TREND SETTER VERSATILE COMPOSER DUO. Review on Twenty Best Songs of Shankar-Jaikishan

The composer duo was trend setter. with stupendous commercial success of the duo there are many composer pairs like Kalayanji Anadji, Laxmikant Pyarelal., Jatin lalit, Nadim Shravan, Anand-Millind etc.

They made film music popular with lilting tunes.so much so that composers in next generation aped their style of creating hummable tunes. The orchestra of LP was based on SJ style but as less lively.LP, KA and Rahuldeb Burman) though son of Sachindev Burman a great composer) all regarded SJ music as role model for their compositions.

SJ ruled from 1950 to 1970 and gave hits after hits and yet maintained standard which no other prolific composer could manage with the exception of Burman. They scored music for over 100 movies but many movies had a dozen songs each and each song would be hit.

To Shanker Jaikishan goes the credit of popularizing the voices of Lata and Mukesh.

They used voice of Mannna dey brilliantly more than any other composer. The duo popularized classical music in Hindi films . They gave western tunes and folk tunes with equal ease.

Such was their "karishma" that music composer LP themselves voted for SJ "whenever there is any ranking has to be done even though LP took the baton of commercially successful composer post 1970s. But SJ never gave dull music. and people missed the freshness and peppy tunes of SJ in the later era ruled by LP especially in eighties. . Moreover SJ produced memorable songs dime a dozen which could not be matched by any other composer with the exceptions of Burmans. Along with SD Burman they initially started using the voice of kishorekumar in fifties and even though the combination produced wonders they mysteriously slided Kishore and in sixties their music mainly was dominated by Rafi's male voice and Rafi s voice sounded same for Rajendrakumar or Shammi under SJ. baton. Same Rafi was refreshingly live with S. D Burman and OP Nayyar.

LP maintained that SJ were the greatest composer of all times. In late sixties the internal split between the duo, the preference of Shanker to singer Sharada the staleness due to overuse Rafis voice monotonously and the blow given by Rajkapur by selecting LP as MD for Bobby weree the main causes of their downfall.

But LP and R D could not maintain the standard of RK music.

Even bobby score is inferior to Mera nam Joker score.

Rajkapur was soon unhappy and replaced LP with Ravindra jain after just 3 movies.

I would like to close with the fact that in Mumbai the capital of Bollywood the famous orchestra of Suhaschandra Kulkarni "Melody Makers "regulary stahed a program in 1973-1975 titled "Shanker Jiakishan Kal aur Rahuldev Burman Aaj"!

another sad that 10 best songs of Kishore under SJ score over ten best songs of Rafi under Of course SJ Mukesh and Manna dey combinations excel than their compositions with Rafi or Kishore

twenty m memorable songs

1) Hawame udta jaye mera lal dupatta malmalka - Barssat - lata the song christened a new era of the nightingale Lata with her famous school girlish voice!

2) Jiya Bekarar hai - Lata simply unimitable

3) kisiiki muskarahato pe .Mukesh - beautifully sung and composed

4) Aa ab laut chale mukesh -lata marvellus composition "jis desh me ganga bahati hai"

5) Mud mud ke na dekh mud mud ke - " simply marvellous unorthodox composition " -maanna de -asha - "shri 430"

6) Tu pyar ka sagar hai Manna de - "Seema " beautifully sung, composition

7) Laga chunari me dag - Manna de

8) Zindagi ik safar hai suhana - kishore Millennium song

9) Jane kaha gaye wo din - Mukesh

10) Nalhare wali - New Delhi -innovative yodeling - Kishore

11) Ae mere dil kahi aur chal - Talat sung inn soft silky voice

12) Pyar hua ikrar hua Lata -Manna De Lata duet

13) Aaja sanam madhur chandani me - Lata - Manna De

14) Zanak anak tori baje payaliya - Manna De claasical song graet masterpiece

15) Geet gata hu mai -Kishore - beautifully sung and prbably last spark of SJ

16) Rat ke humsafar -Rafi -Asha -One of the finest duets ever composed in Films

17) pyar kiya dil ne kaha ho tum Lata Hemant

18) Chotisi ye duniya -Kishore - a romantic yet serious song

19) Pankh hoti to uda aati me Lata beautifully sung and typical SJ -Lata touch

20) Dost dost na raha -Mukesh typical SJ-Mukesh