Apart from working at Prithvi theaters, Shankar used to frequently visit the office of a Gujrati director Chandravadan Bhatt who had promised Shankar a break as a Music Director when he produced a film. It was outside the office of Bhatt that Shankar saw Jaikishan a number of times. One day, he started a conversation and discovered that Jaikishan was a harmonium player, and that he too was visiting the same producer in search of work. Shankar later recollected that they developed a liking for each other and it was he who then and there assured Jaikishan of the job of a Harmonium player at Prithvi theaters (without asking Prithviraj Kapoor, fondly referred to as 'Papaji'). Papaji honoured Shankar's selection and gladly accepted Jaikishan as a Harmonium player at Prithvi. Soon, the two of them developed very close friendship to the extent that the people started referring to them as 'Ram-Lakshman' ki jodi and by several similar-meaning nicknames. Apart from following their musical pursuits, they also used to play significant roles in various plays including the famous play "Pathan".
While working in Prithvi Theaters, Shankar and Jaikishan used to compose tunes and were in touch with Raj Kapoor, who was working as an assistant to the famous director Kidar Sharma and was aspiring to be an actor/director. Thus, the three had met at Prithvi Theater.
Raj Kapoor made his debut as a director with the film Aag in 1948. Its music director Ram Ganguly was assisted by Shankar and Jaikishan. However, during the recording of a song for his new venture Barsaat, Raj Kapoor had some serious differences with Ram Ganguly and decided to assign its music to Shankar who insisted on taking Jaikishan as his partner. Thus came into existence the new pair of music directors named 'Shankar-Jaikishan' who composed the music for the film.
The two became known by the acronym "S-J".
S-J formed a core team with lyricists Shailendra (himself regarded as perhaps the greatest of his ilk) and Hasrat Jaipuri and with singers Mohammed Rafi Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. SJ had two other lifelong companions who worked as their assistants: Dattaram Wadkar and Sebastian D'Souza, the former supervising their rhythm section and the later writing musical notations for all SJ compositions (during SJ's musical sittings as can be seen in a number of photographs of such sessions) and then rehearsing all the musicians of the grand SJ orchestra according to SJ's compositions and directions. SJ also patronized the immensely talented singer Manna Dey, who sang his best songs with them and used Mukesh's silken voice as playback for Raj Kapoor. Among the directors, they worked most closely with Raj Kapoor and were considered the kingpins of his legendary banner RK Films.
S-J worked with almost all singers of their time. They had a good working relationship with all of them and were masters in extracting the very best from every one of them. They were steady as a team with Hasrat Jaipuri & Shailendra as their lyricists; but after the demise of Shailendra, they worked with a host of other lyricists such as Indeevar, Gulshan Bawra, Gopaldas Neeraj, Verma Malik, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Vithhal Bhai Patel and Rajinder Krishan, to name a few.
Shankar-Jaikishan made a significant contribution in promoting Indian classical music throughout their career. It was their established practice to have at least one song in a movie based on semi-classical style. These included songs like `Jhanak-jhanak tori baje payaliya' (Mere Huzoor), `Chham chham baje re payaliya' (Jane-anjane), `Radhike tune bansari churayi' (Beti Bete), `Manmohana bade jhoothe' (old `Seema'), `Koi matwala aya mere dware' (Love in Tokyo), `Ajahu na ayae baalma, sawan beeta jaye' (Sanjh aur Savera), `Lapak jhpak tu aa re badarwa' (Boot polish), `Ye barkha bahar sautaniya ke dwar' (Mayur pankh), `Re man sur mein ga' (Lal pathar), `Sooni sooni sans ke sitar par' (Naina), `Kate na kate raina' (Mera naam joker) and numerous others. Their music in `Basant Bahar' and Amrapali both of which had every song based upon Indian classical music. While "raga Bhairavi" remained their perennial favorite, SJ used a variety of Raagas in their compositions.
Shankar-Jaikishan gave a new style and meaning to the genre of sad songs by composing them on a fast tempo. Songs like "Zindagi Mein Hardam Rota Hi Raha" (Barsaat), "Tera Jana Dil Ke Armanon" (Anari), "Haye Tu Hi Gaya Mohe Bhool Re" (Kathputli), "Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal' (Daag) and "Andhe Jahan Ke Andhe Raate" (Patita) demonstrated this. The last two songs, along with many others (notably "Awaara Hoon" from the film Awaara), also demonstrate the composers’ use of musical instruments – a harmonium is used to produce the effect of a piano accordion.
Contrary to the popular misconception that `it was Jaikishan who used to handle the public relations and business/financial aspects of the duo's career', the fact is that it was Shankar who had the final say on all financial/business aspects of the SJ-team.
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While working in Prithvi Theaters, Shankar and Jaikishan used to compose tunes and were in touch with Raj Kapoor, who was working as an assistant to the famous director Kidar Sharma and was aspiring to be an actor/director. Thus, the three had met at Prithvi Theater.
Raj Kapoor made his debut as a director with the film Aag in 1948. Its music director Ram Ganguly was assisted by Shankar and Jaikishan. However, during the recording of a song for his new venture Barsaat, Raj Kapoor had some serious differences with Ram Ganguly and decided to assign its music to Shankar who insisted on taking Jaikishan as his partner. Thus came into existence the new pair of music directors named 'Shankar-Jaikishan' who composed the music for the film.
The two became known by the acronym "S-J".
Their early works include Barsaat, Awaara, Badal, Poonam, Nagina, Aurat, Parbat, Kaali Ghataa, Aah, Patita, Shikast, Badshah, Mayur Pankh, Naya Ghar, Seema, Shree 420, Basant Bahar, Halaku, Rajhath, New Delhi, Kathputli, Anari, Chori Chori, Daag, Begunah, Yahudi, Main Nashe main hoon, Kanaiah, Boot Polish, Chhoti Behan, Sharaarat, Love Marriage, and Ujala.
S-J formed a core team with lyricists Shailendra (himself regarded as perhaps the greatest of his ilk) and Hasrat Jaipuri and with singers Mohammed Rafi Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. SJ had two other lifelong companions who worked as their assistants: Dattaram Wadkar and Sebastian D'Souza, the former supervising their rhythm section and the later writing musical notations for all SJ compositions (during SJ's musical sittings as can be seen in a number of photographs of such sessions) and then rehearsing all the musicians of the grand SJ orchestra according to SJ's compositions and directions. SJ also patronized the immensely talented singer Manna Dey, who sang his best songs with them and used Mukesh's silken voice as playback for Raj Kapoor. Among the directors, they worked most closely with Raj Kapoor and were considered the kingpins of his legendary banner RK Films.
Shankar-Jaikishan gave a new style and meaning to the genre of sad songs by composing them on a fast tempo. Songs like "Zindagi Mein Hardam Rota Hi Raha" (Barsaat), "Tera Jana Dil Ke Armanon" (Anari), "Haye Tu Hi Gaya Mohe Bhool Re" (Kathputli), "Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal' (Daag) and "Andhe Jahan Ke Andhe Raate" (Patita) demonstrated this. The last two songs, along with many others (notably "Awaara Hoon" from the film Awaara), also demonstrate the composers’ use of musical instruments – a harmonium is used to produce the effect of a piano accordion.
On September 12, 1971, the hyphen between Shanker and Jaikishan became a symbolic appendage as Jaikishan Panchal died, broken by the split with his partner.
https://thesongpedia.com/shankar-jaikishan-perspective-music-lover/
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