When Shankar Jaikishan worked for Prithviraj Kapoor’s theater company, they developed a friendship with their boss’s son, actor/producer/director, Raj Kapoor. The latter was ready to launch his second movie, Barsaat, and was looking for a music composer. His father recommended Shankar. RK approached the musician and offered the job to him. Shankar told him that he wished to work with his friend Jaikishan, to which, RK readily agreed and suggested that Shankar take Jaikishan as his assistant which was not acceptable to the composer. He informed RK that he would only work for him if Jaikishan was given equal partnership and the rest, as you know, is history. Thus, Barsaat brought SJ and RK together to form a long association that created memorable music for nine super hit movies under the actor’s home production company.
With the success of Barsaat, RK made SJ his permanent composers and put them on a payroll of Rs. 500. The appreciation and gratitude felt by SJ towards their mentor kept them satisfied with the paltry pay they received. All that mattered was that RK gave them their first break and they would always be loyal to him and try to give him their best.
On a visit to Tehran, RK witnessed Sharda’s singing at a social event hosted by businessman, Mr. Ahuja. He was very much impressed by her voice and, on his return home, requested SJ to give the singer a voice test. They did and the rest, as you know, is history. Sharda sang two solo songs in her debut making movie, Suraj, which were runaway super hits with “Titli Udi” being nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer, tying with Rafi for “Baharon Phool Barsao” from the same movie. Rafi won the award since, until then, there was only one category for the award. That resulted in FF instating two separate awards in the male and female singers category. Sharda went on to receive three more consecutive nominations for the FF Award for Best Female Playback Singer. With her unconventional voice, Sharda won instant popularity that created ripples in the industry and caused insecurity in some.
The business savvy RK wanted Sharda to sing for his epic movie Mera Naam Joker. SJ composed two songs for the singer. But, due to pressure from some negative forces, RK edited out the songs from the movie.
With the miserable failure of Mera Naam Joker at the box office and Jaikishan’s death that followed later, RK dropped SJ (Shankar) from his camp and never had Sharda sing for him again. The extremely popular and award winning album couldn’t convince the movie maker to retain SJ. The man who reached out to SJ and Sharda in the past, turned around and alienated them for good.
Shankar was a very grateful and sentimental man. Even though he was dropped from the RK camp and was replaced by other composers after SJ were previously signed for them, he continued to be hopeful that RK would some day call him back to work for him. But, that never happened. All his hopes were shattered. Yet, he invited his mentor to be a Chief Guest at his concert in the US. Sadly, he died before he and RK shared a platform again.
Seen in the picture below (L to R) are: Shankar, Sharda and RK at a rehearsal for a song in Mera Naam Joker.
