Recalling The Origins Of Legendary Music Duo Shankar–Jaikishan

MUMBAI -Lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir recalled how legendary Hindi film music composers Shankar and Jaikishan first met, crediting actor-filmmakers Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor for helping bring the iconic duo together.

 Muntashir said, “I’ll tell you how Shankarji and Jaikishanji met by chance. Shankarji had come from Hyderabad and used to visit a film producer’s office frequently looking for work. The producer kept making him wait for weeks and months. One day, Shankarji noticed a young man, Jaikishanji, quietly sitting on a sofa. He asked him why he had come there. The young man replied that he too was looking for work. When Shankarji asked what he did, he said, ‘I play the harmonium.’”

Manoj further explained how Shankar introduced Jaikishan at Prithvi Theatre.

“This was around the time when Shankarji used to play tabla at Prithvi Theatre. He immediately took Jaikishanji to Prithviraj Kapoor and said, ‘Papaji, he’s a good boy, please give him some work.’ Both of them got work together. It was there that they met Raj Kapoor, who was making his second film. The music for his first film, ‘Aag’, had been composed by Ram Ganguly, and Shankarji and Jaikishanji also worked as his assistants for some time. Later, Raj Kapoor gave them the opportunity to compose music for his second film.”

Manoj added that the duo’s partnership began at Prithvi Theatre and later went on to shape Hindi cinema music for decades.

Shankar–Jaikishan became one of the most influential composer duos in Hindi cinema during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Some of their best-known songs include “Awara Hoon” from ‘Awaara’, “Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua” from ‘Shree 420’, “Yeh Mera Prem Patra” from ‘Sangam’, and “Baharon Phool Barsao” from ‘Suraj’. (IANS)