As Shankar Jaikishan Fans, we have all read and heard about the spectacular music shows and their stupendous success. The record breaking attendance and funds collected at their shows is a matter of wonder cos never before or after were such events held.
Following is a write-up by one of our members, Dennis Shah, who was fortunate enough to have attended one of SJ shows and remembers it vividly to this day.
This is verbatim of an ardent Shankar Jaikishan fan, Mr. Dennis Shah, who was a witness to one of the most memorable events in the history of music. Read on…
I have been a member of this forum for a number of years now. I can’t say that I have read every post in this forum over the years nor have I contributed to this forum but as far as I can remember I have not come across news coverage or personal reminisces, eye witness accounts of the S-J performing live. Yes, I have seen the multipart clips on YouTube of SJ Night held in 1970 at the famous Shanmukhanand Hall in Mumbai. I am not sure if many SJ devotees know that there was another event similar to the one held in Mumbai in 1970. Subsequently another SJ Night was held in Ahmedabad. Matter of fact two nights were held back to back on consecutive evenings in Ahmedabad.
I am not entirely sure about the dates but going by my personal time line it would have taken place in 1970 or more likely 1971. I do distinctly remember the two venues where the SJ night took place. The first of the two events was held in a more exclusive and intimate setting at the Seth Mangaldas town hall and the other, the bigger of the two, star studded event was held the next day before an audience of thousands in an open air arena – the newly constructed Police Stadium in Shahibaug Ahmedabad. I had the good fortune of being present at the former event.
Unfortunately, I do not have the precise dates as well as the complete details of the circumstances surrounding the events. Nor was I in the habit of maintaining a dairy. Suffice to say that both the events were fund raisers. I vaguely recall that the first night was organized by the Rotary Club for the benefit of either the Red Cross society or the Soldiers Fund.
I have no specific firsthand knowledge details of much bigger event held at the Police Stadium. The event was covered by Times of India Ahmedabad edition as well as in the vernacular press. This was the star studded event with Raj Kapor , Rajesh Khanna along with other major stars and among the actresses I believe Mala Sinha was present as well.
A recent visit to Ahmedabad brought back many memories of this remarkable evening while I was going through the mementoes and memorabilia of my youth and found Shardaji’s autographed picture that I had managed to obtain on that day. That re-discovery led me to share with the members of this forum my recollections of that event for what it is worth. I hope my recollection will be of some interest to SJ fans and will add to the growing body of information and opinion on SJ that is accumulating on-line.
As I have mentioned before the first event was a more exclusive event held at the historic town hall. This venue has had an illustrious history in the cultural life of Ahmadabad. It has hosted luminaries of classical music, the giants of the Gujarati stage, the greats and near greats of the Bombay film and music world as well as countless local college talent shows. Ahmadabad town hall was also the venue of Begum Akhtar’s last concert before she passed away later that same evening.
My being there for the first ever SJ night in Ahmedabad happened in a most serendipitous manner. Since the local electric utility company my father worked for was a major sponsor of the event, the complimentary passes were given to the CEO of the company who offered my dad some of the passes who probably told the boss that I might be interested. All this happened in a matter of hours on the day of the concert and I was whisked away in the boss’s car and found myself sitting in the second or third row of the auditorium right in the middle section of the row. I am pretty sure we were given the play bill (brochure) up on our arrival and I had it saved for many years. However, it seems to have disappeared from amongst my collectibles.
It was a thrill of a lifetime to say the least. I was in my late teens and already a diehard SJ fan by then. I must say that it was the best of times for me to be a SJ fan. It has been many years since that day but I remember certain highlights as it were yesterday. I saw the cream of Ahmedabad society seated in the front rows along with government dignitaries and local celebrities like All India Radio announcers(among them Harry Lemuel RIP) and artists.
As I recall the event began without any official speech with Amin Sayani making the introductory announcement followed by Raj Kapoor’s appearance on the stage. This (show) was the first and only time I saw RK in person and at very close quarters. I was struck by the fact that he was a very fair and handsome man. RK then introduced SJ and the show began with the full orchestra. I saw Shankar for the first and only time at this event as for Jaikishan I had seen him once before about six or seven years prior to this event while I was still in grade school. But that is another story for some other time. To me he looked the same as he had when I had first seen him.
I will now attempt to chronicle my impressions of the event in no particular sequence as best as I can after a lapse of so many years. I know memory can play tricks and can make a person imagine things that did not actually happened as they now see in their mind’s eye. I hope you will bear with me and help fill in the gaps if possible by eliciting additional information about this event from members / fans who may have further details of the circumstances surrounding this event.
Seeing and listening to the glamorous Shardaji’s sing “Titli Udi” was one the major highlights of the show. This was one of Sharda’s very first song and one of my personal favorite as I particularly liked the string and flute based musical interludes. Sharda sang many songs including Jaane Bhi De and Sun Sun Sunre.
Shankar employed a vigorous mostly one hand gesture and moved about the stage I suppose to conduct the rhythm section. Jaikishan on the other hand employed a very stylish two outstretched arms and hands gesture and seemed to be concentrating on the singer.
During the course of the program word came down that the Mohammed Rafi would not be present for this version of the SJ night. That realization left me a little bit crest fallen as I was so very much looking forward to hearing the great Rafi Saab.
Another highlight was Mukesh’s “Sangam Hoga Ke Nahi” Towards the end of the song RK appeared on stage with the bagpipe prop and danced to the song. Musically the interesting thing for me was that the bag-pipe sound was created by a bunch of flute and reed instrument players who shared a microphone on the left side of the stage. Other Mukesh songs that I recall were Sajan Re Jhoot mat bolo and Jane Kahan Gaye Who Din. There was also “Chaale Jaana Jara …” duet with Sharda.
Manna Dey sang Ai Bhi Jara.. and number of other songs as well.
I am pretty certain that there was another female singer on the bill other than Shardaji but for the life of me I cannot recall who that was.
The standup comedy interludes were presented by a young and dynamic Deven Verma in top form. There are two routines I particularly remember to this day. One was a takeoff on James Bond – Indian version of 007. The other one was about how males of different linguistic groups romance their sweethearts. He used a pillow as a prop and carried on a two way conversation. Deven with his expertise in dialects and mannerism made it absolutely hilarious and saved the best for the last by demonstrating how an American would romance his beloved by removing the pillowcase from the pillow which brought the house down.
I do not recall S or J speaking a single word to the audience during the course of the program. I also do not recall the presence of any famous movie star other than RK that night. I know I am not giving due credit to Amin Sayanee as it is virtually impossible for me to recall exactly what he said but suffice to say he was a great MC.
As for the second SJ night that took place in the open air arena in front of thousands of people was widely covered in the press. Mohammed Rafi did appear along with other stars. I remember reading in the news accounts of the event that Rajesh Khanna along with Mala Sinha (?) and other stars were present for the show.
The only way to find out definitely the singers, musicians and film stars who were present would be to have access to the news papers of that time or to elicit information from those who happened to be in the audience or were involved with the big show.
Back to the photo. I do not mean to sound self important, but we were given to understand that the photo was made available to guests in the VIP section and that Shardaji had personally signed the photo for the occasion. For all I know this may have been a standard pre-autographed publicity shot that was widely circulated at the time.
Now looking back at it after a period of nearly forty years I can still vividly recall some of the sights and sounds of that memorable evening in Ahmedabad. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen my musical heroes at close quarters at that stage in my life in peak form. These are some of the memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I know there are so many people including HFM music scholars, journalists, musicians, biographers and avid fans who may have some more light to shed on this and similar events in the musical history of SJ and I would love to hear from them.
