A Tribute To Jaikishan on his 46th Death anniversary
Jaikishan was the flamboyant, man-about-town who loved to dress in the best suits. He was the soul of the party and loved his scotch.On September 12, 1971, Jaikishan passed away due to cirrhosis of liver.He was only 42 years of age.In a short span of life he along with shankar was among the top Music Directors of Golden Era.The debonair musician actually wanted to be an actor, which was his prime motivation for moving to Mumbai. He started learning music under Vinayak Tambe and became a trained harmonium player.
Prithvi Theatre was searching for a harmonium player and Shankar took Jaikishan under his wings.Soon, both friends were providing music and even acting in plays produced by Prithvi. He along with Shankar started as Music Director with Raj Kapoor's Barsaat (1949)
Raj Kapoor may have introduced them but it�s wrong to credit him only for all their success. They shone even in non RK films like Daag, Basant Bahar, Amrapali, Asli Naqli, Arzoo, Dil Ek Mandir, Junglee, Love in Tokyo, An Evening in Paris.
They didn�t just stick to established singers but made sure they found the right voice for the mood. For instance, they used an unknown Subir Sen for Dil mera ek aas ka panchi from Aas Ka Panchi (1960), Suman Kalyanpur for Dil ek mandir hai from Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Manna Dey for Yeh raat bheegi bheegi, Chori Chori (1956), Asha Bhosle for Mud mudke na dekh from Shri 420 (1955), Mukesh (for Dilip Kumar) in Yeh mera diwanapan hai, Yahudi (1958) and made many more such off kilter choices.
Shankar-Jaikishan�s popular hits
Song from Awara 1951
Song from Daag -1952
Song from Patita - 1953
Song from Shri 420-1955
Song from Yahudi -1958
Song from Anari-1959
Song from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi -1960
Song from Junglee 1961
Song from Dil Ek Mandir -1963
Song from Sangam 1964