Raj Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan.
One of the most legendary combination of director and composer in the history of bollywood include the combination of Raj Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan. Raj Kapoor could experiment with music in most of his films due to the sheer magic of SJ. In Barsaat, in 1949, SJ’s composition for Lata including “jiya bekarar hai” and “hawa me urta jaye” made her the rising star in the late 40s.
Awara had dream sequence songs and SJ’s composition for Lata including “ghar aya mera pardesi” became trendsetter. Nargis and Raj Kapoor were sublime in the film. The same film had Mukesh’s song “awara hoon” which became extremely popular in India and Russia. In Aah, the duet song of Mukesh and Lata titled “aaja re” became super hit in the early 50s.
SJ made new experiments in the mid-50s in films like Shree 420. the duet song “mur murke na dekh” sung by Manna Dey and Asha Bhosle had westernized andaz, while the song “ramaiya vastamaiya” sung by Rafi, Mukesh and Lata had folk flavour. All the compositions of SJ in Chori Chori including “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “aaja sanam”, “jahan bhi jaati ho” sung by Manna Dey and Lata became successful.
In the late 50s, SJ provided melodious tunes in Anari, with songs like “kisiki muskurahaton pe ho nisar”, “sab kuch sikha humne”, etc. Their composition in Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, including “aa ab latu chale” had chorus andaz where Lata and Mukesh had complimented each other. In Sangam, Rafi’s song “meherba likhoon” was totally based on westernized composition.
Even in the films where Raj Kapoor acted as hero, SJ provided landmark tunes including “ai sanam jis ne tujhe” from the film Diwana, “chale jana” from the film Around The World, “duniya bananewale” from the film Teesri Kasam, to name a few.
It is very difficult to highlight the contribution of RK and SJ in a small article as they were sublime over 25 years. It was a tragedy that Jaikishan died in 1971, after providing immortal tunes in Mera Naam joker, otherwise the legendary duo could have contributed more for the immortal films of Raj Kapoor. The films and the songs should be preserved.
One of the most legendary combination of director and composer in the history of bollywood include the combination of Raj Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan. Raj Kapoor could experiment with music in most of his films due to the sheer magic of SJ. In Barsaat, in 1949, SJ’s composition for Lata including “jiya bekarar hai” and “hawa me urta jaye” made her the rising star in the late 40s.
Awara had dream sequence songs and SJ’s composition for Lata including “ghar aya mera pardesi” became trendsetter. Nargis and Raj Kapoor were sublime in the film. The same film had Mukesh’s song “awara hoon” which became extremely popular in India and Russia. In Aah, the duet song of Mukesh and Lata titled “aaja re” became super hit in the early 50s.
SJ made new experiments in the mid-50s in films like Shree 420. the duet song “mur murke na dekh” sung by Manna Dey and Asha Bhosle had westernized andaz, while the song “ramaiya vastamaiya” sung by Rafi, Mukesh and Lata had folk flavour. All the compositions of SJ in Chori Chori including “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “aaja sanam”, “jahan bhi jaati ho” sung by Manna Dey and Lata became successful.
In the late 50s, SJ provided melodious tunes in Anari, with songs like “kisiki muskurahaton pe ho nisar”, “sab kuch sikha humne”, etc. Their composition in Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, including “aa ab latu chale” had chorus andaz where Lata and Mukesh had complimented each other. In Sangam, Rafi’s song “meherba likhoon” was totally based on westernized composition.
Even in the films where Raj Kapoor acted as hero, SJ provided landmark tunes including “ai sanam jis ne tujhe” from the film Diwana, “chale jana” from the film Around The World, “duniya bananewale” from the film Teesri Kasam, to name a few.
It is very difficult to highlight the contribution of RK and SJ in a small article as they were sublime over 25 years. It was a tragedy that Jaikishan died in 1971, after providing immortal tunes in Mera Naam joker, otherwise the legendary duo could have contributed more for the immortal films of Raj Kapoor. The films and the songs should be preserved.
