Shankar - Jaikishan ---The Ministry of Music

It is not often that a music director is paid more than the leading heroes in Bollywood, but during the 50 's and 60's this happened with Shankar Jaikishan. The maverick duo had set a benchmark so high that mere mortals could not even dream of coming close to them.

Their trademark raga based tunes, Innovative compositions and music was lapped up by the common man and some movies would run only because of their music. Their name was a guarantee for a hit movie!

Shankar  singh Raghuvanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal  started their struggle in Mumbai making rounds to producers Office, one such Meeting made SJ friends. Shankar was working as Musician in Prithvi theatre playing Tabla and also enacting small roles in Some dramas. He pulled in Jaikishan to play harmonium. They met Raj Kapoor who was making His second film Barsaat. Raj Kapoor decided to give them a chance of composing music for his film Barsaat (1949). 

Both the movie and the Music became hits and SJ became part of Raj Kappor's formidable musical  team with Hasrat Jaipuri , Shilendra and Mukesh. They were called "Ram lakshman ki Jodi' in the film industry. 

In the 50,s they scored music for films like Daag, Awara, Badal, Aah,Patita,Poonam, Yahudi and Chori chori.

The 50's saw them incorporating with Hasrath Jaipuri, Shailendra ,Mukesh and Lata mangeshkar to consolidate their positions among the topmost music directors . They had to compete with Gaints like SD Burman, Naushad, Madan Mohan and Hemanth Kumar.

 

Though they were the In-house music directors for Raj Kapoor Movies,they also composed music for Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar , Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar.

 

Apart from being trail blazers in Indian classical music they were also masters of orchestrations and  western beats .

They have composed beautiful raga based tunes like "Ajahun aaye Baalma" from Saanj aur savera, "Manmohan Bade Jhoote" from Seema, "Koi Matwala aaya mere dware" from Love in Tokyo and the  Iconic " Jhanak Jhanak tore baaje Payaliya" from " Mere Huzoor".

 

They composed music only with Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri as lyricists until their demise, a promise which they had made to Raj kapoor.

The sixtees, probably the golden period of Hindi film music saw them consolidating their position outside RK banner in films like "Asli Naqli", Suraj, "Aarzoo" " Dil ek Mandir" "Amrapali".

                                   

Though Shankar used Shailendra  as lyricist and Jaikishan used Hasrat Jaipuri as Lyricist, they composed together as a duo. Shankar was adept at fast paced songs and Jaikishan was adept at soft romantic numbers. Though they had distinctly different styles of composing, it was impossible to differentiate  their compositions.

Though they have used voices of Manna Dey , Suman Kalyanpur , Sharda and Kishore kumar in less number of  movies, their favourites were Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh ( as permanent voice of Raj kapoor).

 

The films  in which they scored music  like Suraj, Sasural,Andaz, Professor,  Brahmachari became benchmarks for others to follow. They were nominated for Filmfare awards 11 times and won it 9 times!

They were honoured with Padmashri and a stamp was released by govt of India comemorating their contribution.

 

One of their last compostions was for Mera Naam Joker, as Jaikishan expired in 1971 due liver cirrhocis. Many speculate that there was a rift between Shankar and Jaikishan , which led to untimely death of jaikishan.

Shankar composed music till his demise in 1987 in the name of SJ in films like Sanyasi ,Andaz, Resham Ki dori, but without Jaikishan and lyricist Shailendra the magic had waned from his Music. Even Raj kapoor opted for Lakshmikant Pyarelal for "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" thus drawing a curtain for one of the most glorious periods of Hindi film Music.

 

Shankar expired in 1987 leaving behind a treasure trove of unforgettable melodies ,which music lovers will remember forever. SJ etched their name in golden letters in the annals of hindi film music. When we listen to the songs of today, we lament the demise of such legends who gave us immortal music .

None came even closer to Shankar Jaikishan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North Korea-Kimpossible !

Kim Jong Un , is he a megalomaniac? A ruthless dictator ?  A Madman ? 

Several Myths, theories and weird information have flooded the internet on this man,not all are authentic.

North Korea might be the last Bastion of the dictators considering Cuba has made a lot of reforms. The weird, Bizzare rules and horrifying Human rights abuses sometimes border on the realm of absurdity.

Such is the sycophancy that the country's calendar starts from the day Kim's family became the supreme leaders of the country and all dates before that has been deleted! 

When the second world war ended the country was liberated by Japanese. US and Russia failed to unify the nation was divided on the 38 th parallel. The north went to USSR and the south went to US. North was named as North Korea and US gave South to democratic south Korea.

Kim Jong un took over the reins in 2011 and has practiced the cult of personality like his father. He has absolute control of the country and has subsequently executed many military and government officials. Myths have surrounded his repression,his brutal assassinations and Demigod status among his followers. He also got his half brother killed by lady assassins at Kuala Lumpur airport.

Kim Jong Un studied In Switzerland graduated with flying colours. His friends confess that he was very shy and was awkward with girls.

His love for volley ball and Jackie chan films are well documented, LA lakers and Chicago bulls being his favourite teams. 

He even had Volley Ball star Dennis Rodman as a state guest In North Korea in 2013. Rodman Had some kind words to describe Kim.(Refer pic below)

He is supposed  to be  keen Sports enthusiast and likes North Korea to make a mark on the international scene.

Kim Jong Un in Switzerland in his student days

In order to improve his image on the international scene he has started many Construction projects and wants North korea to be a tourist destination. It may seem a  distant dream as getting visa to North Korea is the toughest in the world. NK has travel access only from China by train and Air Koryo-NK's national airline

Some independent Journalists have been granted access to NK, have said it was an orchestrated tour with Govt agents tailing them all the time.

One American Journalist from Reporters without borders describes the experience as    "surreal" a state organized PR exercise. Anti-American sentiments are forced into the psyche of children as enemy No1. Such is the hatred among the people that even wearing Jeans is not allowed in NK, as jeans is a symbol American imperialism!

 

RD Burman - An Ode to a Genius!

Seldom do we see both father and Son turning out be geniuses in the same profession , Unless you are SD Burman and RD Burman! It was  indeed difficult to come out of the shadow of his towering father, RD not only did that but took it one notch higher than his father and monopolized the Hindi Film music in 70's and 80's.
Legend has it that he was nicknamed  'Pancham" by Ashok Kumar because he used to cry in five different tones!

RD assisted his father in music and composed tunes like "Ae mere topi Palat Ke aa" from Funtoosh at the age age of 9! He also played the mouth organ in "Hai apna dil toh awara" from Solva Saal-(1958) .He contributed greatly to SD Burman's Musical journey.

His first break as an independent Music composer came in 1961 with Chote Nawab, when SD Burman was too busy to compose the songs. Mehmood gave the job to RD Burman.

RD was Eager to get his first song recorded by Lata Mangeshkar, he composed a classical Based Song "Ghar aaja Ghir aayee, Badra sawariya" in Raag Malgunji. Lata sang the song brilliantly and film also had songs like  "Matwali ankhon wale" a duet with Rafi and Lata ,It oozes freshness of tune not heard since. RD was paid a princely sum of 100 Rupees for the movie! A 22 year old man giving such music was truly astonishing,but he had to wait till for his time to come.

His moment of reckoning came in 1966 in "Teesri Manzil" a thriller directed by Vijay Anand. The hero Shammi kapoor wanted RK camp loyalist Shankar-Jaikishan,but Vijay Anand insisted that he listen to the songs. When Shammi Kapoor listened to the songs composed by RD , he danced in Joy.

The film and the music was a blockbuster hit and RD had arrived and How!

It changed the way film music was composed in movies, the new era had arrived. 

RD went on to compose music in Films like "Padosan" "Kati Patang", "Amar prem", "Mere jeevan sathi" Kinaara, Khushboo, Jawwani Diwani, and many more movies.

The era saw his association with Kishore kumar for Rajesh Khanna films  and produced unforgettable gems which was instrumental in Rajesh Khanna' s super stardom.

RD used the Versatility of Kishore's voice and range in songs like " O mere dil Ke chain" " kehana hai Kehna Hai", "Meri Bheegi bheegi si'" to name a few. Their association produced some of the biggest chart busters in the 70's and early 80's.

He fully utilised Asha Bhosle's versatlity in Songs like 'Daiya  yeh Mein Kahan phasi' from Caravan and  "Do lafzon Ki yeh Dil ki Kahaani" from The great Great gambler and " Mera naam hai Shabnam"from Kati Patang ,"Bechaara dil Kya karein" From Khushboo.

RD Burman and Asha Bhosle got married in 1980.Their association produced memorable songs in films like Teesri Manzil,Yaadon Ki baaraat , Khushboo,Jawaani Diwani.

Asha Bhosle says in an interview,though he produced great romantic songs, he was hardly romantic in real life . "Bubs" as she called him was also a great cook. There would always be a competition as who cooked a better biryani among them!                                          

RD shared a great rapport with Gulzar and gave outstanding songs in Films like Khushboo, Parichay Aandhi, Gharonda, IJaazat .  

Surprisingly He had reserved His best songs for Lata Mangeshkar, rather than his muse Asha Bhosle with such Gems as " Baahon Mein Chali aao"from Anamika, "Aaja Piya Tohe Pyar doon" from Baharon Ke sapne, " Sharm aati Hai Mujhe" from Padosan. 

 

His range and bandwidth was staggering, from Classical to Jazz, Rock, Latin and even comic songs. His innate ability to compose as per the story and characters in the film separated him from others. Such was his sheer dominance that he completely revolutionized the film Music and every other Music director tried to ape him ,but fell flat.

He would produce Music from everyday articles like rubbing sand paper, Rubbing a comb on Hard surface in " Mere Samne wali Kidki mein" and Spoon and Glass in "churaliya hain tumne jo dilko" and a motor pump in "O majhi re" or a Flanger in "Dhanno Ki ankon Mein ". He even asked his musician to remove his shirt and played drums on his back to produce music!

Mid 1980's saw different type of music becoming popular and with the demise of Kishore  and lata singing fewer songs ,his music began to flop. With the popularity of Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri , he was no longer the  preferred music director. Though he was nominated for Filmfare Awards 17 times, he won only 2 times for films which were way past his prime. Now they even have an RD Burman award for music, how ironic!

He felt frustrated, took to alcohol and chain smoking. Late 80's saw him separate from Wife Asha and work was hard to come by. He did give a parting shot in '1942 A love story" with such Gems as "Kuch na Kaho" and "Ek ladki ko Dekha to aisa laga". He was not there to see the success of these songs. RD Burman exited untimely into Immortality, at the age of 54,on 04.Jan.1994.

He left behind a legion of fans who swore by his rich repertoire of timeless classics. He left a legacy of unparalleled Music which may never be forgotten ,a treasure trove of pure melody ,sublime tunes .

A musical genius who was way ahead of his time and his creativity knew no bounds. Even today many of the remixes try to create the magic of his tunes,but alas the magic is is missing! His influence on younger singers and Music directors is immeasurable.

Without him,Hindi film music will never be same again!