BARSAAT was actually shot in Mahabaleshwar, Mumbai.

The Raj-Nargis romance took wings in April 1949 with launch of Barsaat.Jaddanbai, Nargis’s mother soon caught on and when Raj decided that they were going to Kashmir to shoot the film, Jaddanbai refused Nargis to go…………………..Eventually Raj had to compromise by shooting all the important scenes  of BARSAAT in Mahabaleshwar. Later, Raj went to Kashmir to shoot the scenic panoramas which were interlaced in the film so beautifully, rather, cleverly that Cinegoers  never caught on that the Blockbuster was actually shot in Mahabaleshwar and not in Kashmir….The intelligence of Raj returned back the reputation in abundance, with the foursome——Shankar-Jaikishan, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri. ………………………For greater publicity in Mumbai, for the first and last time the posters of musical duo – SJ -were also displayed…..as some thunderstorm has struck Mumbai and the nation………The beginning of stars has written on the Silver Screen for ages.

Amrapali’s song–Shailendra-SJ.

Shailendra is remembered by Jai Prakash Chouksey in an article he wrote in Dainik Bhaskar on 21.3.13….In the last he mentions of an Hollywood film ‘Emerald Island’….The article he finishes with Film Amrapali song ‘Tadap ye din raat ki’, music composed by Shankar Jaikishan….just read ”bina karan udasi kyon, achanak ghir ke aati hai; thaka jaati hai kyun mujhko, badan kyun tod jaati ha”….Super poetry by Shalendra and super composition by SJ.

SJ-Helen on her birthday

ITNI BADI MEHFIL …..DIL ISKO DOON YA USKO DOON….with great gusto of trumpets…..in Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai.

Happy BIRTHDAY to Helen on 19th Nov. She be blessed by God and have a long life. In Indian Hindi film industry she filled in the empty space created by prominent dancer Cuckoo in the 50s,(remember in Awara-Ek do teen aaja mausam hai rangeen-Cuckoo dancing). One of Helen’s most memorable films,with SJ,  included Gumnaam, which was released in 1965, where she played the role of one of the few persons who were taken to an isolated island. She was killed along with a number her friends by Tarun Bose in the film who was identified by Manoj Kumar at the end of the film. Her dance number in the songs “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” and “is duniya me jeena ho to” composed by Shankar Jaikishan were brilliant by every judging standards. She was put to test in her dance no. in the song “muqabla hum se na karo” in the film Prince along with Shammi Kapoor and Vaijayantimala. She did the western part while Vaijayantimala did the eastern part…….excerpts from net.

Tribute to Jaikishan-12 Sept,2012.

A tribute to master composer of the hindi film industry, Jaikishan, who made slow and fast tunes with simole orchestration…But he understood the nerve of time ”dunia usi ki hai jo chalta jaye”..Therefore he made with film to films, tune to tunes,the inevitable changes in orchestration to keep pace with the changing time and what SJ fans expected–fabulous compositions, modified play of instruments on film situation demands, but more so keeping the public taste in mind. People expected from him and he gave them to quench their thirst of melodious music. He,with his partner/big brother Shankar, gave HFM,an unrepeated era, which will survive the ages……The song from Poonam is brilliant example of accordian,violins,tabla and dholak giving the song a fast pace for the expectations of a beloved….However SJ were the two sides of the same coin, so we cannot distinguish their independent identity as far as their music as ”shankar jaikishan” is concerned. The use of instruments, the rhythm with singers’voice are so intermingled that it is difficult to take out Shankar from Jai or Jai from Shankar. There worked a telepathy between the two, which churned out the best from each of them….Till date, it is hard to beat by any of their contenders the superiority and incomparable genius they had in the aura in film music. Dil Ek Mandir Hai….It is the unitching memory of their songs in the heart of millions of people on the globe,which is well worshipped….Their work is the Temple….Our hearts live there with all serenity and calmness to have satisfaction to keep the flame of their music burning….It is small to say ”long live SJ”..There music and memories hv already sunk in the hearts to be passed on to generation to generation…..”Yahan koi nahin tera mere siva, kahti hai jhoomti gaati hawa, tum sabko chhodkar aa jao”, ”raat dhalne lagi, chand chhupne chala, aa aa,aa bhi ja”, ”o jaane wale mud ke zara dekhte jana, dil tod ke to chal diye, mujhko na bhulana”, ”is gaon mein dard ki chhaon mein pyar ke naam par hi dhadkate hain dil, maine dil TUJHKO diya”.

Shankar Jaikishan remembered behind curtain.(FB).

Baba Ramdev chants ”Hoton pe sachai rahati hai jahan dil mein safai rahati, hum us des ke vasi hain,jis desh mein GANGA behti hai”. He was taking a holy dip in Ganga at Haridwar yesterday(14 Aug)after his 6 day ‘anshan’. He replied live above to ”Aaj Tak’ correspondent. SJ are in hearts of people. Big or small. Like · · Unfollow Post · 22 hours ago 2 people like this. Maruti Rao V It is not just a passing melody created by the genius of a lyricist, and legendary music composers, for hearing once or occasionally and then forgetting. It is an anthem, a national song which remains etched in the memories of and on the lips of crores of Indians as long as waters flow down the sacred Ganga up from the Himalayas down to the seas. 14 hours ago · Like Susim Mohanty The profundity of the lyrics only get deeper with time. For me, THIS is the national anthem. 2 hours ago · Like Gopal Shroti thnx Maruti Rao V,Susim Mohanty….Wonderful..the thought are same through out India, about this song depicting culture and thoughtfulness of Indians, as we too used to call it a National anthem. Maruti Raoji, it will flow down the ages. Yea, for millions of people of our country, it is and will remain a National Anthem. 29 minutes ago · Like

SJ’s rag based songs giving importance to singers.

The classical Indian music is based on ‘aath prahar’ of day and night and so even the classical, sugam sangeet, or folk music of yesteryears of hindi film cinema somehow/somewhere matches these ‘prahars’….Therefore the past MDs followed that discipline…but today alas, ‘MDs,singers & lyricists ki roji-roti chalna mushkil ho jayegi’….the bad orchestration has chewed the lyrics’wordings, and what the singers r singing is ununderstandable. One day I saw one tv channel was writing the wordings below the screen of the song being played…..SHAME!!!! for whom? Sometimes my grandson says, ‘nanoo samajh mein nahin aaya’…..I still feel if they adopt the ‘raga’ based songs with less noisy orchestration, it wud be better for young generation to find way into the great musical heritage of India….There was more orchestration in the past, LIKE 100 piece orchestra (SJ employed),40 piece orchestra etc…  but that did not suppress the voices of legendary singers and the sweetness of the songs give u relief in troubling times….Almost all the songs of SJ had some base of classical,western,or folk music…However, I give below few classical raga based songs:

1. O basanti pawan pagal—-Rag Shivranjani….Even the full western orchestration song with piano,violins and choir voices ‘Dil ke jharokhe mein tukhko bithakar…’ is based on this rag.

2. Tadap ye din raat ki…(Amrapali)-Bhimpalasi.

3. Man mohana bade jhoote…(Seema)–Jayjaywanti.

4. Panchhi banu,udati phirun (Chori Chori) –Bhupali.

5. Geet gaata hun main..(Lal Paththar)–Kirwani.

6. Lapak Jhapak (BOOT Polish)–Megh.

7. Koi matwara (Love in Tokyo)–Darbari.

8.Ajahun na aaye balma (Saanjh aur savera)–Sindhu Bhairavi……to mention just few.

9. Dil ke jharokhe mein—Shivranjini.

4 DECEMBER—Do…

14 December—Dono chup hain, khamosh hain—sidhi si baat na mirch masala—woh usi dhun mein raha—magar ye kya—ek jeevit tha, doosra chhodkar chala gaya—par ab dono nahin hain, unki yaaden saath hain, saath rahengi—-kyonki ”vahan paidal hi jana hai”….yeh wo bhi jante the, aur saari yaaden hamare saath sanjo gaye….Hearty tribute to Raj Sahab aur Shailendraji….14 Dec..Raj Sahab’s birthday…Shailendraji’s demise anniversary…..Toota jis taare pe nazar thi hamari, sach hai duniya valon ke koi na tha Anari….Tumhari bhi jai jai hamari bhi jai jai, na tum haare na ham haare.

REMEMBERING MUSICAL SHAMMI ON HIS B’DAY-21 OCT.

His combination with Shankar Jaikishan and Mohammad Rafi was very grand. SJ composed music in almost 22 films of Shammi Kapoor and the songs of those films are still considered musical gems. Hit songs include “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “meri yaar shabba khair” sung by Rafi, composed by SJ in Junglee, “tumse accha kaun hai”, “lal chari”, sung by Rafi, composed by SJ in Janwar, “aye gulbadan”, “awaz deke” composed by SJ sung by Rafi in the film Professor, “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye”, “yeh rang badalti duniya me” composed by SJ, sung by Rafi in the film Raj Kumar, “aasmaan se aya farishta”, “raat ke humsafar”, “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho” composed by SJ and sung by Rafi in the film An Evening in Paris, “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche”, “dil ke jharoke me” composed by SJ sung by Rafi in the film Brahmchari, to name a few. The list can go on.

Zindgi ek safar hai suhana—This seems to be when I view this picture of Jaikishan….then why untimely departure…it was God’s will.

They were a foursome to shake the hindi film industry’s music domain, and make their own path by great innovations, experiments in the vast field of singing and orchestration to reign the field eight handedly….hahaha…They were Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, the four pillars to hold the rooftop of melody and rhythm in their own way, which hitherto was impossible to replicate and till date.

Today 12th Sept is the remembrance day of Jaikishan who must be watching from the heaven to his creations and his fans around the globe. Says Hasrat Jaipuri, recalling his first composition for Barsat tuned by Jaikishan–”We were sitting together at a little restaurant near Opera House. He told me of the new tune he’d composed and added that he had also written the first line ‘Chhod gaye balam mujhe hai akela chhod gaye’. He asked me to write the further stanzas. The sheer piognancy of the words inspired me and at once I replied, ‘Toot gaya balam, mera pyar bhara dil toot gaya’.” Hasrat and Jai were the two sides of a coin, as Shankar and Shailendra. However there were times when both sides were changed for the time being and again merged together.

Hasrat more emotionally recalls their Paris visit–”Once we were in Paris together at the Lido, drinking and watching the show. There were a galaxy of beautiful girls wearing star-spangled costumes. I don’t know how but each time they moved, a few stars would fall down. Seeing this Jai remarked, ‘Hasrat miyan, this is beautiful. You must write something’. I did and the song was used in Prince. It was ”Badan pe sitare lapete huye…” wow what was a composition and a great tune in the lines of Parisian music, Jai might have in mind when composing the tunes of ‘An evening in Paris’….’Zara pass aao to chain aa jaye”. …a humble tribute to Jaikishan today…’wahan paidal hi jana hai’…I pray God his soul rest in peace.

A TRIBUTE TO SHANKAR JAIKISHAN-RAFI-SHAMMI COMBINATION(68)

As Shammi was vociferous, Rafi sahab was a cool natured man…..a co-incidence of two diversions, who made a niche in the Hindi film music under the baton of Shankar Jaikishan. But if u listen the song by Rafi sahab for Shammi Kapoor, it looks unbelievable. 22 films together with Shankar Jaikishan and they rendered the most beautiful craze of hindi film songs in 50 to 70s.

2)However before we go further, we find that there were three aspects of Shammi:-1)loud and jumping jack, 2) Romantic shammi and 3) sad Shammi.

3) See Janwar’s song-ho-ho-ho-ho tumse achchha kaun hai–experience the 4th ‘ho’ Rafi gives a jump and pull back the ‘swar’ on ‘tumse’..in next line ”dillo jigar lo jaan lo”, again the small ”dillo” moves in the air with Rafi’s voice….the same thing happens in ”HAM tumhare hain sanam”…the ”ham” word gets the punch. Next remember ”ai go, ai go, ai go ye kya ho gaya” (Boyfriend)Rafi sahab has differentiated the third ”ai go” from the first two, beautifully…It is difficult for a general listner to understand these ”leave and catch” of particular words, which put life into the song. Rafi sahab understood and knew personally the touch and feeling to be given to a particular singer….may be Shammi, Johnny Walker,Rajendra Kumar or Joy Mukherji & Vishvajeet……..next