The young tabla player, from suburban Hyderabad, followed his lifetime dream to make a living in Mumbai, the entertainment capital of the country. His destiny landed him in a job at the famous Prithvi Theater, headed by the legendary patriarch of the Kapoor family who won hearts of millions through his work on stage and screen.
That was Shankar, one half of Shankar Jaikishan. With his passion for music and his hard work in pursuing a career in it, the young musician impressed his employer, Prithviraj Kapoor who took him under his wing and mentored him. Shankar’s chance meeting with Jaikishan, at a movie maker’s Office, lead him to a lifelong friendship and partnership as well. Learning of Jaikishan’s job search, Shankar took him to his boss and recommended a job for Jai who was hired immediately. The two, affectionately, called their mentor “Papa ji.”
Meanwhile, Prithviraj’s son, Raj Kapoor, was launching his second movie Barsaat. His father advised him to have Shankar compose music for the movie. RK offered the assignment to Shankar and suggested he take Jaikishan as his assistant to which the former refused saying that he would only work for him if Jai was his equal partner. Thus was born the the famous Shankar Jaikishan banner. The rest, as you know, is history.
With the two composers signed for his movie, RK also added two new lyricists to his camp. They were Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. Thus began the journey of the Fab Four to become the most popular, famous and successful group of all times.
No matter how rich and famous SJ became, their love and loyalty to their “Papa ji” never waned.
Seen in the picture below are (L-R): “Papa ji” Prithviraj Kapoor, Shankar, Jaikishan and Hasrat.
