Tamil Music directors and SJ ! - Random thoughts

by Subramaniamviswanathan @ SJ yahoo grp

Viswanathan- Ramamurthy(V-R) were somewhat as brilliant and as prolific in TFM in the 60s as were S-J in HFM. But quantity-wise V-R bagged and scored for a huge no. of films, I would say bulk of the Tamil films in the 60s, their only able competitor being K.V. Mahadevan of ‘Shankarabharanam’ fame who was an accomplished genius of his own class. So you can imagine the equivalent combined work of S-J, SDB, MM, OPN, Naushad and half a dozen more top-grade MDs, V-R and KVM were handling themselves on the Tamil front. I believe there would have been as many Tamil films churned out in the 60s as Hindi films, give and take some. So it is a huge quantum of output we are talking about and the beautiful thing is that it hardly showed on the quality! KVM experimented in Hindustani classical as well, which he used in one mythological film ‘Karnan’ with outstanding effects. V-R combined successfully popular music with aesthetic appeal for more than a decade, until they decided to part ways in the early 70s. Ramamurthy went into oblivion, whereas M.S.Viswanathan or MSV, as popular known is still active and to date the most senior and well-known MD in Tamil cinema. So they were definitely not chhoti-moti cheez!

There were umpteen Tamil films, mostly family melodramas that were re-made in Hindi in the 60s, and most often than not, I dare to say, that the music in Hindi versions fell short of the quality that the Tamil originals had. Somehow, barring S-J, other stalwart MDs could not really re-create the magic of V-R and KVM’s original scores. Some glaring examples are Nazrana, Raakhi, Gauri, Khandaan, Mehrbaan ( all Ravi), Aadmi, Ram aur Shyam, Saathi ( all Naushad) and Pyar kiye Jaa (L-P) – I think in the last mentioned, Director Sridhar & L-P totally missed the bus even with Kishore Kumar in the lead, whereas the original hit ‘Kadhalikka Neramillai’ had an array of delightful songs by V-R that are still as fresh and popular as ever. There were more re-makes that followed which were damp squibs; ‘Lakhonme ek’ (RDB), ‘Teen Bahuraniyan’ (K-A) etc. RDB did not take a chance in another re-make, ‘Do Phool’. He straightaway lifted ‘Muthu kulikka vaarigala’ as it was in the original V-R version!

So was there a silver lining in the Hindi re-makes?
Yes, it was S-J’s music As Mr. Natarajan had noted in an earlier mail, it is difficult to judge whether ‘Dil Ek Mandir’’s music was better or the original ‘Nenjil Or aalayam’ by V-R was better. Both were classy and carried the respective composers’ individual styles. ‘Zindagi’ was as good as the original as well. If KVM’s ‘Iruvar ullam’ was a musical delight, then so was S-J’s ‘Hamrahi’, the Hindi version. I guess one of the most successful Tamil film-maker Sridhar banked on S-J for his Hindi re-makes like ‘Dil ek mandir’, ‘Dharti’ and ‘Duniya kya jane’ after occasional straying in ‘Nazrana’ and ‘Pyar kiye jaa’. S-J also did not disappoint in ‘Main Sundar Hoon’ which was a re-make of the Tamil hit ‘Server Sundaram’. (You can see the respective MDs composing music in a song sequence of these films!) . I must also mention that when Hindi films with S-J’s music were re-made in Tamil, the Tamil music lagged behind in quality! A classic example is ‘Brahmachari’. Its remake ‘Enga Mama’ which had MSV’s music, was a pale comparison to Brahmachari’s songs! During that period, Viswanathan and Ramamurthy had split ways, and Tamil music went on a descent, only to be resurrected by another up-coming genius in the mid- 70s by the name ‘Ilayaraja’! ( He has composed for few Hindi films like ‘Sadma’ and the recent ‘Chini kum’).

Regards,
S.V.Nathan.

Ujala : Shammi Kapoor and SJ association

by N Sridhar

Ujala was the first association of SJ with Shammi Kapoor and what a glorious association it turned out to be. In my personal opinion, this combination was more deadly than that of SJ with Raj Kapoor. Personally, I myself got involved with SJ through Shammi Kapoor. My elder brother had become an avid fan of Shammi Kapoor in the mid 70's (when he started going to college and started viewing movies). All of us brothers used to listen to music on our radio set together and the influence of Shammi Kapoor and SJ rubbed of on the other brothers and it was through Shammi Kapoor that we started exploring the world of SJ. Even today among the other brothers, SJ continues to be our favorite MD's. The exploration of the SJ world continues even today as I keep discovering a lot of things about my favorite MD.

The first association of SJ with Shammi Kapoor also has a lot of significance in terms of how the relationship developed later on with Shammi insisting on SJ as the MD for his movies in the 1960's. I remember reading somewhere about Shammi mentioning about SJ. SJ knew Shammi for long due to the association with RK, but it was mostly on a personal level rather than at a professional level. Shammi Kapoor did not have a good run with his acting career in the 1950's and he was always in the shadow of his earlier brother and was struggling to find his feet in the industry. His movies of those days did not make any significant impact on the box office also, in spite of lot of expectations and in fact he had contemplated on leaving the industry. Of course, the fact remains that it was OPN which gave him the first change of image in Tumsa Nahin Dekha. Shammi mentions that it was for the first time in Ujala that SJ, the Music Directors consulted him, the hero of the move regarding the song compositions. He said this was never the case in his earlier movies. Shammi Kapoor confesses that he was not musically knowledgeable like his elder brother, but gave some suggestions which SJ incorporated. I think it was this mutual consultation and respect which developed the foundation of the long SJ-Shammi-Rafi relationship which continued till the end of Shammi Kapoor's career as a hero. In fact it can also be verified in the 1960's, in most of the photographs of the recordings for the songs of Shammi Kapoor 's movies, he always used to be present for the recording of the songs.


Coming to the songs of Ujala, this was probably the last major movie that Mannadey had with SJ (with more than 1 song) singing for the hero. Even though SJ had been consistently using Rafi in their compositions right from Barsaat, it was only later on that Rafi became their favorite singer for heroes other than Raj Kapoor. But what is more surprising is the use of Mukesh for Shammi - Duniyawalon se door, whereas in the male duet, it is Mukesh who playbacks for Raj Kumar whereas Rafi sings for Shammi Kapoor. I think only Kalyanji Anandji, later on used the voice of Mukesh & Hemant Kumar in Bluff Master. This movie had Shammi acting in a role which in my personal opinion does not go well with his persona. Shammi acts in a role of a good hearted but a poor person. Shammi tries to eke out a living doing small errands, which is not able to sustain his family.


The movie starts with the song 'Sooraj zara aa paas aa' which brings out the situation he is in with not being able to provide for his family. Raj Kumar is the bad character of the area who tries to recruit Shammi Kapoor for his activities, but Shammi resists. But unfortunately, poverty wins and Shammi joins Raj Kumar. Kum Kum is the dancer who is the female angle of Raj Kumar. She sings the two similar songs - O mora nadaan balma and Tera jalwa jisne dekha. I have the feeling that one of the song has been must have been composed by Shankar and the other by Jaikishan. It is not uncommon to find similar songs by each of them in many other movies. Probably this was a sort of internal arrangement they had to improve upon their compositions with each one trying to be improve upon the other. The tune of Tera Jalwa jisne dekha also bears a resemblance to 'Tera Peer' of Shararat. However, the love of Mala Sinha tries to wean back Shammi Kapoor from the bad influence. Shammi Kapoor gets a job working producing knives and he gets paid for the job by the quantity of knives. The marriage of Shammi Kapoor's sister get settled and Shammi works overtime to produce knives to meet the additional expenses for the marriage. The bad character of Raj Kumar again enters his life and due to circumstances, he unwittingly becomes an accessory to murder. The guilt feeling haunts him and he runs away from the job, when the police come for enquiries, thus compounding his difficulties. It is at this time that he comes across an Ashram where the responsible person for the Ashram comes across as a person who believes in the goodness of Shammi Kapoor. However, a couple of incidents of misdemeanour at the Ashram adds to his problems and in the climax he proves his goodness. For me the best song of the movie is 'Ab Kahan Jayen Hum'. The mood of this song is similar to another popular song that we had discussed earlier - Tu Pyar Ka Sagar Hai from Seema. Shailendra again brings out the situation of the underdog in very simple but meaningful words. As mentioned earlier - Kum Kum sings the songs O mora nadaan balma and Tera Jalwa jisne dekha. Suraj zara aa paas aa is the song which Shammi sings for his younger siblings when he not able to provide them with food. Shailendra brings out the poignant situation of the hero clearly in his own simple and inimitable style. Yaaro surat hamari is the song jointly sung by Raj Kumar and Shammi while trying to carry out a thievery. It is one of the rare duets of Rafi and Mukesh. Jhoomta mausam mast mahina and Duniyawalon se door are two duets of Shammi and Mala Sinha which will again find a mention in any of the popular duets of SJ. Cham cham lo suno cham cham is a jolly song rendered by Shammi Kapoor, Mala Sinha and others. SJ have composed a lot of such group songs and once again, when you listen to the song separately, you will find a lot to appreciate, but in the presence of other greater gems, this song does not get the same attention.

Mannadey comes out with another great performance for SJ,but this performance even though does not have the immortality status of the Shri 420 or Chori Chori, it stands out as one of the great performance. As I mentioned earlier, in my opinion, this was the last movie of SJ which had Mannadey as the main singer for the hero.Maybe, we can have a separate discussion on this aspect of Mannadey's association with SJ. As usual Lata gives her best in O mora nadan balma, Tera Jalwa jisne dekha, Jhoomta mausam, duniyawalon se door and Cham Cham.

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A visit to Gaylords
by Jay Subramanyam

Have been travelling a lot, of late. I was in Mumbai last fortnight
and it so happened that I was staying at Churchgate with my uncle, just a few minutes of walk from Gaylord, which incidentally had just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Remember, it opened in December 1956.

Even as I sauntered in, I was in for a huge disappointment as the one person I was eagerly looked forward to meeting had I was told, passed away just recently. I had heard so much about Shakeel Khan ji, who had joined as a waiter hand and had risen to become chief steward at Gaylord. He was so very closely associated with the restaurant and apart from being Jaikishan ji's closest confidante, he was a treasure-trove of Urdu couplets and shairi. I believe some of the famous lyricists of Bollywood would pay him a visit to spruce up their writing skills and get some inspirational tit-bits.

Among the handful of people of those times who are still serving the restaurant, happens to be one Radha Kishan Bhatt, who joined the restaurant in 1968 and continues to work in the kitchen. When I mentioned the name of Jaikishan I could immediately discern a smile on his face. I egged him a little and he was willing to share some memories even if his talk was in monologues. He recollected Jaikishan as pleasantly good-looking with a smile that really carried. He visited Gaylord almost everyday whenever he was in Mumbai, twice on an average [which continued even as much as a month before his demise, when his illness suddenly took a turn for the worse]. Jaikishan ji's morning visits were around 11, when a local band used to perform, and he used to listen in rapt attention with the feet tapping ebulliently to the swaying rhythms. [After Shakeel ji's death the band too was dismantled]. Around 7 in the evening, he used to pay a second visit usually accompanied by friends, which gradually became a veritable hive of activity & untrammeled repartee. More than anything else, it was his immanent large-heartedness that endeared everyone to Jaikishan ji, as he never kept a hold on the purse-strings and for every one of the waiters, his presence guaranteed earnings, hand over fist. Who has said `the skillful cup-bearer is always careful to leave the imbiber with a little thirst'?

Gaylord has changed décor considerably since those days and the much-talked about dance floor is now defunct with a protruding arch-like pillar occupying its centre portion, connecting it with the first floor. Jaikishan ji used to occupy the famous table no. 23, adjacent to the dance floor [The table has now shifted to the first floor]. Irrespective of his presence, the table had the `Reserved for Mr. Jaikishan' tag for most of the day, except when he was out of town for prolonged spells. And then of course, were the plenitude of female fans, who swarmed on him like locusts and on occasion, deliberately occupied his chair in the extreme right corner, refusing to leave in spite of repeated admonitions and unending palliatives, which often led to a lot of discomfiture for the staff.


The one other person I spoke to was Shri A.N. Malhotra who is now the Chairman of the Restaurant - a rather disarming and unassumingly modest person. He was quite effusive in Jaikishan's praise and said that `he was and still counts as among our most valuable customers and it was entirely because of him that the restaurant became a focal point for select Bollywood celebrities and aspiring starlets, which sadly is no longer the case as everybody has moved on to smarter and more posh & up-market joints. In spite of being a celebrity composer and among the most famous names in Bollywood, he had absolutely no airs or graces and mingled with the crowd just like a common man. He never once snubbed or humiliated his fans but was always receptive towards them, though he positively disliked aspiring singers approaching him for a hear-in at the restaurant'. [Jaikishan ji did condescend to use a new voice - that of Suresh Rajvanshi for `Aan Baan', a couple of months before his demise. I doubt, though, if the song ever made it to the final print.] Digressing a little, Malhotra ji said in a lighter vein that the dance sessions had to be discontinued as they were eating into the revenues. Unlike the band, the floor dance used to continue unabated, which meant that people would come and sit in leisure till the fun lasted and as a result the customer turnover was plummeting.

The course of my conversations revealed something quite startling, that after his first spell of illness, Jaikishan ji had to be operated upon and he was very much on the road to recovery, when just three days before his demise, he had a fatal relapse for reasons that are difficult for me to describe here for they really sent a chill down the spine. Besides, I cannot confirm the authenticity of these claims, so they are best kept closeted without raising any vestigial anxieties about Jaikishan ji's untimely demise. But I got the feeling that had there been a little more circumspection on the part of the concerned, Jaikishan ji would still perhaps, have been amongst us.

The one last bit that the staff remembered was when Jaikishan ji's cortege moved from Gobind Mahal [a distance of some two kilometers from Gaylord], it paused for about 10 minutes outside the restaurant where the entire staff assembled to pay its respects even as a spirit of sullen discontent was prevalent all-around. The frenzied throngs of people who had caused a virtual stampede at Marine Drive gradually began to thin out as the retinue moved along and took a detour to Queen's Crematorium.

Another person I happened to come across was Kamal Roy ji, the husband of Late, Nirupa Roy ji who too has been a regular at the restaurant since the early 60s and has a table reserved for him as well. Apparently, he was busy with a book on Nirupa ji in Gujarati and wasn't all that forthcoming with any interesting anecdotes on Jaikishan ji. Throughout the discussions, he never seemed to flinch or change his stern immobility and our talks were confined to Nirupa ji's illustrious career, but that is something for another day and another time. I spent close to an hour with him as he gave me a dissertation of life in his times in Mumbai and the way the city has evolved over the years. After a while, I was reminded of Alciabades fleeing the company of Socrates, lest he spent his whole life just listening to his master's wisdom. I realized it was time to move on.

As I passed Gobind Mahal and stole a prosaic glance at the lashing waves on the parapet walls across the sea-front, I recollected how the S-J wave was gathering momentum just when I was leaving the harbourage of boyhood and peaked just when I was all set to sail the turbulent sea of life. Now, I was stung by a startling metaphor that it was perhaps, the Almighty's decree that Jaikishan ji be relieved at the top of the high tide and not be left forlorn by a receding wave, like so many of his illustrious colleagues including Shanker ji. Even as the pain of their loss is dredged up along with the past, we continue to draw sustenance from the wellsprings of S-J's timeless ditties.

Yahudi's unknown masterpiece !

By Chander Mehta

Yahudi album is an all time classic and every song has quality of being a classic. The Rafi and chorus song is very very unique composition of SJ. Interludes in this composition are simply as if composed by the God! Unfortunately for all of us the Yahudi album is derived from the sound track and has film soundtrack covering this song in critical places.

I told Shankerji that if I had to mention a song that highlights the misery of a whole group of oppressed people and their _expression of anguish, there is no song better than "Yeh duniya yeh duniya" Even Naushad's "Zindabaad zindabaad aiye muhobbat zindabaat" cannot come close to this gem from Yahudi. I told him that my Jewish colleage was amazed to feel the pain of the people just by hearing the song and not knowing any Urdu! Shankerji was surprised that I had dissected his song and analysed it to that degree! He could not believe that there were fans like us who did not just listen to the song but studied and analyzed in great detail. Some of what I told him follows here:

Just listen to this song . The musical piece before the lines "Raj yeh darka, maut hai yahi ki rani " it is a magical composition. Unfortunately that musical interlude get covered by shouts of opressed people but a 78rpm record has this music without the crowd noise. I will search for that from my collection and will try to post it. [ A side note: I tried to make a ring tone out of it but unfortunately I could not make it work on my mobile! ]

Another important thing about this song is that the choir is in the background like a counter melody all through the song! This is simply amazing. How many songs have you heard that are composed this way? [I had mentioned this to Shankerji after he talked with
me extensively about the Mukesh song]

In this Rafi song, every musical piece is embedded like in the beautiful tapestry and this Yahudi song is so unique and can only be composed by minds possessed by God! Shakerji's mind was imersed in musical notes every waking hours and perhaps in his dreams too he was composing! Whereas Jaikishanji was a genius like Mozart in that whenever he felt like composing, he had a direct line connection with God!

Note : these Blogs are not full articles but part of a discussion, so cant be said used for reference . This is only for reference of SJ yahoo grp members. any one having problem with content may contact SJfiles@gmail.com

Shankar Jaikishan's Yahudi

by N Sridhar


This Bimal Roy directed film was edited by Hrishikesh Mukherji and also had song which was the one that won a Filmfare award for Shailendra. Since we have had the death of Hrishida as well as the birth anniversary of Shailendra this month, this is a fitting tribute to Hrishida and Shailendra to discuss this movie at this point. This is also another movie coming after Chori Chori, Shri 420, Seema, Basant Bahar, Patrani, Halaku which once again showcases the ability of SJ to score music for another genre of historic film set in the Roman period. This also one more album with most of the songs being quite popular

I have watched this movie on DVD a couple of years back. I remember the credits showing only Dattaram's name as Assistants to the MD. Anybody having information on the reason for Sebastian not being part of the team

The producer Savak B Vacha expired during the making of the film and the film titles carries a homage to the producer. This film has some excellent performance by the hero Dilip Kumar who is quite comfortable in portraying the tragic hero who makes a sacrifice. It also has an excellent performance by the anothe legend Sohrab Modi and some of the dialogue which I still remember from this movie when Sohrab Modi asks the emperor - 'Tumhara khoon khoon aur hamara khoon pani?', Insaaf, nadaan ladki, zulm ke kharkane se insaaf ki umeed, 'zehreele saanp zeher ke siva kuch nahin ugla sakte hain'Meena Kumari looks very beautiful and ravishing in this movie.).

The story of the movie is set in Rome and is a story of the love of a Prince Marcus (in the guise of a common trader) with a Jewish girl Hannah, the daughter of a diamond trader. Sohrab Modi plays the role of the father of the girl. In reality the girl is the daughter of Brutus who has been kidnapped by the Jewish in retaliation against the death sentence meted out to Sohrab Modi's son.

The first song in the movie is the song - 'Yeh duniya' of Rafi which is a song lamenting the situation in the country against the oppressive rule of the roman emperors against the Jews after the kidnapping of the daughter of Brutus. It is a poignant song rendered by a passing by beggar. Even though the song is filmed in studio, the images used in the song are very touching. The use of chorus in the song is also very good.

This movie also has an excellent dance sequence during the celebration of the birthday of the Princess of Rome, who is the fiancee of the Prince Marcus. This music has some traces of Persian/Arabic music. This is an excellent orchestration of dance music. The song 'Bechain Dil khoyi si nazar' is filmed on a a very young Helen and another dancer (was this Cuckoo??). This is another dance based song. It is a beautiful duet of Lata and Geeta Dutt. This must be probably be one the earliest films of Helen. A pity that Geeta Dutt's vocals were not used extensively by SJ.

Meri jaan meri jaan is the pick of this album for me. It is very nicely rendered by Lata with the chorus enhancing the mood of the song. The way Lata songs 'Wai Wai Wai' is really excellent. It is a song celebrating the falling in love by Meena Kumar with some ched chad by her friends. The song starts in a base pitch in the mukhda and moves on to quite high pitch in the antara. Somehow this song appeals to more that Yeh Diwanapan hai and in a toss up, I would pick up this song.

Yeh mera diwanapan hai is sung by Dilip Kumar on the screen after the truth about him not being a Jewish trader is realised by Meena Kumari and she spurns his love. Of course this song is legendary with its own lores and went on to win the Filmfare award for Shailendra. Members would by now have read many times the story of how Dilip Kumar wanted Talat for the song and Shankar stuck to his guns of using Mukesh. Shankar requested Dilip Kumar to listen to Mukesh rendering the song first and then decide on the final singer. Shankar rehearsed extensively with Mukesh for the song and even Dilip was happy with the result of this song. Of course the popularity of this song later on reinforces this decision of using Mukesh for this song.

Aansoo ki yaad leke is rendered by Meena Kumar after learning that the man she had loved is a Roman and that their love is not destined to succeed. It is again one of the sad songs, which SJ excelled at. The dialogue between Sohrab Modi and his daughter wherein he is distraught at seeing his daughter being so sad and crying for love is one of the highlights of this movie. Of course Sohrab Modi later on excels in the climax scenes also.

Dil mein pyar ka toofan is another dance based song rendered by Cuckoo (I am not sure about the artiste, some other learned members may please comment.
This song is rendered at a fast tempo and has some excellent rhythmic beats. The refrain of the song especially 'zalim ghoor ghoor ke dekhe door door se' is one of the main attractions of this song. This refrain is again a unique touch given to the song like the Wai wai refrain in the other song.

The DVD that I have did not have the song - 'aate jaate pehlu main aaya koi' which I presument should be another song similar to Meri meri jaan rendered by Meena Kumari and her friends.


Note : these Blogs are not full articles but part of a discusion, so cant be said used for referance . This is only for referance of Sj yahoo grp members. any one having problem with content may contact SJfiles@gmail.com

Video of "jaan pehchaan ho" from Gumnaam film. Song is a SJ creation !!

This song was used in hollywood movie " the ghost World "

This is among the v few hindi film songs ,which were used in Hollywood movies !!

Shankar jaikishan and Satyam Shivam Sundram

by Sh Chandra Shekhar

I am not sure how far the thought of Madan Mohan for Sathyam Shivam Sundaram had crossed in the mind of Raj Kapoor. Many of you might know that this movie was conceived long before it was actually made. The film was inspired from a story told by Lata to Raj. At some point RK even had thought of making the film with Lata as the actress to portray the main role, believe it or not, but that was long before it was made. I am sure RK was well aware of quality music that came out of this combination of Lata and MM..



Now I want to make a general comment regarding what possibly ruled with RK regarding selection of music directors post MNJ.

Jaisinh pictures, they were the distributors for RK films from Barsat to MNJ. It was almost like RK's own distribution company--only it was not. This was a loose association, because all RK films completed during this period were never sold to the distributor. If the film was a success, the margin of profit was huge for RK films, in the same token, if it failed it incurred a huge loss.

After the failure of MNJ, there was a radical change with RK films. The association with Jaisinh pictures was gone. For the first time, the next film, Bobby, was sold to distributors. For example, Bobby was sold to Delhi and UP circuit for a sum of 45 lakhs to a distributing company part owner, of which was, in fact, Shashi Kapoor. It was sold to different areas at different prices. This being the customary practice of most producers to sell in this fashion. This was so much of a change for RK, but he realized the safety involved here. Very much so, after the commercial loss of MNJ. He could just not survive one more loss, it would probably have been the end of his filmmaking.

However, this change had a major STRING attached, distributors had a price tag on several factors like the stars and music directors in the film. In essence, they had a formula, the so-called "formula films". They bought the films based on this formula. Film with superstars with top billing got the highest amount of money and also current top MD's got the highest amount. Consequently, the majority of producers were at the mercy of the distributors who could easily dictate terms, because they were buying the films and, in doing so, were inheriting the risks that came with them. The producer was relieved of the risks as a result.

Post MNJ, RK was, to a large extent, dictated by these financiers and film distributors. He had understood the safety involved financially at that point. So his decision was strongly influenced from this point-of-view.

Going a little further back, there has been several comments about what a staggering amount SJ charged from Arzoo onwards. I have some comments on this:

The Hindi film industry went through a major transformation in the mid 60's and onwards. People involved, realized that they could make mega bucks with a successful film. Just to illustrate, with no intent to hurt anyone's feelings, a film like Leader with top star Dilip Kumar and Dil Diya Dard Liya both with music by Naushad made average money; whereas, several Rajendra Kumar films or other stars in films which had music by SJ brought in lot of money. The difference was huge in selling a film with SJ music to a non-SJ music. Producers were making so much money it was easy for SJ to realize this and ask for 5 lakhs, which truly was probably not much. The byproduct of this was it also weaned off quality, but non-selling MD's such as Naushad, Madan Mohan etc. from the mainstream
Then again this system that evolved out of SJ music had a backlash, the victim being S. Once J passed away, no matter how good S was, he lost the top billing. Here, in this context, even a small drop is a major or humongous drop. I would like to think that this translated to so many other top producers in switching from S to other MDs.

I think It was, as they say, purely a MATTER OF BUSINESS.

Welcome any criticism or comments. Apologize if needs correction, I have gathered this information at different times and different sources. Just tried to understand the mechanics of commercial aspects. Have tried to express in the interest of the forum, so it is subject to correction. What I think is authentic, most of which could be verified.

"We signed SJ for our film!"
Exploring the Producer-SJ-Competitor Relationship!
by Shahrukh

That is the subject and although a discussion is on
with a focus on the RK-SJ relationship, let us explore other
facets of this queer triangle of Indian popular cinema!
Fascinating, complex discussions are likely because this subject is such!
Let me initiate this discussion and we can touch on many an example as we go!

"We signed SJ for our film!"
was a HUGE statement in the 50s and 60s

To producers, it meant that their film was SOLD
& distributors would queue to buy it!
To audiences, a film with music by SJ meant ecstasy!
To heroes, it meant that their image and identity would be showcased
in inimitable style and with an unmatched elegance ... also the song
they would 'sing' on screen, would be on the nation's lips!

Take a case in point, Boot Polish!
A film which can almost be called non-commercial!

And the scene where Bhola shouts ...
"Arre Belu, woh dekho Raj Kapoor!"
Raj Kapoor is asleep by the window
with a cigarette on his lips, true Hollywood-Bogart style!
And the background music comes in ...
A harmonium plays out the 'Awara' Hoon tune with a pacy panache!

That was the SJ magic!

And Belu remarks ... "Arre aaj kal to sabhi Raj Kapoor ban ke ghoomte hain!"

This was a film sans Lata and was a RK production!
And was a huge commercial success too!
But what catapults that film into an all time great category?
The SJ magic!

Few other MDs or their creations had such a prowess or fate!

Most of Raj Kapoor's films & career!
Most of Shammi Kapoor's films & career!
Most of Rajendra 'Jubilee' Kumar's films & career!

All owe their success and image to SJ!
And these stars would insist on SJ!

Or the distributors would as Bharat Bhushan realized with
that other exception in the SJ ouvre - Basant Bahar!
These were also times when the stars would ASK for SJ to MAKE their career!

Manoj Kumar & Jeetendra owe their early career breakthroughs to SJ!
Later LP became their song smiths but could not catapult these stars
to the same dizzy heights!

And when this beautiful SJ story ran into turbulent waves a lot of things changed!
"We did not sign SJ for our film ... we signed so & so!"
became the line!

A Sanyasi Manoj Kumar preferred other MDs.
Jeetendra thought his Farz was to go with LP!
Even Shammi Kapoor found it Manoranjan to go with RDB!

Producers? They are in it for business alone!
And it is their business to take commercial decision!

Many dumped SJ without a thought or feeling ...
Some had pangs ...
Some did it after telling SJ ...
Some stuck on to SJ with a lot of hopes ...

Reminds me of that sublime SJ song which explores this sentiment ...

Preet Yeh Kaisi Bol Ri Duniya ...
Preet Yeh Kaisi Bol ... Ri Duniya ...
Bol Ri Duniya ...Bol!

Shahrukh

SEBASTIAN D’SOUZA

A MUSICAL LEGEND

Paying Tribute to a Music Genius on his Birth Centenary

by Dr Padmanabh K. Joshi

If you listen to a film song composed by maestros Shanker-Jaikishan, O. P. Nayyar or Salil Chowdhury, you also hear a tune being played along with the song in the background. This parallel tune is created with violin, cello, piano, Spanish guitar or an organ. This “parallel tune for a song” technique, known as a Counter-Melody, was introduced in SJ music a musician – a violinist from Goa – Mr. Sebastian D’Souza. Sebastian D’Souza was a pioneer in creating counter-melody in film songs. This technique became popular and from 1950 onwards Sebastian became a well-known and most wanted Music Arranger of many music directors of Hindi Film industry.

Sebastian was born on 29 January 1906 in Reis-Megos, Goa. He learnt to play the violin and piano in a local church school. While learning these instruments, he also learnt to write music notation. It was during this time that he listened to the famous symphonies of well-known composers of the western world, namely, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Haydon and Richard Wagner. Deeply interested in violin and piano, Sebastian continued his learning and went place to place like Allahabad, Mussorie and Delhi. At Delhi, in Hotel Astoria, he started his own band and people appreciated it. In 1942, he went to Lahore, and in Hotel Stiffels, he started his own band. This continued until 1947. After partition, he went to Bombay and started his career as a violinist in the film industry. He played for well-known music directors like Anil Biswas, Naushad, Vinod, Ghulam Haider, Husnalal-Bhagatram, S. D. Burman, Sajjad Hussain and Shanker-Jaikishan.

He started his career as a Music Arranger in 1948-49 with O. P. Nayyar when Nayyar recorded his first song “Preetam aan milo.....” sung by C. H. Atma and written by Mrs. Saroj Mohini Nayyar (O. P. Nayyar’s wife) . After three years, Nayyar signed his first film, Dalsukh Pancholi’s “Aasman”, as an independent music director. At that time he called Sebastian to work as his Arranger. Sebastian, thus, started his career as an arranger with O. P. Nayyar in 1952 which he continued till 1973. The last film for which he worked with O. P. Nayyar was ‘Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye’. Incidentally this was also the last film of singer Asha Bhosale with Nayyar. In 1952, Sebastian’s friend Sunny Castellino, who worked as an arranger for Shanker-Jaikishan, introduced Sebastian to the duo. So Sebastian started as Shanker-Jaikishan’s arranger from 1952 with Amiya Chakravarty’s Daag, and continued until 1975. Film Sanyasi was Sebastian’s last film with them. In film Daag as an arranger, Sebastian’s most successful innovative work was the creation of a memorable counter-melody for a song sung by both Talat Mehmood and Lata Mangeshker –‘Ai mere dil kahin aur chal.....’ According to Sebastian, in this song he used the accordion for creating counter-melody along with violin and mandolin. And the result was excellent. Sebastian used accordion for interlude music in a number of songs but its use as the main instrument for counter-melody was rare.

Using cellos and piano to support his counter-melodies of violin obbligato, he arranged a number of memorable songs. A few examples: Kya huva O muze kya huva (Jis Deshmen Ganga Bahti hai), Raat ke hum safar (An Evening in Paris), Aaja re aa jara aa (Love in Tokyo), Soja re soja & Bol re Kath Putli (Kathputli), Aaj kal men dhal gai (Beti Bete), Aaja aai bahar & Janevale Jara (Raj Kumar). These are a few examples of the songs in which one can experience the beauty of counter-melodies that Sebastian created with a unique combination of violins and cellos. Another of his specialties was using chorus with violin, cello & piano combinations. A few examples: Bol re Kath Putli (Kathputli), Aa ab Laut Chale (Jis Deshmen Ganga Bahti Hai), Dil ke Jharukhemen (Brahmachari) and the musical fountain sequence in film Around the World etc.


While working with Shanker-Jaikishan, the first challenge that he faced was that both Shanker and Jaikishan preferred Indian Classical Raag based tunes. And to create counter-melodies, interlude music as well as background music, he had to learn the basics of Indian classical music during his busiest recording schedules. Sebastian found this very interesting and it helped him very much during his career as an arranger. If you listen to songs of SJ like Koi Matvala aaya...(Love in Tokyo), all the songs of film Basant Bahar, all the songs from film Amrapali and many classical raag based songs in which he created counter-melodies and interlude music, his mastery over both classical music as well as western music is well experienced. Combination of sitar & violin, cellos almost became an expertise of Sebastian’s counter-melody and interlude music. The last film that Sebastian worked on for Shanker-Jaikishan was Sanyasi, it was a challenge to Sebastian as all the songs as well as the background music of the film was based on Raag Bhairavi. And he succeeded remarkably. It was a record that an Arranger like Sebastian worked continuously for Shanker-Jaikishan for 23 years without break. Sebastian enjoyed very much working with SJ as he recalled it was a great teamwork – Shanker, Jaikishan, Shailendra, Hasrat, Sebastian & Dattaram. He remembered that as Shanker was a great song composer, Jaikishan was a rare background music composer. Sebastian, along with Jaikishan, Dattaram and Raj Kapoor completed the background music of Mera Naam Joker in 5 days......

Shanker-Jaikishan being lovers of Indian Classical Music, composed a LP record titled Raga Jazz Style in which they presented 11 Raga in Jazz style. Sebastian arranged the music and wrote the notations.

Sebastian also worked for great music directors like Salil Chowdhury, Vasant Desai, S. D. Burman, Madan Mohan, Roshan, Dattaram and N. Datta.
Sebastian expressed his gratitude to well-known music maestros like Robert Correa, Mike Machado - the Pianists, Albuquerque, Verga, Simplicio D’Souza, John Gonsalves - the Cellists, V. Balsara, Goody Seervai – the Accordionists, Duorado, Narvekar, Karnard – the solo Violinists and David – the Mandolin player.

He also recalled few music arrangers of his time like Johny Gomes, Castellino, Chic Chocolate, Ram Singh, Rizbert and Franky. I asked Sebastian, how individual music directors could maintain their originality as well as identity even when he worked for them as their Arranger? He answered that he never interfered with their original tune.

Sebastian’s remarkable contribution was his ability to combine Western orchestra with the Indian. His are the songs which we remember even today due to the richness of his musical arrangements and the variations in his melodies.
Sebastian was a complete musician. His music lovers will remember his music for years to come.
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SHANKAR JAIKISHAN TRIVIA FACTS

By A. Acharker

(member of SJ grp :http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shankarjaikishan)

Last weekend in San Jose (SJ), there was a Grand Prix car race in which celebrity Paul Newman (now 80!) participated. The intersting trivia was that the SJ Grand Prix was won by a person named Sebastian!!!
As I had mentioned before, I live in the city of "SJ" (San Jose) in California USA. My high school was SJ (St Joseph's) in Mumbai. SJ graced the Golden Jubilee of my school in 1967 and Sebastian was instrumental in the same.

This prompted me to think about some of the trivia facts about SJ. Each one of these facts could spawn a thread!

1) Asrani can be seen in the first row of chorus in the song, "Ab kahan jayen hum.." in'Ujala.' He also appears in the movie, "Hare Kaanch ki Chudiyan" but we always think of his debut as "Umang"

2) Subhash Ghai lip-synched on several songs partially in 'Umang' but also "sang" the Rafi song completely in the same film, "Baabul kaun ghadi.."

3) Jaya Bhaduri never had the opportunity to sing a song of SJ. However, Jaya acted on the Asli Naqli song "Tujhe jeevan ki dor se" in Guddi with Dharmendra.

4) Amitabh never had the opportunity to sing a song of SJ. BUt Shankar's favorite dummy words "Tandana Tandana.." became a mukhda of his (LP) song where he mimicked Mehmood."Tandana Tandana.." words were first heard in "MayurPankh" and later in "Gumnaam"

5) "Gumnaam" becomes the only film ever that had music influenced by a Hollywood film and that influenced a Hollywood film in return! The two films are "Charade" and "Ghost World" respectively.

6) "Gumnaam" had Mehmood singing "Bhai Battoor.." which later became a song in Padosan.Mehmood also sang "Lal ghoda.." in "Shatranj" which became a full-fledged song in "Kunwaara Baap"

7) "Ram Teri.." song "Sun Sayba.." is influenced by "I love you.." from "Sangam"

8) The tune for "Jaane kahan gaye woh din..." was first heard in background music of "Jis Desh mein..."

9) The Goan tune for "Na maagoo sona chandi.." was first heard in background music of "Awara." It was played just before the song "Dum bhar jo udhar moonh phere"

10) "Jaaon kahan bata ai dil" from "Chhoti Bahen" was influenced by the title music of "New Delhi"

11) "Mora nadaan balma" from "Ujala" was influenced by the title music of "Mayurpankh"

12) "Kisiki muskuraton pe" from "Anari" was influenced by the background music of "Shree 420"

13) "Sambhal ke karna.." tune from "Ek Phool Char Kaante" was used in the background of "Golmaal" by RDB very often. SDB also used a tune from the same movie in "Chupke Chupke"

14) Besides Rajendra Kishan who wrote lyrics for "College Girl," SJ also utilized the service of lyricist Deepak in "Boot Polish" when Shailendra was alive.

15) Though Shailendra was associated with Shanker, it was Hasrat Jaipuri who wrote the lyrics in Shanker's solo venture, "Street Singer" produced by Chandrashekhar. Hasrat Jaipuri also appears in the movie. Shanker did so under the pseudonym, Suraj. The other movie he composed music for, under this name was the Marathi, "Tee Mee Navhech."

16) Jaikishan appears in "Main Sundar Hoon" with Anand Bakshi, his only film with SJ.

17) Gulshan Bawra appears in two songs of SJ in "Beimaan" and "Jungle Mein Mangal." He did not write lyrics for these movies but wrote lyrics for other SJ films like "Chori Chori," (new) "Jaane Anjaane," and "Aan Baan."

18) Neeraj acted on the song "Paise ki Pehchan.." in the film "Pehchan" and also wrote the lyrics for the same.

19) Neeraj and Hasrat Jaipuri teamed together for SJ in the film "Dil Daulat Duniya" for a song. Later they also wrote all the lyrics for all songs of "Jungle mein Mangal." The results weren't great. I like the song "Tum Kitni khoobsoorat" They also wrote lyrics for Usha Khanna's "Paani mein jale mera gora badan.." in "Munimji" (1973).

20) "Kismat Ka Khel" had a Lata song with dummy words that sounded like "Echo Echo.." Years later, Shanker used similar words in a song in "Naari" which happened to be the only SJ song sung by Yesudas (with Amit Kumar), "Neeche zameen, upar gagan.."

21) Director Prayaag Raaj yelled "Yahoo.." in the "Junglee" song whereas Shanker was responsible for "Ayaya Sukoo Sukoo.." Prayag Raaj later acted in "Bombay Talkie and also directed "Insaniyat" starring Shashi Kapoor and Madhu.

22) Dattaram lip-synched for the song, "Tum mere pyar ki.." from "Bombay Talkie" acting as a playback singer.

23) SJ were responsible for Usha Iyer's first film songs in "Bombay Talkie" and this was about two years before her success in "Hare Rama Hare Krishna."

24) Ustad Ali Akbar Khan played the sarod in "Suno Chhotisi Gudiya ki.." Pannalal Ghosh played the flute in "Main piya teri.."Hazara Singh played the electric guitar in "Tera teer.."Manohari played the saxophone in "bedardi Balma.."

25) Bappi Lahiri's father Aparesh Lahiri sang an SJ song in "Badshah" (I have not heard this one.)

26) Famous classical singer Bhimsen Joshi sang a jugalbandi in "Basant Bahar" with Manna Dey.

27) Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik, Chandrani Mukerjee, Sharda, Dilraj Kaur all sang "Ari o sakhi.." for SJ together in "Kaanch ki Deewar." Lead Stars Sanjeev Kumar, Smita Patil and Shanker all died within months after the release of the movie.

28) "Gaya Bachpan.." from "Ankhon Ankhon Mein" was the last song recorded by Jaikishan.

29) The movie "Preetam" has title music that is the same as that of "Mere Sanam" of OP Nayyar. The movie was released just a few months after Jaikishan died. Does anyone have an idea why? The producer of the movie was Bhappi Sonie.

30) The first SJ movie without a Lata song was "Boot Polish." It was also the only movie of SJ with RK without a Mukesh song!

31) Aarti Mukerjee sang a song for SJ in "Boy Friend" in 1960 and the next SJ song that she sang was in 1974 for "Neelma."

32) Joy Mukerjee had SJ music only in two movies: "Love in Tokyo" & "Love in Bombay"

33) The first RK Films movie to win a Filmfare Award was 'Mera Naam Joker," the last SJ movie of SJ with Raj Kapoor was the hero!

34) Omprakash, the actor, directed the Raj Kapoor starrer "Kanhaiyya" produced by his brother, Pachhi. Pachhi also produced "Around the World" and "International Crook" in which Omprakash got to sing songs on screen!

35) SJ had the privilege of composing music for the only complete original color film starring Madhubala, "Jwala."

36) The first color film for which SJ composed music was "MayurPankh" starring Kishore Sahu.

37) SJ composed music for several films shot on foreign locations and provided music to suit the mood: Sangam, Pyar Mohabat, Naina, Dharti, An Evening in Paris, Love in Tokyo, International Crook, Singapore, Around the World, Saazish.. International Crook was shot in Alaska.

38) SJ composed music for the first 70mm film in India: "Around the World."

39) "Dream Girl is coming" was what the posters said when "Sapnon Ka Saudagar" was about to release. SJ were amongst those who chose her for the role.

40) The last SJ film to have multiple songs played on Binaca Geetmala was "Sanyasi."

41) "Krishna Krishna" is the only mythological film for which SJ composed music.

42) Shammi Kapoor heads the list of SJ leading men. Rajendra Kumar comes a distant second. Vyjayanthimala heads the list of SJ leading women.

43) The only Dev Anand song sung by Kishore Kumar for SJ was "Dooriyan Nazdikiyan" in "Duniya."

44) "Zindagi Ek Safar hai suhana.." from "Andaz" has three voice versions: Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsale and Mohd Rafi.

45) Hemant Kumar's daughter Rano Mukerjee sang a few songs for SJ in the mid seventies in "Saazish," "Resham Ki Dori," and "International Crook." The song that she sang for
"International Crook" was not used in that film but instead found its way in the film, "Eent ka Jawab Patthar." The song was "Poochha jo pyar kya hai.." with Kishore Kumar.

46) The film "Dur Nahin Manzil" was first assigned to Roshan who died. Later SJ were signed for the same and Jaikishan died during its making. Suman Kalyanpur had sung the title song for Roshan. She also sang for SJ in the film: "Bezuban dil shor na.." The heroine was originally Nutan. She had acted in producer Hari Valia's earlier venture, "Laatsaab" but due to a misunderstanding with Sanjeev Kumar, she stepped out and was replaced by Bindu's sister (and Laxmikant's sister-in-law) Reshma.

47) Mohd Rafi sang two non-film English songs for SJ. They were uploaded on the site earlier.

48) SJ's first HMV LP Album had a picture of them with their two 1959 White Impala cars with fins and also their Filmfare awards.

49) HMV had released a Lata LP in which all songs were composed by SJ. The songs included: "Bol ri Kathputli.." "Mohabat ki Daastan.." "Jeevan ke do rahe pe khade.."

50) Anuradha Paudwal did a cover version of Lata songs for SJ for T-Series. Later, HMV released a cassette with almost the same original songs.

51) Almost all SJ films were from HMV. SJ's first movie album to be released for Polydor (now Music India) was "Love in Bombay." "Archana" was also on Polydor. "Chorni" was with INRECO.

52) There is a chowk (street junction) called "Shanker Jaikishan Chowk" close to Eros Theatre in Mumbai.

53) Some of the lead dual roles in SJ films:Shararat Kishore Kumar An Evening in Paris Sharmila TagoreBhai Bhai Sunil DuttChhote Sarkar Shammi KapoorMahfil SadhanaAtmaram Shatrughan SinhaYakeen DharmendraGaram Khoon Vinod Khanna

54)Some non Hindi words in SJ songs:Kali Ghata: Il ya Belle...Shree 420: Rammaiyya vastavayya...Singapore: Rasa Sayang re...Junglee: Yahoo!...Sangam: I love you...Love in Tokyo: Sayonara...Pyar Mohabat: Hooray Hooray.. Aman: Puru sato Japan..Shatranj: Badkamma Ikkad po tora..Garam Khoon: Penelope...Eent Ka jawab Patthar: Comment allez vous...

55) SJ may have the highest mukhdas of their songs later converted to movie titles:"Lal Dupatta malmal ka""Raja ki aayegi baraat""Tumse achha kaun hai""Kashmir ki Kali""Aa gale lag jaa""Aan Milo Sajna""Tumko na bhool payenge""Kuch kuch hota hai""Nain mile chain kahan""Aaja Sanam""Aa ab laut chale""Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani""Main Ashiq hoon baharon ka""Mujhe meri biwisi bachao""Kaun hai jo sapnon mein aaya""Bol Radha Bol""Buddha Mil Gaya""Dil ke Jharonke mein""Gustakhi Maaf"

56) Lata Mangeshkar and Jaikishan were both born in 1929. Shanker was elder.

57) Manmohan, Deven Verma, Satish Wagle were Jaikishan's very close friends and they met regularly at Gaylord's near Churchgate, Mumbai. Manmohan can be seen in key roles in Satish Wagle's "Pyar Hi Pyar" and "Yaar Mera."

58) SJ utilized Rafi and Mukesh for all three Kapoor brothers:Raj Kapoor had a Rafi song in "Ek Dil Sau Afsane" & "Mera Naam Joker" Shammi Kapoor had a Mukesh song in "Ujala" and "Singapore" Mukesh sang one song for Shashi Kapoor in "Insaniyat"

59) SJ had Mahendra Kapoor playback for Dev Anand in "Roop Ki Rani CHoron Ka Raja" (Yes, I have the video of the movie. It's a fact!)

60) Sushama Shreshta was introduced by SJ in "Andaz" and also sang in "Seema" She later sang as Poornima. Ramesh Sippy and Salim-Javed of "Sholay" fame also started with "Andaz."

61) SJ were signed for the following movies originally: "Bobby," "Seeta Aur Geeta"I remember clearly having seen ads to that effect in Screen. Unfortunately, I did not save those issues.

62) Guru Dutt had one only movie as a lead actor with SJ: "Sanjh aur Savera" But his younger brother had a close relationship with SJ: Shikar, Chanda aur Bijli, Umang, Yaar Mera and Resham Ki Dori.

63) Besides Dattaram and Sebastian, SJ also had other assistants like Sonny Castellino (Awara), Dheeraj (Sanyasi), Enoch Daniels (Kaanch Ki Deewar, Gori, Krishna Krishna)

64) SJ composed background music for a documentary at the peak of their career in 1967. The docmentary was "Everest" and narrated the expedition by Nawang Gombu's team. Incidentally, this team included my cousin's husband, Dr Telang as a team doctor.

65) Shatrughan Sinha sang "Mera Joota hai japani" at a function in 1972 under Shanker'ssupervision.

67) Sudha Malhotra sang the "Chori Chori" duets with Manna Dey during the 1957 function for 1956 FF awards.

68) Shanker composed Indian classical tunes for AIR Delhi in the late seventies.

69) Shanker liked Hitchcock film music. I will post an article on that.