj Kpoor.
Law of Karma…………look what happened to Raj Kapoor and his family.
Pande g,
Not only sj but lp is also neglected.surprisingly rd is preferred over sdb.in fact it’s fast time youth want dance numbers .asha,kishore,rdb,ar rahman are liked.songs of rdb are further remixed.who remembers rafi sa,sj lp,madan g,jaidev.youth send sms .talent is decided on sms otherwise no one can pass sj.
i was greatly impressed by shankarjaikishan music since 1955 to this date inspite of bad patches come in life carreer and gave me full support for survive. now i am running 65 urs and programming s-j music shows in maharashtra agnaist madia.
Dada,
I think Rajendra Kumar belonged to the world of ‘dead souls’.. lifeless actors. Rafi was the singer for ‘dead souls’.. may his soul rest in peace.
On the other hand, Kishore Kumar still rules in the days of modernity both in terms of style and music.
SJ would have been a greater force had they used Kishore Kumar more often.
One should not forget that Kishore Kumar was the voice of the 2 megastars that our generation saw.. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. I don’t think without Kishore Kumar’s rendering these guys could have scaled such heights.
Thanks,
Partha Chatterjee.
All SJ fans
Have been a great SJ fan for decades. They were the only composers who possessed the rare ability to make majority of the songs in their films hits. If a movie had say 8-9 songs, at least 7-8 would be runaway hits, in some cases all of them were so superb you couldn’t choose one over the other. Which MD had that ability? Melody was their forte and they ruled the hearts of millions. No one will forget them, they are immortal. Damn the media. They cannot falsify facts. S-J will live in the hearts of all music lovers. With due respect to other MDs none matched SJ in their mastery of melodious compositions. Even average actors like Joy Mukherjee, Biswajeet had movies celebrating siliver jubilees only because of SJ’s music. No one can match them. Long live SJ!!!
Ramesh
Mr Girish & Ms Utthara-thanks for correcting me on the music director for the film Bawarchi. Somehow I was under the wrong impression it was Vasant Desai. It is really in a different style from the typical Madan Mohan touch and this may be one more reason I got it wrong.
In Mumbai, three shankar-jaikishan musicals were held – recent times. they all were well attended.
there should be more musicals of sj, l and p, ravi-chitragupta-roshan for a change.
and, good songs, not commonly heard must be played, for there are sections of starving music lovers – who would lap them up.
binu nair, mumbai rafi foundation
Girishji, youa re right. The music director of Bawarchi is Madan Mohan. Vasant Desai scored muisc for Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Guddi and Ashirwad.
Utthara
it is the fault of tv reporter and editor who does not know about shankar jaikishens contribution in hindi songs. not the falut of manna dey
in fact in several interviews, manna dey said that shankar jai are his favourite music director. they have changed his life. he even rates SJ ahead of sachin dev and rahul dev
manna will definitely speaks very highly about sj. but if it is not asked or edited in table, what can he done?
Siva ji – post 31
It was indeed Madan Mohan who composed music for Bawarchi and not Vasant Desai. Probably, by mistake you might be referring to “Ashirwad” or “Guddi”. in which Vasant Desai saab has given fabulous music.
Pandey ji-refer post 28
I also felt very bad about the neglect of S-J in total recall program on Manna Dey sahab. In fact it was Manna Dey himself who narrated an episode in Vividh Bharati few years back (Ujale unki yaadon ki program) that it was due to Shankar’s insistence that he got a chance in Chori Chori in spite of the producers AVM(of South) who always preferred Mukesh(remember how even Naushad had to go for Mukesh in Saathi-again by AVM).
The reason for such laspes could be that you cannot do justice to a legend like Manna Dey in a short 30minute program(with 15 minutes commercial break!!!!) and also due to the present generation’s frog-in-the well attitude. For them hindi film music starts and ends with RDB.
There was one more mistake about the music director of the film Bawarchi-it was mentioned as Madanmohan, but to the best of my knowledge it was by another genius-Vasant Desai.Knowledegable people may throw some light on this.
Pandey ji,
If I’m not mistaken, when shammi ji issued the clarion call that turned every citizen in the nation into a junglee, it was though shankar ji. And when shammi ji realised that our budtameezi had gone totally out of control, he put us to sleep (main gaoon tum so jao), again through shankar ji. Is that correct?
Sudarshanji:
You are right that media can affect peoples’ perception. But, personally speaking, they cannot misguide a ‘true’ music follower. Actually much of the true music lovers have long shunned the media. It’s not S-J who are being ill-treated, L-P are, as well. I wouldn’t be far off target if I say that for the media, there is only one MD who goes by the name R D Burman.
But then, Sudarshanji, can these channels, their anchors, their programme creators change our perception? Or do you think they are any better music followers than we are? And personally speaking again, most of the Rafi admirers (even the young ones) are musically more ‘enlightened’ than these media folks. Let the media declare to the world what they want, why we should bother? What we can do, instead, is to spread the good old music of the ’50s and ’60s among the (musically inclined) youth and believe me, they would become life long addicts to it.
Dear Anil ji,
you are right that media can not decide. But at least they can block some news. A fresh wound in this matter. In a programme ‘Total Recall’, a weekly program that is aired on Times Now channel Manna Dey completely wiped out chapter of Shankar jaikishan from his memories, did not mention their names. Waht I feel that he might have gone in reverse gear and praised them who did not offer him many songs, not expoited his potential. They never took risk to make him sing Romantic Songs for top of the cream actors like raj kapoor, rajendra kumar, raaj kumar and even for a rebellian star like shammi kapoor. one of sj fans Mr. K s prakash who expressed deep disappointment and anguish regarding the contents of the programme informed,– “Leave alone the songs picked by the channel, mostly of RDB/SDB/LP/KA and other, there was no mention of Shanker-Jaikishan; either by the anchor or Manna Dey. Three songs (aja sanam, yeh raat bheegi and yei bhai zara) of SJ were played the credit was given to RajKapoor. Manna Dey was heard singing praises about SDB/RDB/KA/MM and others saying they have given some of the greatest hits etc etc”
Whereas this Manna Daa has always (even his autobiography) has mentioned that he owed to them. what any one can think over this episode?? Either pressure of media or Manna Daa has got tired of mentioning shanker jaikishan?? I think Manna Daa himself knows the best answer. He will not betray them, but it was necessary at that programme to recall them too.
Rafi Sahab ke baare mein to main padhna jyaada pasant karta hoon. He was only on whom Shanker and Jaikishen both had great faith and trust. They never bypassed his suggestions and advices be it for their composition for the film or their equation in their personal life as sj duo.
Regards
DEAR FRIENDS I HAVE FOUND RARE STUDIO RECORDING OF FILM:GANWAAR YOU WILL FIND NAUSHAD SAAB RAFI SAAB AND RAJENDRA KISHEN COMMENTRY BY AMEEN SAYANI SAAB I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THIS VIDEO WITH EVERY BODY KINDLY VISIT THIS LINK TO WATCH THIS SONG TAKE CARE
http://rafifanblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/studio-recording-naushad-saab-rafi-saab.html
Please accept my compliments, Sauvikji for a nice article. Thank you very much.
Sudarsan Pandeyji, Thank you so much for the inputs. These kinds of informations are very valuable to relatively younger people here in the site. Please carry on writing more on S-J and their associationship with Rafisahab. Please don’t worry much about what media say about S-J. It’s not the media who made S-J what they are and it’s not the media who are not going to decide S-J’s place in the history of HFM.
Dear Souvikji, you have done superb job. When Rafi Sb sings for Rajendar Kumar, no one can feel that there is any singer behind. This is the the quality of Rajendar Kumar that he act well on any kind of song according to situation and what we can say about our Rafi Sb. No compare of the true maestro. we can say that the equation is true as………….. SJ+RJ+MR=Best……………………
Long Live Rafi Sb
Regards,
-Imran-
While I had mentioned about some of the leading songs of RK, SJ Rafi combination and RK, Rafi and Naushad combination, I did not reflect the other factor which was very significant. Rajender Kumar developed his career in the same footsteps of Dilip Kumar and generally the same section of the audience who loved decent, cultured reflection of romantic characters in the 60s saw those films.
They could identify themselves in the songs of Rafi for both Rajender Kumar and Dilip Kumar.
Most of the songs composed by SJ had the lyrics of Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, while the ones composed by Naushad had the lyrics of Shakeel Badayani.
The lyrics were very rich and addressed the elite class of India abroad. The lyrics of the songs “dil-e-betaab ko sine se lagana hoga”, or “tujhse izhaar -e-haal kar baithe”, or “chalke teri ankhose”, or “khuda bhi aasma se jab zameen par dekhta hoga”, etc., can stand out as some of the most rich lyrics that were ever written in the history of bollywood films.
From the 70s, when the next generation of composers took over from SJ or Naushad, the lyrics of the songs lost their richness, in fact the next generation of lyricists never matched the standard of Shailendra or Hasrat Jaipuri or Majrooh Sultanpuri, or Shakeel Badayani or Sahir Ludhiyanvi, to name a few.
Rafi was blessed with the best music and the best lyrics of all times.
The songs mentioned in the article in the context of RK, SJ rafi combination and RK Naushad Rafi combination should be revisited in that perspective too.
Souvik Chatterji.
Dear Halder ji,
Namaskar,
Actually I should not have given my earlier post of y/day. It was done in hurry so matters are scattered there, since simultaneously I was working with my boss.
This forum is dedicated to Rafi Sahab, i would take permission to talk on sj for few painful experience that now a days it has been fashion to neglect Shanker Jaikishen by media ; specially shanker ji is the main target for maligning his image as music director. You can click this page and you will find its prove
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/Article/ArticlePage.aspx?Id=722daf39-a0be-4981-84a8-54f5c70db431
second evident is;
http://www.screenindia.com/news/i-would-love-to-visit-pakistan-lata/293653/
where mention of SJ in the list of Lata’s favourite has been deleted knowingly by SCREEN itself though Lata ji had mentioned their name. When I wanted to post my objection which was as under ;[(It is beyond imagination that such great music directors can be treated like this.
Can any music lover worth his salt deny Shankerji,s contribution in general music & in bringing beautiful wonderful orchestra of the western world to Indian audience moulding it in an Indianised manner Even those who did not like him had accepted his genious. They can remove his name , but can these people imagine where Indian music will be , if they had removed his compositions from Indian music world? It would be still struggling in the 18nth century .)] the page is denying to accept my comment.
So we should, be it fan of Md. Rafi, RD, SDB, LP or anyone else, oppose this attitude of media.
woould like to share more, but for now…bye Sir
Regards
sp/kol
dear halder ji & sabnavees ji
i am really grateful to you for addressing me. sj’s fans are not hiding but they are at different platforms.There is a group on yahoo on shankarjaikishan. the url being
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/shankarjaikishan
please come there. I also invite you and other sj fans to visit my another blog, that is:-
http://shankarjaikishan.wordpress.com
I have also started, you may please see-
http://www.filmfare.com/CommunityHome.jsp?CommunityID=11 – 44k
I shall ever grateful to you if you kindly contact me at
shankerjai@yahoo.com
siva ji, raj kapoor was badly economically affected after debacle of mera naam joker, he wanted something different. Since he was not to lead in bobby, he might have thought for fresh team. but at the same time before taking his ‘genda maharaaj’ (rajkapoor used to call shanker ji with affection), he switched to lp. but it is sad that he never came back to shankerji.
Souvik ji once i have taken your article for my other blogs on shanker-jaikishen duo. you are just fantastic. i had also informed you on your e-mail id. hope you won’t mind, but i have mentioned the link and acknowledged the courtesy. I would also refer this url to my friends on the group.
Regards to all of you
One of the Rajendra Kumar movie having Naushad’s music was “Mother India”. SJ also gave music for “HUMRAHI” with songs like “Ae AAnsoon Mere”, “Wo Din Yaad Karo” and “Muzhko Apne” and “AMAN” which had wonderful songs like “Aaj KI Raat”, “Ae Husn Pari Chehra”, “Surahigar Gardan” and of course, the title song.
Infact, even LP gave good music for RK in films like Anjaana, Aap Aaye Bahar Aayee and Gora Aur Kala.
The combo of RK-MR was one golden period of the Hindi Film Industry.
mr sauvik,
your post – 12,
first of all your photograph i really admire. its damn smart.
now coming to the team yes shankar had a fall after the departure of jai kishen. but he had the heart break much before the deparuture of jaikishen.
the duo shankar- jaikishen had a mutual understanding as regards the composing tunes & arranging music. in fact both were experts in composing tunes. but it was never revealed to the public who has composed tune for which song under their direction. it was jaikishen only who had leaked out during sangam days that he has composed the tune for a particular song. there came the heart break for shankar. in spite of this shankar was continuing with the name shankar- jaikishen till the end even after the demise of jaikishen.
shankar singh raghuvanshi in short known as shankar hailed from panjab who latter settled in hyderabad. but people mistake him as a hyderabadi. similarly the music director iqbal qureshi hails from hyderabad but so many people do not know about this. shankar was a dholak player in baisakhi festivals. jaikishen dayabhai panchal in short jaikishen was a carpenter by profession but playing harmonium was his passion. both of them were brought to the common platform by the prithviraj kapoor. they were given a break in the prithvi theatres. the passion of jaikishen to play harmonium had developed him to the stage of introducing accordion & it was the pivotal instrument in almost all the songs of sj. accordion was very sweetly & effectively played either by enoch danniles sahab or by sumit mitra sahab.
but what ever it is we got the best of melodious music from sj from 50s till 69.
of course lakshmikant ji was highly motivated by jaikishen & had even copied the mannerisms of jaikishen by holding a white napkin all the times.
this all comes when we like some one & treat him as our mentor mentally.
Can anyone tell me why Raj Kapoor did not give any song after Mera Naam Joker to Rafi sahab. To the best of my knowledge every RK film used to have one Rafi song -the last in Mera Naam Joker was Sadqe heer tujhpe hum fakir .
Was this due to SJ not scoring music after MNJ?
If you hear the song Sadqe heer tujhpe, the last line is “tere dhar per aakhri baar aaye”–may be Rafi sahab came to RK’s dhar pe aakhri baar in this film……..
Dear Halderji,
Shubho nobobarsho.
As my grandmother died two days back I am gurudasha as you know hindu customs. So I could not heartily wish bengali new year to you all the readers of this Forum.
Thanks for reminding about the issue relating to Shailendra.
I accept the fact that Shailendra died in late 60s and he also produced the realistic film Teesri Kasam directed by Basu Bhattacharya.
Actually reference of SJ without Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri would have been incomplete. By meaning that the lyrics of talented Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri ended with Jaikishan I wanted to mean that the team got disintegrated.
In fact I also forgot to refer about Dattaram and Sebastian who were assistants of SJ and who contributed to the team as a whole.
Please keep posting your views Mr. Halder.
Souvik Chatterji.
Good article. Let me add a few more Rafisaab-Rajendra Kumar- S.J. movies, Aas ka Panhchhi, Zindgi, Dharti, Shatranj. Irrespective of the fact that one of two of these films might not be as successful as other movies from these combo, the songs from these films were a treat (though to lesser extent as far Shatranj is concerned).
As regards, Rajendra Kumar-Naushadsaab combo, there are six movies in all, viz. Mere Mehboob, Palki, Sathi, Ganwar Tangewala and Sunehra Sansar wherein except Saathi, Naushadsaab opted for Rafisaab. While music of Mere Mehboob and Palki was exceptional, that of Ganwar and Tangewala and Sunehra Sansar, lacked the quality of legendary Naushadsaab (its my personal opinion).
Another music director Ravi needs to be mentioned here. Besides Rajendra Kumar’s debut film Vachan, Raviji also gave music in RK’s other movies viz. Devar Bhabhi, Ghar Sansar, Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan, Gharana, Gehra Daag and Pyar Ka Sagar. Ravisaab utilised Rafisaab in all these movies (kindly correct me if I am wrong anywhere) and these movies contain memorable songs by Rafisaab: Jab liya hath me hath from Vachan, Chhedo Dhoom matwalon ki in Ghar Sansar, title song of Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan, Husna Wale Tera Jawab Nahin, Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hain and Jai Raghunandan Jai Siyaram from Gharana, Aaj Udata Huva Ek Panchhi and Tumhe Pa Ke maine jahan pa liya hain from Gehra Daag and Mujhe Pyar Ki Zindagi Dene Wale from Pyar Ka Sagar.
With regards.
I think Rafisaab’s combination with OP Nayyar was also excellent! Rafi-SJ and Rafi-OP combination were best. Unfortunately OP never composed any film of Rajendra Kumar, otherwise it would have been excellent combination!!
Dear pandey ji,
namashkar! Where have all the sj fans been hiding? People like you should come to this site more often. This site is becoming infested with panchamites and khandwalas of the worst type; reading their comments makes my blood boil.
Souvik is a proud bongosontan and a great fan of sj. But we need many more people like him to write about sj-rafi, rather than write 1200 posts on an md whose contributions to rafiana pale in front of sj’s.
Jai shankar, jai kishan.
jai siba(stian), jai (datta)ram.
And jai to the rest of the sj team. What music they gave us!
Dear Souvik ji,
Lot of thanks for your reply. First of all I would like to convey that nor mera nam joker, but kal aaj aur kal was the last film for rk by sj both. shakti samanta took SJ in jaane anjaane
I did not wanted to say that in your writing there was intention to undermine the immense talent of Shankar. I just wanted to convey that just after Jai’s demise a big section in film world started to spit venom against shankerji and there was campaign to malign him by establishing that shanker was nothing without jaikishan. People made there effort to undermine Shankerji and were successful in their drive. But people like you (who are writer/artists) should at least refrain from saying this in line. I donot blame you, i just conveyed it because a general perception was created.
At this juncture the whole Kapoors (Raj, Shammi & Shashi, Randhir and Rishi) left him like nothing. While this is a fact that specially in all RKfilms shanker had a lion’s share in composing tunes for more number of lyrics. Some rkfilms had only one or two jaikishan compositions.
shankerji was a bit sharp and straight forward person who fought for musician’s right, was adamant to use Manna Dey’s voice for Rajendra Kumar for “muskura laadle muskura..” and using his voice for Basant Bahaar, raising their (own) fee, etc. etc.
After 1966 due to pressure of work, they started to give music independently for separate films,(some blame Sharda’s entry for it and made this issue moles to mountain) but the background scores always were by Jaikishan. In some special cases, they use to come together, to give music for shammi kapoor films and films of other producer/directors who wanted songs from both of them and S & J used to oblige their request. Like in Jaikishanji’s last film ‘Andaz’ there was two Shanker’s songs. Even, the film ‘Ankhon-Ankhon Mein’ was completed by Shankerji which was signed by Jaikishan. I may recall one issue of Screen then in which it was published that SJ was signed for sholay, but this was not shanker’s subject.
And dear souvik, sj’s association was with rajendra kumar, rk, shammi kapoor and other actors, who too were gradually loosing their charm. New generation actors were emerging at that time.
So there was lot of factors behind sj banner’s bad days, but shailendra and jaikishan were vital factors indeed.
you must have noted that now a days, they are more listened but less talked about. no one want to mention their contribution. but thanks god no one in the word can point a fingure to him and that is why Rafi Saheb is still great.
Thanks a lot to bear with me.
Dear Souvik,
You write good articles but I’d request you one more time to do a little more time before you write things like: “the immortal lyrics of Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri also ended with the sad expiry of Jaikishan in 1971.” Shailendra passed away more than four years before Jai did. And he worked mainly with the Shankar half of the duo. Your article will be read by a large number of people, including teenagers, and it is important that you don’t get your facts wrong. You and I may differ in our opinions — that’s natural — but you should try to stay as close as possible to the facts. You might want to request pradeep ji to make the correction.
I commend you for writing a good article and hope to see more from you in the near future.
Dear AS Murthyji,
Thanks a lot for your compliments.
In reply to the issue raised by Sudershanji, the impact of Jaikishan’s death in 1971 can be explained a bit further.
Those banners where Shankar Jaikishan composed music in the 60s, were lost after the death of Jaikishan. It was not due to lack of competence of Shankar but to loss of the team as a whole.
Biggest example was Raj Kapoor. The last music used in RK Banner by SJ was in Mera Naam Joker in 1971 during Jaikishan’s lifetime. After his death Raj Kapoor switched to LP in Bobby in 1973 and continued with him in Satyam Shivam Sundaram during the lifetime of Shankar.
GP Sippy used SJ during lifetime of Jaikishan in the film Andaz in 1971. GP Sippy switched to RD Burman in Seeta Aur Geeta in 1972, Sholay in 1975, onwards. Shankar was alive but it was unfortunate that those producers did not use him.
Shakti Shamanta used SJ in Shammi Kapoor’s films like An Evening in Paris and Pagla Kahin Ka in the 60s. The same Shakti Samanta switched to RD Burman in Kati Patang and Amar Prem in the 70s.
Although Shankar composed music in many films in the 70s including Sanyasi, Resham Ki Dori, etc. , the loss of big banners to other composers could not allow him to maintain the domination just like that of 60s.
So obviously Jaikishan’s death was a big blow for Shankar and also music lovers across the country.
In this writing there is no intention to undermine the immense talent of Shankar who was a genius of genius for whom the country can be proud about.
Souvik Chatterji.
Grt8 and superb article souvikji. really detailed information you have given to us on SJ, Rajendrakumar and Rafisahab.
Dear Sudarshanji,
Thanks for your query.
Yesterday my grandmother Mrs Sabita Chatterji, died at the age of 90 years. For praying for her departed soul I could not reply to your concern in the article.
In respect of Jaikishan’s death, I did not want to mean that Shankar’s effort were of less value than Jaikishan and both were stalwarts in their own esteem. I congratulate you to let the readers know about Shankar’s association with Shailendra as Jaikishan’s works were more with Hasrat Jaipuri.
In respect of the death of Jaikishan, when both the latents had worked together they had produced gems. Shankar was a very committed composer so maintained the banner SJ, even after death of Jaikishan, where he could have put his own name in the late 70s, when Jaikishan were no more.
My point was that during the period of domination of SJ, Rafi had a dream run, as the statistics show that they had given music in films of Rajender Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Biswajeet, Joy Mukherjee, etc., all were indebted to Rafi.
While other composers like Roshan, or Ghulam Mohammad gave music in selected films, SJ were phenomenon in the 60s.
So Jaikishan’s death did matter, without undermining the huge talent of Shankar as well.
Souvik Chatterji.
I would like to add to my previous reply that take any of Shanker’s solo film after Jai’s death, you will not find any weakness in his tunes – be it from ‘door naheen manzil’, ‘dhoop chhaon’, ‘eent ka jawab patthar’ (one kishore song – “ahista-ahista judne de ye rishta” was superb)’Naari”, ‘dil, daulat aur duniya’, ‘waqt ka sikander’ (music was released on weston tapes and records) etc etc ********* and ‘gori hai kalaiyaan’ song from his last film ‘gori’ yes i repeat the name of the film, ‘gori’…..one will find 100 percent smililarity of bappi lahiri’s gori hai kalaiyaan from aaj ka arjun, though shankerji has recorded this song in aarati mukherjee’s voice before his death (in 1987). had this song be released with its film, it would have been sure hit. but as i have said in my previous reply that bad luck was after shanker. shankerji had said in one interview that “agar jaikishan jinda rehta aur main mar jaata, tab bhi log yehi kehte’ he was right to say that. but indeed the scenario would have some different because jaikishan ji’s pro-ship was very famous and shanker was not so opened to all and he dearly paid for his reserved nature. if someone want to download one unreleased song from ‘mera naam joker’ in sharda’s voice and download that gori song (half in lingth) they may download it from http://shankarjaikishan.peperonity.com or http://shankar-jaikishan.peperonity.com or http://shanker-jaikishen.peperonity.com
regards to all my learned writers.
sudarshan pandey/kolkata
At first, i must correct sudarshanji, that 26th april is the death anniversary of Shankarji. According to me, there were two outstanding songs of Rafi in ‘zindagi’……..humne jafa na seekhi and a duet with asha…..ghungarwa mora chhum-chhum baje…….both tunes are simply marvellous.
Dear Souvik,
Though I appreciate your analysis in this feature, I can not agree with few of your views, which are :
1) A big section of music lovers agree that had Jaikishan not died in 1971, Rafi’s dominance in bollywood music not suffered at all.
AND
2)RD Burman’s domination in the 70s would have got very strong resistence had Jaikishan survived few years more.
3)The immortal lyrics of Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri also ended with the sad expiry of Jaikishan in 1971.
Regarding 1
SHANKER JI was too inclined to work with Rafi Sahab and gave his most support to him, when he was himself needed support, after Jaikishan’s demise. “Geet Gaata Hoon Main” from LAL PATTHAR was actually made by Shankerji for Rafi Sahab to sing. But after demands from certain quarters, he had to reform the tune to suit Kishore Kumar. But who can forget “Unke Khayal Aaye to Aate Chale Gaye” in the same movie ? After being isolated from these Rajendra Kumars and RKs, whenever he got scope, he used Rafi’s voice in distinct manner like in Garam Khoon, Duniyadari, Do Jhoot etc etc. And if someone can collect song from LOVE IN BOMBAY he must listen to Rafi’s naughty acts in the song “Raani Nacho..” Though it was totally Kishorish song, but Rafi Sahab excelled in this song. (if someone did dnot have, may download from http://shankarjaikishan.peperonity.com) And the last one for Rafi from the film WATTAN ?. So it will be injustice done to the Shankerji’s mastery in making tune and soulful music to mention that Had Jaikishen not died then it would happened or something else. IT WAS SHEER BAD LUCK with him and Jaikishan ji was also in the phase of that bad patch. God was not with Shankerji and snatched Jaikishan when he was on peak.
Regarding 2
Yes you are right when you say this but I must request all of you to listen to Shankerji’s Tum Kitni Khoobsoorat ho from Jangal Mein Mangal and you will be bound to think that Samay ne kitna zulm kiya unke saath ki unki koi film naheen chali aur saath mein unka music bhi. Someone in the forum must have listened songs of CHORNI was its music was any inferior ? RD’s time was there and no one could stop to enjoy him his share of joy, name and fame. SJ ruled at least 20 years but RD could not and he too faced bad phase inspite of his talent.
REgarding 3
After Shailendra’s death Shanker was broken first because he was much associated with Shailendra ji.
So bhai aap to Sangeet ke rasiya hain aaplog bhi aam logon ki tarah his sochenge to kaisa hoga. And I would take this opportunity to inform revered readers that Shankerji’s birth anniversary is on 26th April 09
Dear Souvik Chatterji,
Thanks for writing the article on the Silver Jubilee Star, Legendary Rafi Sahib, Shankar Jai Kishan & Sangeet Samrat NAUSHAD SAHIB. The combination of Tridev Rafi, SJ, Rajinder Kumar & Rafi, Naushand & Shakeel Badayuni the extraordinary combination on that universe. The composition of SURAJ i.e the composer Sj Baharon Phool Barsaon Mera Mehboob Aaya Hai the gem on the indian film industry. The composition of Naushad sahib has no competition on that universe because the composition of Naushad, Rafi & Shekeel Badayuni has no comparison.
Thanks & Regards,
Suresh Chauhan
098558-05688
Ludhiana ( Punjab )
Thank you Mr Chaterji for a fantastic article on Rajinder Kumar/Mohamed Rafi combination. I really appreciate your reseach.
Rashid Diwan
souvikji like always you have come up with a brilliant write-up on the rafi-rajendra kumar combinations with sj and naushad. i have seen earlier similar articles by him on his vary famous blog : station hollywood : too and he has a lot of passion on the songs of rafi sahab and most music personalities. keep it up souvikji, we enjoy reading your articles.
Unknow,
Rajendra Kumar never switched. He was always a Rafi loyalist. Yes, in the 70s he had a few songs rendered by someone other than Rafi but that was not his decision. Pyarelaal said that a few particular tunes from “Aap Aaye Bahaar Aaye” would suit Kishore well so they got him. I don’t know about Dilip Kumar’s decision to switch. Both Dilip Kumar and Rajendra Kumar started flopping in the 70s because they had reigned for quite some time. Just like Amitabh’s movies started flopping in the 80s. It is inevitable for the public to change taste.
– Manish
If am not wrong Rajender Kumar and Dilip kumar they switch to KK in 1970’s and that was the end of there carer
Hi Souvik, you have taken us down melody lane. Every song you listed is a musical hit. As i was reading the songs you mentioned, I was humming those. Your article makes one recollect those golden oldies and sing them.
Though many consider Rajendra Kumar to be a non-actor, we have to accept that his movies and songs were super hits. Most credit goes to Rafi saab. We have evergreen numbers like Teri pyari pyari and Baharon phool barsao. Who can forget Arzoo __ Shankar-Jaikishen, Rafi and Rajendra Kumar?.
Like you said Mere Mehboob is one of the best musical films.
Thank you for giving us these melodious memories back
Cheers
Utthara