Shankar was working at Prithvi Theater when Raj Kapoor launched his second movie, Barsaat. Upon his father’s advice, RK approached Shankar with an offer to compose music for his upcoming movie. Shankar agreed to do it provided that he take his friend, Jaikishan, too. RK suggested that Jaikishan could be his assistant which was unacceptable to Shankar. He said that he would only take on the assignment if Jaikishan was his equal partner in their newly formed banner, the illustrious Shankar Jaikishan, and the rest, as you know, is history.
Along with SJ, RK signed up two new lyricists, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. The four of them began their work in their maiden movie. Meanwhile, Shankar was seriously considering the up and coming Lata Mangeshkar to playback for the three female characters in the movie. This was a bold step to be taken by any composer who himself was a newcomer in the industry. He mentioned it to RK who gave him a go. Thus, the fledgling female singer, Lata, was given an opportunity of her lifetime to sing for all the three female characters in the same movie. She sang ten of the eleven songs in the movie, and what an impact it made on her stand in the industry! Lata’s career took off and soared.
SJ took Lata under their wing and groomed her. They polished this diamond in the rough and made her sparkle like never before. She became the reigning queen of the music industry and had never to look back.
Lata had a long association with SJ. During those thirty five years, she sang over four hundred and fifty songs with most of them being memorable to this day. She enjoyed a special status in SJ’s work with singing an unbelievable sixty five percent of all the songs composed by SJ in their first decade together. She was even given entire albums to sing in movies like, Mayur Pankh, Parbat, Poonam, Patrani, Aas, Aurat, Kalighata, Halaku and others, where she sang solos, duets, trios or chorus songs. It is not an exaggeration to say that most of Lata’s best songs are by SJ.
Despite there being a hiatus between SJ and Lata, she was always given a priority in their music. Lata’s relationship with Shankar soured for some reasons, yet Shankar always had a word of praise for the singer. Sadly, for Lata’s part, she chose to ignore the career boost she received from SJ. Only after their death did she acknowledge SJ’s super talent.
Seen in the picture below are Shankar and Lata sharing a cordial moment at a formal function. It was just a few months before Bobby was launched.
