Kishore Kumar and Shankar Jaikishen- Hysteria that did not coincide

No song in the first 8 years of mutual co-existance in the music kingdom ,18 songs in the next 13 years of association and then, 87 songs in last 17 years: the association of Shankar Jaikishen with Kishore Kumar has various interesting aspects. Another intriguing part is, for the first 13 years, SJ were the uncrowned king of Hindi film music and Kishore Kumar a non-considerate in playback singing and in the next 17 years, well, almost vice versa. “Almost” is because Jaikishen- the more prominent of the duo, died in 1971, and upto 1986, Shankar single handedly kept the S-J flag flying. As the musical parallelism goes, many still believe, it was Jaikishen with whom the camaraderie of Kishore would have blended better- and the proof was there with “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana”, the chartbuster Jaikishen had made with Kishore just months after the former passed away. But the fact is, out of 105 songs Kishore recorded under SJ baton, almost 70 songs came for Shankar only, owing to Jaikishen’s early demise.



Kishore Kumar with Asha Bhosle and Jaikishen



Alongwith Rafi-R D Burman and Asha Bhosle-Ravi, Kishore Kumar-Shankar Jaikishen combo has been highly neglected in Hindi film music history, perhaps owing to the reason that the fan groups of the MD and the singer never formed a common set.

With their clear cut preference to the trio of Rafi-Mukesh-Manna, Shankar Jaikishen ruled the film fraternity in the 1960s. They could be cult and traditional with equal ease, insisted on heavy orchestration, composed for the poster boys of Hindi cinema and maintained super Public Relations where their counterparts like Madan Mohan, O P Nayyar or S D Burman were not the experts at. They did not want to look beyond their comfort set of singers right from the very beginning in 1949. It is therefore, you will find hardly any association of them with Hemant, Talat, Geeta or Shamshad right from the 50s through the 60s, except for occasional masterpieces(Ae mere dil kahin aur chal or Yaad kiya dil ne kaha ho tum). So high was the S-J mania that time they managed to compose as many as 7 films for Dev Anand(Patita, Love Marriage, Jab pyar kisise hota hai, Roop ki rani choron ka raja, Asli Naqli, Duniya, Pyar Mohabbat)- a hero who never wanted any MD except S D Burman even outside his home production. So, for Kishore Kumar, his association with S-J was confined within the films where he was the hero himself. All the movies they worked together between 1956 and 1969 were mainly with Kishore Kumar as the protagonist- New Delhi, Begunaah, Shararat, Krorepati and Rangoli. So fascinated were the SJ with the trio of R-M-M, that except for in New Delhi, in all the other films they created space for each of the singers to playback for Kishore. Manna De played back only twice for Kishore- both the occasions came under SJ- Begunaah and Krorepati. Rafi played back for Kishore in Shararat- a movie where Kishore played a double role. There were two movies in that period where SJ did use Kishore for playback- one in Duniya(1968), a duet with Asha Bhosle on Dev Anand and one in Bhai Bahen(1969), again a duet with Manna De on a character artist.

With Aradhana released in 1969 and the equation changing a bit, S-J started using Kishore sporadically in movies like Umang and Tum haseen main jawan, still sticking mainly to their comfortable “trio” and making some space for the newly arrived sensation. By 1971, the producers started having their say on Kishore Kumar on the MDs. SJ, always known to abide by the industry trends, started suddenly using Kishore lot more. Kishore Kumar had by then, continued his popularity run with chartbusters in 1970 like Kati Patang, Johny Mera Naam, Sacha Jhutha, Safar, Pavitra Papi, Prem Pujari and Aan Milo Sajna. A force too huge to be ignored by now, Shankar turned on to Kishore for a piano solo in Laal Patthar. “Geet gata hoon main, gungunata hoon main” had Kishore responding to S-J just the way they would have wanted. Alongwith Rafi, Kishore had that elasticity to deliver just the way a MD wanted and not sticking to his own singing gambit. S-J used Kishore in the title track of a Shammi Kapoor starrer in the same year. “Jaane Anjaane”, an otherwise forgettable album, is best remembered today for Manna De’s “Chham chham baaje re payaliya” and Kishore’s “Jaane anjaane log mile”. In Andaaz, the unthinkable happened- with only one single solo in the whole film, Kishore’s “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana” overshadowed all the other songs in the album, including the versions of the same song by Asha and Rafi.

S-J, in a spree to check the continuous popularity of younger R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal and older and rejuvenated S D Burman post-Aradhana, started signing movies one after the another in 1971. They had 17 releases in 1971, much more than what RD and SD had done, and almost as good as what LP had done. That was the good part, the bad part was except Andaaz, all the other movies bombed at the box office. Duniya kya jaane, Seema, Ek naari ek brahmachari, Albela, Jawan Mohabbat, Pagla kahin ka came and went. In spite of great songs, Lal Patthar and Mera Naam Joker failed at box office. Jaane Anjaane, Kal aaj aur kal received lukewarm response. Andaaz was the only day-saver, that too thanks to only one superhit. Interestingly, SJ used Kishore in almost all their movies in 1971, except for 2-3 Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor movies. They had four releases of Shammi Kapoor that year, and none faring well, also gave a hint at the star’s declining product life cycle.

Kal aaj aur kal was a RK production launching Raj Kapoor’s son Randhir Kapoor. S-J decided to put Kishore Kumar as the voice of young Randhir and made him croon the evergreen beauty “Bhanwre ki gunjan”. Interesting to note that, although the media hypes a lot over Kishore’s association with Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Dev Anand, it was Randhir Kapoor for whom, in terms of percentage, Kishore Kumar had played back the most. Except for Jeet(1972) and Humrahi(1974), Kishore played back for Randhir Kapoor in all the other movies of the hero- an outstanding achievement between an actor and a singer.

Jaikishen passed away in 1971 owing to liver cirrhosis. With Shailendra already gone in 1966, Shankar was left alone to carry forward the glorious torch of the past. With already a declining trend in popularity, SJ held intact only one thing- the Filmfare Awards. They received it in 1970 and 1971 winning over the albums of SD,RD,LP and KA with many eyebrows raised. In 1972, a year truly belonging to Rahul Dev Burman, with mesmerizing albums like Mere Jeevan Sathi, Amar Prem, Parichay, Jawani Deewani, Hare rama hare Krishna and Bombay to Goa, SJ managed to win the Filmfare Award again for Beimaan under lot of controversies. SJ used Kishore Kumar again in almost all their movies except Aan Baan(1972)- a Rajendra Kumar starrer, where they decided to stick to their old gun, Rafi. Kishore delivered his job, giving hits under any circumstances, with “Tum kitni khubsoorat ho”(Jungle mein mangal), “ Saath mein pyara saathi”(Dil Daulat Duniya) and “Aankhon aankhon mein baat hone do”(Aankhon aankhon mein).



Shankar and Kishore Kumar in rehearsal can be seen in the original records of Dil, Daulat Duniya-1972. Pic Courtesy: Rajnikanth Ranchod Pithia ji



The next decade saw gradual decline of Shankar amongst mainstream cinema. After giving music to almost 350 movies, the exhaustion showed. With no Jaikishen, Shankar tried to put his foothold intact with occasional hits in Resham Ki Dori(1974), Sanyasi(1975) and Do Jhoot(1975). Many of Shankar’s hits that time came with Kishore like “Chhatri na khol”(Do Jhoot), “Mere dil mein tu hi tu hai”(International Crook), “Chamka paseena”(Resham ki Dori) and “Tu jahan main wahan”(Garm khoon).

Both Shankar and Kishore demised in 1987. While one was given a superstar farewell, the other went away quietly. Quite contradicting to the fact that once, in the 60s, Shankar had actually told in an interview that some songs were not singer Kishore’s “cup of tea”. That time, he was the superstar in music and Kishore was obscure. Time changes fast.

But, the fact remains that Shankar Jaikishen were amongst the greatest music directors in Indian Cinema and Kishore Kumar was one of the greatest playback singers. Although their peak periods don’t match, in spite of being contemporaries, they did give us some brilliant output together. Here are my top 10:

1. Nakhrewali- New Delhi(1956).
2. Chhotisi yeh duniya- Rangoli(1962).
3. Rangoli sajaao-Rangoli(1962).
4. Humlog hai aese deewane- Umang(1970).
5. Geet gata hoon main- Laal Patthar(1971).
6. Jaane anjaane log mile- Jaane Anjaane(1971).
7. Bhanwre ki gunjan-Kal aaj aur kal(1971).
8. Zindagi ek safar hai suhana-Andaaz(1971).
9. Saath mein pyara saathi-Dil Daulat Duniya(1972).
10. Kehta hai dil o mere sanam-Chorni(1980).

Rabindrasangeet in Hindi Movies and Sachin Dev Burman

The appeal of Rabindranath Tagore is universal. Much above than a normal human being, Rabindranath was a culture. A poet, dramatist, composer, musician, actor and humanitarian- Tagore put a foundation of art and culture in Modern India, on which still many skyscrapers are built upon.

Any Bengali friend reading this article would be a bit unpleased at me perhaps, because to describe Tagore is to show light to the sun; and he would be very correct in that. But the only reason I gave a small introduction is to put forth an idea that as a culture, Tagore could never be ignored. So, when it comes to his songs, more than the notes and the words, it is the high degree of emotion which has fascinated people for such a long period. Such a long period, yes; even as early as 2005, when Shantanu Moitra took Tagore’s “Phule phule dhole dhole” to make “Phool phool bhanwara dole”, and the people loved it!

Yes, this is the topic of discussion today. Hindi film music is very rich. Likes and dislikes of people vary, so do the talents of various composers. But, it is a fact that Khemchand Prakash was also a genius and A R Rehman is also a genius-albeit with different strongholds.

I don’t know whether using the word “plagiarism” would do justice to the fact of adapting Tagore’s tunes in  Hindi movie songs by various music directors. It might not be necessary that the composer did it for intentional copying or he was short of creativity, but can also be due to the fact that in certain situations, Tagore became too great to be avoided. As I said, for many musicians, he was an institution, a culture. You can change your outer dimensions, but the culture lies somewhere deep within yourself.

And it is also interesting to note that, it was not only the predictable Bengali music directors who took influence from Tagore in Hindi movies, even non-East composers like Rajesh Roshan and Laxmikant Pyarelal also used Tagore tunes in their movies. Kanu Roy went to the extreme end of using a Tagore song-Sedin dujone dulechhinu bone, intact in Bengali, in a full length Hindi movie called “Anubhav”(1971). Laxmikant Pyarelal  used the tune of “Purano sei diner katha” multiple times as a background mouthorgan score in their hit movie “Dost”(1974). Rajesh Roshan made one of the most famous adaptations of Tagore songs in the form of “Chhukar mere man ko” in Yaarana (1981).

But the person who took the culture of Tagore songs to a very different level was Sachin Dev Burman. As I had earlier said, “Plagiarism” is an avoidable term when it comes to adapting Tagore by certain composers. S D Burman was definitely one of them. He took Tagore just the way Naushad had taken the Hindutani classical ragas. When nobody criticized Naushad for using bandishes of different Ragas just as they were, Sachin Dev Burman had been more than often criticized for taking, adapting and sometimes even bettering a Rabindranath Tagore composition. But, for him, Tagore music was a culture which was quietly staying in his heart, just like Classical music fostering inside the Ustaads. He was an “Ustaad” of the Gharana called “Rabindrasangeet”. There were others also, Pankaj Kumar Mullick and Hemanta Mukherjee are the two to be named amongst the greatest exponents of Tagore from Hindi film music fraternity, but they preferred to keep Tagore aside from their Hindi professional music work; whereas SD took the popularization of Tagore with the flow of his professional work.

Sometimes he was quite blunt; “Nain deewane ek nahi mane”(Suraiya, Afsar-1950) was a complete “Sedin dujone”. Sometimes he was like a delicate craftsman taking some initial notes and then changing the song entirely; “Jayein to jayein kaha” (Talat, Taxi driver-1954) and “Jalte hai jiske liye”(Talat, Sujata-1959) are delicate cuisines prepared by the Master chef combining the spices of both the worlds. And then, there were times, when you simply could not point your finger and say “Yes, this is copied from that”, but always left to feel that Tagore was there, the “cultural feel” could not be overlooked; “Aese to na dekho”(Rafi, Teen Deviyan-1965) and “Yeh tanhayee haye re haye”(Lata, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne-1963).

From a neutral perspective, he actually bettered “Jodi tare naai chini go” with “Tere mere Milan ki yeh raina”(Kishore-Lata, Abhimaan-1973), changing the stanzas altogether in Antara.

There were many more of Tagore, when it comes to SD; ultimately, just like the Folk music, the music of Tagore was also SD’s own. He wanted to spread the universality of Tagore amongst all the common people in India.

And it was just another facet of the Great musician of India.  

Chala jata hoon...

It does not matter if Rajesh Khanna was not seen on the screen or did not make any public appearances. Only the sheer thought of he being alive and breathing in the same world along with us, used to give us the requisite nostalgic hysteria. With the departure of Kaka, followed with the previous exits of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Joy Mukherjee-all just a year back- the last cord between the present generation and the 60s and 70s Indian Cinema is cut.

Yes, in his acting, he was melodramatic more than occasionally. And this progressively went on growing with his age. The charm of melodrama which Anand and Amar Prem gave us, and still give, became a parody by the time Wafaa (2008)- his last released movie- occurred.

But, still, Kaka was there. The first man to show us what mass hysteria means, was there. And now, with he gone, I don’t know, professionally how much present Indian cinema has lost, but the common people have lost Nostalgia forever. Here was a man, whenever coming in front of the public, who could take you to 40 years back in time instantly.

And as I have been listening to the FM Radio stations tirelessly playing the songs of late 60s and early 70s of Kaka, sung mainly by his “voice” Kishore Kumar, penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal, the mind goes wayward.

He had great looks. A Cinematic presence, which no one could or can replicate. The way he held the glass in Amar Prem (Chingari koi bhadke) or the way he nodded his head on an open jeep in Aradhana (Mere sapno ki rani) are history now. Who bothers what he delivered post-1975. It is more than sufficient to spend your lifetime with the two dozen great films Kaka delivered between Khamoshi (1969) to Daag (1973).

A lady charmer, Kaka epitomized romance on screen. With great couplings formed with Mumtaz and Sharmila Tagore, Kaka could be light, playboy some times and intense and emotional some other time with equal ease. With Sharmila, he gave some intense and emotionally serious movies like Safar, Amar Prem, Aavishkar, Daag and Aradhana; while with Mumtaz he delivered juvenile and light hearted romance in Do Raaste, Dushman, Sacha Jhootha and Apna Desh. And there was also Anand, where he did not have any heroine, and gave a lifetime performance.

And Kaka got some of the best philosophical songs ever composed in Hindi Cinema. In spite of not being into the intellectual cinema like Guru Dutt, Kaka got mesmerizing philosophical songs picturized on him like Zindagi ka safar (Kishore Kumar, Safar), Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hai(Kishore Kumar, Aap ki Kasam), Zindagi kaisi hai paheli(Manna De, Anand), Kuchh to log kahenge(Kishore Kumar,AmarPrem) and Diye jalte hai phool khilte hai(Kishore Kumar, Namak Haram). After Kaka, Hindi cinema forgot to make philosophical songs for good. Because, perhaps, after Kaka, every time a philosophical song came on screen, it sounded like preaching. And Rajesh Khanna- with twinkling of his eyes and nodding of his head-could convey heavy messages with élan. Even a lyrically philosophical song Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana became a rage the way Kaka enacted it on the screen and of course, the way his “voice” crooned it.

With Rajesh Khanna, we have lost many more. No matter how much the girls today adore Hrithik Roshan or Salman Khan, it takes a lot of passion to write love letters to your hero with your own blood. Yes, the melodrama he showed on screen, actually hit the nerves of the people in real life also. Who could do such hysteria in our Cinema ever?

Rest in peace, Kaka.