S-J formed a core team with lyricists Shailendra (himself regarded as perhaps the greatest modern day Hindi film music lyricist) and Hasrat Jaipuri and with singers Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Their early works include Barsaat, Awara, Badal, Poonam, Nagina, Aurat, Parbat, Kali Ghata, Aah, Patita, Shikast, Badshah, Mayurpankh, Naya Ghar, Seema, Shree 420, Basant Bahar, Halaku, Rajhath, New Delhi, Kathputli, Anari, Chori Chori, Daag, Begunah, Yahudi, Main Nashe Mein Hoon, Kanhaiya, Boot Polish, Choti Behan, Shararat, Love Marriage and Ujala. The two became known by the acronym 'S-J'. The film also had the distinction of featuring two firsts in Hindi cinema - a title song ('Barsaat Mein Humse Mile') and a cabaret ('Patli Kamar Hai'), which were also the first two songs written by Shailendra. On the insistence of Shankar, they co-opted the upcoming singing talent Lata Mangeshkar, and repeated Mukesh as Raj Kapoor's ghost voice for the songs of Barsaat. Himself being a trained singer (he and Mukesh learned vocal music from the same Guru), Raj Kapoor thus took on board a new team of composers Shankar and Jaikishan and lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri (a former bus conductor). Thus came into existence the new pair of music directors named 'Shankar-Jaikishan' who composed the music for the film. 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. Its music director Ram Ganguly was assisted by Shankar and Jaikishan.

Raj Kapoor made his debut as a director with the film Aag in 1948. Thus, the three had met at Prithvi Theatre. While working in Prithvi Theatre, 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. Apart from following their musical pursuits, they also used to play significant roles in various plays including the famous play 'Pathan'. Soon, the two of them developed very close friendship to the extent that the people started referring to them as 'Ram-Lakshman ki jodi' and by several similar-meaning nicknames. Papaji honoured Shankar's selection and gladly accepted Jaikishan as a Harmonium player at Prithvi. Shankar later recollected that they developed a liking for each other and it was he who then and there assured Jaikishan of the job of a Harmonium player at Prithvi Theatre (without asking Prithviraj Kapoor, fondly referred to as 'Papaji'). One day, he started a conversation and discovered that Jaikishan was a harmonium player, and that he was also visiting the same producer in search of work. It was outside the office of Bhatt that Shankar saw Jaikishan a number of times. After moving to Mumbai, he became a disciple of Vinayak Tambe.Īpart from working at Prithvi Theatre, Shankar used to frequently visit the office of a Gujarati director, Chandravadan Bhatt, who had promised Shankar a break as a Music Director when he produced a film. Subsequently, he obtained his musical lessons from Sangeet Visharad Wadilalji and later from Prem Shankar Nayak. Jaikishan was adept at playing the harmonium. As a child he lived in Bansda (Vansada), a town in the present-day state of Gujarat.

Jaikishan Dahyabhai Panchal (4 November 1929 – 12 September 1971) was born to Dahyabhai Panchal and his wife. Besides his work at Prithvi Theatre, he also started working as an assistant to the leading composer duo of Husnlal Bhagatram and nurtured the ambition of becoming an independent music director.īansda, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Gujarat) It was at Prithvi Theatre that he learnt to play and mastered several other instruments like Sitar, Accordion and Piano etc. 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. For many years, Shankar studied as a disciple of the legendary composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, in whose orchestra he performed. During his formative years, Shankar played the tabla and learned the art formally from Baba Nasir Khansahib. Shankar Singh Ram Singh Raghuvanshi (15 October 1922 – 26 April 1987) was from Hyderabad. Hyderabad Deccan, Hyderabad State (present-day Telangana)

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