Remembering SHANKAR of Shankar-jaikishan on his 94th Birth Anniversary

Shankar Singh s/o Ram Singh (15 October 1922 – 26 April 1987) was a native of Telangana, and spent his early years in Hyderabad. During his formative years, Shankar played the tabla and learned the art formally from Baba Nasir Khansahib. For many years, Shankar studied as a disciple of the legendary composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, in whose orchestra he performed.
Shankar started his career with a theater group run by Satyanarayan and Hemawati, before shifting to Prithvi Theatre where he played tabla and performed some minor roles in plays. Shankar worked as assistant to the leading composer duo of Husnlal Bhagatram.
Shankar used to frequently visit the office of a Gujrati director Chandravadan Bhatt who had promised Shankar a break as a Music Director when he produced a film. It was outside the office of Bhatt that Shankar met Jaikishan Both used to visit Prithvi theatre and became good friend.

 While working in Prithvi Theaters, Shankar and Jaikishan used to compose tunes and were in touch with Raj Kapoor, who was working as an assistant to the famous director Kidar Sharma and was aspiring to be an actor/director. Thus, the three had met at Prithvi Theater.
Raj Kapoor made his debut as a director with the film Aag in 1948. Its music director Ram Ganguly was assisted by Shankar and Jaikishan. However, during the recording of a song for his new venture Barsaat, Raj Kapoor had some serious differences with Ram Ganguly and decided to assign its music to Shankar who insisted on taking Jaikishan as his partner. Thus came into existence the new pair of music directors named 'Shankar-Jaikishan' who composed the music for the film.

A Rare Photo of  Shankar with R K Team

While working as a team, Shankar and Jaikishan used to compose their songs separately. Generally, Shankar liked to work with Shailendra and Jaikishan with Hasrat Jaipuri though there are notable instances where Shankar worked with Hasrat and Jaikishan with Shailendra. Between the two, Shankar was the senior partner and hence, he would usually arrange the orchestra, even for Jaikishan's songs. There was a gentleman's agreement between them for not identifying the actual composer of the song.
Dance numbers, title/theme songs and soulful songs were Shankar's forte while Jaikishan was a master of composing background score, apart from romantic songs.

 They,specially Shankar didn’t just stick to established singers but made sure they found the right voice for the mood. For instance, they used an unknown Subir Sen for Dil mera ek aas ka panchi from Aas Ka Panchi (1960), Suman Kalyanpur for Dil ek mandir hai from Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Manna Dey for Yeh raat bheegi bheegi,  Chori Chori (1956), Asha Bhosle for Mud mudke na dekh from Shri 420 (1955), Mukesh (for Dilip Kumar) in Yeh mera diwanapan hai, Yahudi (1958) and made many more such off kilter choices.            

 Shankar and Jaikishan began to give music separately but few may be aware about their split Though the two never disclosed the separation, the fact is that the two did started working separately in the mid-60s. The reason is attributed to the fact that Shankar introduced a new singer Sharda (famous for her song Titli Udi... in the movie SURAJ) much against the disagreement of Jaikishan. Further Shankar's fondness for Sharda and Jiakishan's inclination towards Lata Mangeshkar created differences between the two and in the mid-60s the two split. They always credited their name on screen as music by Shankar Jaikishan. 

The impact of this separation was so severe that Jaikishan took to heavy drinking. In an interview, Shammi Kapoor, who was very close to Jaikishan, confessed that the prime reason of Jaikishan's untimely death was his consumption of excessive alcohol due to his separation with Shankar.

After the death of jaikishan gave the Hit music of Lal Patthar and Sanyasi but slowly& slowly  Shanker's career goes downhill.First Raj Kapoor opted for Laxmikant Pyarelal for Bobby then Loyalist Sohanlal Kanwar, who has been with him since 1970, leaves him..

Shankar died in the night of April 26, 1987 due to a massive heart attack as known from his family source. The world came to know about his death a day after the cremation was over.
, Shankar was a very private man and, thus, maintained a very low profile. He married a widow named Kunda with two sons. The two did not have any children of their own. Kunda also passed away a few years after Shankar. No one knows the whereabouts of the step sons.

RAJ KAPOOR & SHANKAR JAIKISHAN SONGS
Raj Kapoor & Shankar Jaikishan's association was one of the most successful and memorable music collaborations in Hindi Films. Other such collabrations were Dev Annand and S D Burman,Dilip with Naushad etc.S J and Raj Kapoor team worked together in 19 movies including 9 for R K Films.The first time they came together in Barsaat 1949.

Song from Barsaat 1949

Song from Awaraa 1951

Song from Aah 1953

Song from Boot Polish 1954

Song from Shri 420 (1954)

Song from Chori Chori 1956

Song from Anari 1959

Song from kanahiya 1959

Song from Main Nashe Me Hoon  1959

Song from Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai  1960

Song from  Aashiq 1962

Song from  Sangam 1964

Song from  Teesri Kasam  1966

Song from  Diwana 1967

Song from  Mera Naam Joker 1970

The Films that are 50:TEESRI KASAM- A Melancholic Delight.

Teesri kasam  is a 1966 film based on a short story, mare gaye gulfam by phanishwarnath renu, a hindi novelist. the film stars Raj kapoor and Waheeda Rehman. the duo Shankar-Jaikishan composed the flim's score.directed by Basu bhattacharya, Teesri Kasam is an unconventional film that portrays the society of the rural india and simplicity of villagers.Released on  01 July,1966 was a box office disaster.

The story is rather simple: Hiraman, a cart-driver who is involved in black-marketing is almost caught by the police, and, upon escaping, vows he’ll never trade smuggled goods any more. He then reverts to bamboo trafficking, but that’s also a failure, and similarly he vows not to deal with it: what will be his third vow (teesri kasam)? We learn about it as he sets off on a journey, loaded this time with a rightful cargo, even if the lawfulness of this consignment will have to be reconsidered along the way, and will in effect lead to that fateful third vow.

The songs of the movie perfectly match the action, in a way that only movies of that era knew how to, it seems to me. They is always a profound justification for them, they always comment upon the action in a true and meaningful way.

 All the songs filmed on Hiraman are a reflection of his simple heart and lack of worldly-wisdom. The songs in the Nautanki, filmed on Hirabai, tantamount to either the rural folk songs when she is merely entertaining the crowd, or a deep pang of love lost when she is reflecting her relationship with Hiraman. The Chalat Musafir Moh Liyo Re song is an absolute rural-chaupal song, the types heard even today in those parts of the country.
One of the greatest lyricists, Shailendra, who was a good friend of Raj Kapoor, was so enamoured by Renu’s novel that he wanted to produce the film adaptation. He roped in Basu Bhattarchaya as the director, a protégé of the great Bimal Roy, and Basu Chatterjee, an upcoming director assisted him in direction. Shailendra had planned for Mehmood and Meena Kumari to play the lead, but that didn’t materialise due to various reasons, and his old friend Raj Kapoor volunteered to step in as the lead, and also brought another friend, Waheeda Rehman, as the female lead. Raj Kapoor even agreed to work for a nominal fee of only Re. 1 for the film.

The film went on to win the President’s Gold Lotus Award for Best Feature Film of 1966, Best Lyricist (Shailendra) and Best Director (Basu Bhattarchaya), but Shailendra did not live long to see all the critical accolades showered on his masterpiece. 

Songs of Teesri Kasam

Remembering KISHORE KUMAR on his Death Anniversary

Today (13 october) is the birth anniverasry of Ashok Kumar as well as the death anniversary of Kishore Kumar.This day is remembered for 2 Great Legends of Bollywood.
Ashok Kumar stopped celebrating his birthday since his death (1987). The two brothers, alongwith their third brother Anup Kumar were quite close to each other and we were privileged to see the three brothers together in all the movies that were produced by Kishore Kumar.
On the occasion of the anniversaries of the two brothers, here is a song from “Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi” (1958). This song is in fact the first song of the movie which gets played after the movie credits have stopped rolling in. So this movie narrowly escaped qualifying to be described as a movie opening song.
This song is sung by Kishore Kumar (for himself), Manna Dey (for Anup Kumar) and Ashok Kumar (we guess) for himself. Majrooh Sultanpuri is the lyricist. Music is composed by S D Burman.

Babu samjho ishaare from  “Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi” 1958

Kumar produced, directed, acted and composed the music for Jhumroo (1961), and wrote the lyrics for the film's title song, "Main Hoon Jhumroo". Later, he produced and directed Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964). He wrote the script and composed music for the film, which is about the relationship between a father (Kishore Kumar) and his deaf and mute son (played by his real-life son (Amit Kumar) Kishore Kumar produced and directed some more movies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as Badhti Ka Naam Daadhi (1978), Zindagi (1981) and Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin(1980)—his last appearance as an actor.

In this Blog Iam talking about the movies Kishore Kumar Produced or Directed

Chalti Ka Naam Gaad  -  is a 1958 comedy film. The film featured Kishore Kumar, his two brothers Anoop Kumar and Ashok Kumar, and Madhubala. Kishore Kumar sang many of the songs in the film, along with Asha Bhosle. The music was composed by SD Burman, and the lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The success of the film led the brothers to act in another comedy titled Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi (That which grows is a beard) to rhyme with the name of this film..The film was declared a "super-hit" at the box office.^[ It was the second highest grossing film of the year and 21st highest grossing film of the 1950s.

Jhumroo (1961)- is a Kishore Kumar movie, and that sets it quite apart from the romantic genre it echoes in plot outline. The presence of Kishore Kumar is a sort of license to be wacky. Kishore's title character, Jhumroo, is a filmi kind of gypsy-tribal fellow, but the village he lives in lies at the foot of a mountain, and he dreams of being a Sherpa. This profoundly silly premise provides a pretext for lots of delightful physical comedy as Jhumroo attempts to guide Dwarkanath on a climb, and the movie is crafted to offer many more opportunities for Kishore to do his manic thing, layered atop the conventions of romance.The film has some memorable songs.

Song from  Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964) 

Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964) -This movie is about Kishore Kumar. His ubiquity in the movie is a tribute to his genius and an affirmation of his amazing skills. When he is not acting, he is directing. When he is not singing, he is composing. Not to forget, he is the producer too of this critically-acclaimed effort. In this much-watchable movie, the man, known to be a complete comic hero, is a melancholic character, so strikingly different to his personality of a dancing, prancing actor. He wins your heart with whatever he does — singing, acting, directing or composing. This was Kishore's directorial debut and successful by any yardstick. It may not have created a stir at the box office but it earned praise from critics.

Song from  Door Ka Raahi (1971)

Door Ka Raahi (1971)-Bollywood drama film directed by Kishore Kumar. The film stars Tanuja, Kishore Kumar and Ashok Kumar. The film is a great depiction of the directorial abilities of Kishore Kumar and his vision of the eternal world. The movie is a metaphor that depicts the endless eternal journey of the human soul that is unaware of it destiny and has to continue with its journey to the quest of eternal unknown. Kishorda's all-time favourite "Panthi hoon main oos path ka aanth nahi jiska" and "Chalti chali je Zindagi ki safar" are the manifestation for his eternal quest. His exuberance and flamboyance were the veil for this inwardly lonely person. 

Badti Ka Naam Dadhi (1974)

1. Badti Ka Naam Dadhi (1974)- is a 1974 Bollywood drama film directed by Kishore Kumar. The name is similar to a previous Kishore Kumar film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.The premise of the film is that a multimillionaire, who has no heir, decides to leave his wealth to the person who has the longest beard. What follows is complete mayhem as Kishore Kumar and K. N. Singh plot to outwit one another.

Kishore Kumar wrote and produced 14 films (of which six were never completed). He is credited with the screenplays of five (two incomplete, and Mamta ki Chhaon Mein censored two years after his death but unreleased till date) and directed 12 films of which four were abandoned at various stages of completion. The immortal Chalti ka Naam Gadi was made under the banner of Ganguly Bros and Satyen Bose was credited with direction though the film bore the inimitable Kishore Kumar stamp all over.

Remembering ASHOK KUMAR( Dada Muni) on his 105th Birth Anniversary

An actor who could capture all your attention in a single shot, a man who added glamour to Hindi film fraternity and promoted talents from all corners of the country, Ashok Kumar has ruled the silver screen and melted millions of hearts with his charismatic screen appearance and personality.He was the first superstar of Hindi cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor.
Ashok Kumar (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), born Kumudlal Ganguly and also fondly called Dadamoni, 

 His father, Kunjlal Ganguly, was a lawyer while his mother, Gouri Devi, was a home-maker. Kumudlal (as he was then known) was the eldest of four children. A couple of years younger to him was his only sister, Sati Devi, who was married at a very young age to Sashadhar Mukherjee and became the matriarch of a large "film family". More than fourteen years younger than Kumudlal was his next brother,Kalyan (b.1926), who later took the screen name Anoop Kumar, and youngest of all was Abhas (b.1929), whose screen name wasKishore Kumar and who became a phenomenally successful playback singer of Hindi films. 
It was the lure of cinema and the presence of his brother-in-law Sashadhar Mukherjee in a fairly senior position in Bombay Talkies which prompted Kumudlal Ganguly to move to Bombay (Mumbai) in the mid 1930s, where he started off as a laboratory assistant in Bombay Talkies, one of the biggest film studios of that era.

 His introduction to films was purely an accident. He got the lead role in Jeevan Naiya (1936), a Bombay Talkies production. The film's hero Najmul Hassan had eloped with heroine Devika Rani, who happened to be the wife of studio head Himanshu Rai. Rai dismissed Hassan and signed lab assistants Ashok Kumar for the role.

 His first big hit was Achhut Kanya (1936), where he again paired with Devika Rani. The film was about a Brahmin boy falling in love with a girl from the 'untouchable' class. 
He  was the first anti-hero of Indian cinema. Gyan Mukherjee's Kismet (1943) presented Ashok as a pickpocket who falls in love. This was the first film in Indian cinema that grossed at one crore rupees. So technically, Ashok Kumar was the one to set up the 'crore club'.

Post Kismet, Ashok Kumar became the most bankable star of the era, delivering a succession of box office successes with movies like Chal Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Shikari (1946), Sajan (1947), Mahal (1949), Sangram (1950) and Samadhi (1950).
He produced several films for Bombay Talkies during the final years of the company including Ziddi (1948), which established the careers of Dev Anand and Pran,

Song from Howrah Bridge 1958

With the advent of the 1950s Ashok Kumar switched over to more mature roles, with the exception of the 1958 classic Howrah Bridge. Despite the arrival of a younger crop of stars like Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar remained one of the stars of the era with hits like Afsana (1951), Nau Bahar (1952), Parineeta (1953), Bandish (1955) and EK Hi Raasta (1956). His most successful film of that era was Deedar (1951), in which he played second fiddle to Dilip Kumar.

Song from bandini 1963

By the 1960s, Ashok Kumar switched over to character roles, variously playing the parent, uncle or grandparent, being careful never to be typecast. From a judge in Kanoon(1960), an aging freedom fighter in Bandini (1963), an aging priest in Chitralekha (1964), a vicious zamindar in Jawaab (1970) and a criminal in Victoria 203 (1971), he played a wide variety of roles.

Ashok Kumar played an important role in several landmark movies in the 1960s and 1970s, including Jewel Thief (1967), Aashirwad (1968) (for which he won a Filmfare Award as well as National Award in 1969), Purab aur Pashchim (1970), Pakeezah (1972), Mili (1975), Chhoti Si Baat (1975) and Khoobsurat (1980).

Song from Aashirwad 1968

. Altogether, he starred in over 275 films. He has done more than 30 Bengali dramas in Dhakuria.He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India and also received the Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions toIndian cinema. 

Ashok Kumar became a familiar face on television screens in the 1980s when he started anchoring India's first soap opera Hum Log.

Ashok Kumar's last film role was in the 1997 movie Aankhon Mein Tum Ho. Besides acting, he was an avid painter and a practitioner of homeopathy. A qualified homoeopath, Ashok Kumar earned a reputation for conjuring up miracle cures.

Ashok Kumar died at the age of 90 in Mumbai on 10 December 2001 of heart failure at his residence in Chembur. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee described him as "an inspiration... for many generations of aspiring actors.

Songs from Ashok Kumar's Films

Song from Achhut Kanya 1936

Original Ek Chatur Naar from Jhula 1941

Original song Koi Hamdam Na Raha from Jeewan Naiya 1936

Song from Kismet 1943

Song from Chal Chal Re Naujawan 1944

Nazar kuchh aaj aisa aa raha hai (Najma)(1943) Singers-Mumtaz,Ashok Kumar, 

Mera man kho gaya hai from Naya Sansaar 1941 AUDIO only

A funny Song from (Aasheerwaad)(1968) Singers-Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Ashok Kumar, Lyrics-Harindranath Chattopadhyay, MD-Vasant Desai

Piya baawri ( Khoobsoorat)(1980) Singers-Asha Bhonsle, Ashok Kumar, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-R D Burman

Song from Uttara Abhimanyu 1946 Audio only

Naani ki naao chali  from Aashirwad

Dol rahi hai naiyya meri  from Shikari 1946

The Films that are 50:GUIDE-A poetry on celluloid.

I am starting this series with this film which will be 51 on December 2016.Backed by S.D. Burman’s evergreen melodies, ‘Guide’ became a super hit and was also critically acclaimed. It was India’s official entry for the Oscars in 1966. At the Chicago International Film Festival, Waheeda Rehman won the Best Actress Award. Both Dev and Vijay Anand refused to send ‘Guide’ for the National Awards as they abhorred malpractices by the jury.
In 1962 Dev Anand went to attend Berlin Film Festival where he met Author Pearl S. Buck who was very much impressed by R. K. Narayan’s novel, ‘The Guide. ’ The story was appealing. So when she interacted with Bollywood actor Dev Anand at the Berlin Film Festival in 1962, she talked about doing an Indo-U.S. film venture based on the book.
This excited Dev Anand, who was basking in the glory of ‘Hum Dono,’ which had won acclaim at Berlin.As soon as he returned to India, Dev Anand called on R.K. Narayan, whose book had already made him a Sahitya Academy winner. Dev Anand successfully convinced R.K. Narayan about creating a classic on celluloid based on the book and the author sold the rights of ‘The Guide,’ to the actor.

Trailer  of English version of Guide

It was decided that the film would be made in two languages, Hindi and English.the English Version was co-produced by Pearl S Buck.She penned the script of the English version and Directed by Tad Danielewski it starred Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman and Kishore Sahu. It was Navketan’s most ambitious and expensive venture in colour. Chetan Anand was supposed to direct the Hindi version simultaneously. But Chetan wanted Leela Naidu as the heroine and intended to shoot her dance sequences in long shot, to which Dev Anand disagreed, as he felt that only Waheeda Rehman was ideally suited for the role of Rosy Marco. Chetan also had differences with Tad Danielewski and left the project.

Extra Scenes from Guide

Dev anand gave direction of Hindi Version to his younger brother Vijay Anand.The combination of the Anand brothers with Kishore Sahu, Shailendra, S.D.Burman and Fali Mistry created history. Shot in exclusive locales of Udaipur, ‘Guide’ was poetry on celluloid.
Backed by S.D. Burman’s evergreen melodies, ‘Guide’ became a super hit and was also critically acclaimed. It was India’s official entry for the Oscars in 1966. At the Chicago International Film Festival, Waheeda Rehman won the Best Actress Award. Both Dev and Vijay Anand refused to send ‘Guide’ for the National Awards as they abhorred malpractices by the jury.

The film GUIDE is one of the earliest efforts in Indian Cinema to actually depict both its hero and heroine in negative shade. While Dev Anand, the hero of the movie is shown going errant after acquiring wealth on the other hand the heroine Waheeda Rehman dares to desert her husband who is high headed and a womanizer, and elopes with her lover who helps her in her ambition to become a famous dancer.The subject of extra marital relation when infidelity was considered a forbidden subject in India. Most people assumed that Indian audience was not ready to confront the story on adultery. 

Vijay Anand presented the subject on the silver screen with such competence that viewers were bowled over by his simple narration laced with dance and superlative music. GUIDE today is regarded as perhaps the best film that Vijay Anand has ever made.Guide was also first film to win all four of the major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress) at the Filmfare Awards.Surprisingly S D Burman was not given the Best Music Director award for this film.That Award was given to Shankar Jaikishan for the film Suraj.The film's music was composed by Sachin Dev Burman, the songs were written by Shailendra and they were sung by Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Sachin Dev Burman. The soundtrack was listed by Planet Bollywood as number 11 on their list of 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks.
Dev Anand played Raju and Waheeda Rahman played Rosie and her husband's role was done by Kishore Sahu.

Raju's love and support gives the unfulfilled Rosie the courage to make bold and defy societal norms by leaving the oppressive atmosphere of her husband's house and moving into Raju's abode. Her sheer exultation in her new freedom is beautifully captured in her crucial song --- Kaaton se kheench ke anchal, chhod ke bandhan bandhe payal. It is evident in her dancing on the edge of a ledge in keeping with her dangerous new desires; in her riding in a cart and breaking a pot, thereby metaphorically breaking all conventions.

With Raju's glib managerial skills, Rosie becomes a dancing star. But insecurity soon manifests itself. Raju takes to drinking and gambling. His fear of losing his love makes Raju forge a cheque in Rosie's name. She finds it hard to forgive him, and he is sentenced to prison.

When he emerges from prison, he rejects his earlier life. He is mistaken as a holy man by some villagers and goes along with their belief.Circumstances make Raju go on a 12-day fast to propitiate the Gods for rain, and leads him to ponder over and seek answers to the ultimate spiritual question. In the end, the Guide finds the path to his own emotional salvation.

All in all, Guide was an effective film, quite different from your stereotypical Bollywood love story, and quite sensitive, This is one of the best films of Bollywood.

Songs from GUIDE

wahan Kaun Hai Tera

Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hai

Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya