This music duo introduced Raj Kapoor to Telugu audiences 70 years ago…

Theirs was a unique combination, one hailed from apna Hyderabad and the other from Gujarat. Music directors Shankar-Jaikishan, the famous combo name with which people knew them all through the 1950s to the early 1970s, were actually Shankar Singh Ram Singh Raghuvanshi from the Deccan capital and the other Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal from the town of Bansda. Interestingly, out of the 175- odd films the duo composed music for, two of them were in Telugu – Premalekhalu (1953), the dubbed version of Raj Kapoor’s Aah, which was well received and Jeevitha Chakram (1971), starring N T Rama Rao, Vanisri and Sarada.

September 12 happens to be the 52nd death anniversary of Jaikishan, who lived for just 41 years but left behind enough for many many years of music lovers. Obviously, Jaikishan started very young as an independent composer with Shankar, who was a good harmonium player and who paired with the former in many theatre productions of Prithviraj Kapoor. Jaikishan was just 20 when he scored music for Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’ in 1949, with his partner seven years his senior. Of course, Raj Kapoor himself was just 25 at that time and his heroine Nargis, not even 20. Such raw, passionate power was bound to win and it did making the film the highest grosser of that year.

‘Barsaat’ had two more important highlights to its name, making it the first film to be shot in Kashmir and also that the famous pose of Raj Kapoor and Nargis, with the heroine dangling on the arms of the hero, becoming the logo for R K Studios, the proud possession of the Kapoor family till recently.

The 1950s to the 1970s, considered the golden era of Hindi cinema for its music and evergreen hit songs had an array of top notch composers in competition forever for being at the top. From C Ramchandra at one end to S D Burman at the other, there were seven names which included Roshan, O P Nayyar, Naushad, Madan Mohan and Salil Chowdhury. Yet, S-J as they were also hailed were very good with their craft making the pair a formidable one till it lasted.

September 14 happens to be the 109th birth anniversary of iconic film producer, G P Sippy, who was a huge name in Hindi cinema known more for being the producer of the all-time hit ‘Sholay’ released in 1975, directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. He had a long stint of four decades and more in Bombay moviedom, even overseeing the earlier films of Shah Rukh Khan like ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ in 1992 when the latter was an up and coming hero. Fans of King Khan will fondly remember the acting potential exhibited by him and his vulnerable presence onscreen earning him a horde of fans, more female, which continues till date with ‘Jawan’ raking in the millions, thirty years later.