By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On Shankar’s 101st Birth Anniversary
मुद्दत से मेरे दिल के
सपनों की तू रानी है
अब तक न मिले लेकिन
पहचान पुरानी है
रुक जा-
Shankar Singh Raghuvanshi, was born in Punjab province. His parents had settled in Andhra Pradesh. Resultantly he spent his childhood in Hyderabad and learnt dancing. He was adept at playing tabla. His passion took him to places in later years as most of us are well aware of. Shankar worked at Prithvi Theatre at a meagre salary of rupee seventy five per month. He was earlier part of dance- master Sohanlal’s troupe.
It was in this background that another talented players Jaikishan joined him who mastered harmonium and the two became friends. Raj Kapoor who was in the look out for a musician for his film “Barsaat”, saw sparks in the duo & signed them after satisfying himself with their abilities to give forth their best in “Barsaat” featuring Raj, Nimmi, Nargis & Premnath. The film did wonders & turned out to be a smashing hit with many a popular numbers composed by the young musicians team – ‘Jiya Bekraar Hai’, ‘Hawa Main Udta jaye Mera lal Dupatta Malmal Ka’, ‘Mujhe Kisi Se Pyaar Ho Gayaa’, & ‘Chhod Gaye Balam’ to mention few. Mukesh, Hasrat & Shailendra also became part of the RK banner.
The Shankar Jaikishan team ruled the roost in 1950s & 1960s composing many a memorable song, also becoming the highest paid music directors. The success of ‘Jubilee Kumar, could well be attributed to the popular numbers the duo composed in films like “Aas Ka Panchi”, “Zindagi”, “Sasural” & “Suraj”. Interestingly, most of Shailendra’s lyrics were composed by Shankar himself. After “Barsaat”, the duo did music of many hits Like Awaara, Aah, Patita, Boot Polish, Shree 420, Chori-Chori, Seema, Yahudi, Ujala, Shararat, Choti Behan, Sasural, Anari & Kanhaiyya with many a hit number to boast like ‘Ruk Jaa O Jaanevaali Ruk Jaa’,’ Ni Baliye Rut Hai Bahaar Ki, Kuchh Mat Puchho Kaise Bitin’ & ‘Yaad Aayi Aadhi Raat Ko, Kal Raat Ki Tauba’ to mentione few. ‘Ae mere dil kahin aur chal’ (Daag -1952, ‘Raja ki aayegi baraat’ (Aah -1953), ‘Yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum, (Patita – 1953),’Pyar hua iqrar hua hai’ (Shri 420-1955), ‘Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandnee’ & ‘Yeh Raat Bhigi Bhigi, Yeh Mast Fizaaye’ (Chori Chori -1956)’Tu Pyaar Ka Sagar Hai’, ‘Baat Baat Me Rutho Na’& ‘Kaha Ja Raha Hai, Tu Aye Jane Wale'( all Seema-1955), ‘Yeh mere deewanapan hai’ (Yahudi -1958),’Bhaiya mere, rakhi ke bandhan ko nibhana’ (Choti Bahen-1959)”Teri Pyari pyari Surat Ko ‘( Sasural-1961 ) ‘Yaad na jaaye beete dinon ki’ (Dil Ek Mandir -1963)were other popular songs composed by SJK duo. Jaikishan died prematurely. However, Shankar used his name in films he did after his passing away.
