Shankar Jaikishan and Their Lyricists

When Shankar and Jaikishan created their famous Shankar Jaikishan banner, they formed a team with lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat with whom they had a very long and successful association. This formidable foursome became the envy of the music industry for the great working relationship and personal friendship that existed amongst them.

Besides the above two poets, SJ worked with other popular poets as well. They are, Ramesh Shastry, Rajinder Krishen, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Indeevar, Anand Bakshi, Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi, Bharat Vyas, Neeraj, Anjaan and gave an opportunity for several other lyricists to prove their talent. Amongst them are, Gulshan Bawra, M.G.Hashmat, Aziz Kashmiri, Kiran Kalyani, Vishveshwar Sharma, Jalal Malihabadi, Qamar Jalalabadi, Singaar (Sharda), Prabha Thakur, Dev Kohli, Vittalbhai Patel, Sudhakar Sharma, Upendra Jha, Kafil Azar, Naqsh Lyallpuri, Verma Malik, Mahendra Dehlavi, Inderjeet Singh Tulsi, Anjum Jaipuri, Anand Datta, Shaily Shailendra, Sant Kabir, Kishore Kumar, Usha Iyer, Farooq Kaiser, Virendra Mishra, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mirza Ghalib, Saraswati Kumar Deepak, Prem Dhawan, Kamlesh Verma, Narendra Sharma, Arudra, Dr. C. Narayan Reddy, Kannadasan, Ashok Paranjpe, Ramesh Avanakar, Harindranath Chattopadhyay and Effendi Ketwaru.

SJ won Filmfare Awards for Best Composer for Chori Chori, Anari, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi, Professor, Suraj, Brahmachari, Pehchaan, Mera Naam Joker and Beimaan. The following lyricists contributed to these movies: Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Neeraj, Indeevar, Verma Malik and Prem Bhawan.

Shailendra, Hasrat, Neeraj, Indeevar, Vittalbhai Patel, Vishveshwar Sharma, Verma Malik and M.G. Hashmat wrote for the following SJ composed movies nominated for Filmfare awards: Yahudi, Chhoti Bahen, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Dil Ek Mandir, Sangam, Arzoo, Diwana, Chanda Aur Bijli, Andaz, Resham Ki Dori and Sanyasi.

The lyricists who won Filmfare Awards for their work with SJ are:
Shailendra
1958-Yahudi: “Yeh mera diwanapan hai”
1959- Anari: “Sab kuch seekha humne”
1968- Brahmachari: “Main gawoon tum so jawo”

Hasrat
1966-Suraj: “Baharon phool barsao”
1971-Andaz: “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana”

Neeraj
1970-Chanda Aur Bijli: “Kaal ka pahiya”

Verma Malik
1971-Pehchaan: “Sab se bada nadaan “
1973-Be-Imaan: “Jai bolo be-iman ki”

While Shailendra wrote a total of four hundred and four songs for SJ, Hasrat wrote five hundred and twelve songs. They both displayed their talent and mastery over poetry which was adapted into beautiful and memorable songs that were well received by their innumerable fans.

Following is a list of the lyricists and the number of songs they wrote for SJ:
Shailendra-404
Hasrat-512
Rajinder Krishan-56
Neeraj-26
Indeevar-28
Anand Bakshi-8
Gulshan Bawra-9
Gulzar-3
Ramesh Sastry-1
Kaifi Azmi-3
Kafil Azar-5
Shaily Shailendra-10
Singaar-3
S.H.Bihari-12
Vishweshwar Sharma-8
Sudhakar Sharma-8
Prabha Thakur-3
Vithhalbhai Patel-5
Majrooh Sultanpuri-12
Shakeel Badayuni-3
Bharat Vyas-3
Anjaan-8
M.G.Hashmat-16
Jalal Malihabad-1
Kiran Kalyani-3
Upendra Jha-4
Dev Kohli-1
Naqsh Lyallpuri-6
Verma Malik-35
Anjum Jaipuri-2
Narendra Sharma-1
Qamar Jalalabadi-2
Anand Dutta-1
Kishore Kumar-1
Usha Iyer-2
Aziz Kashmiri-6
Farooq Qaiser-9
Virendra Mishra-1
Inderjeet Singh Tulsi-1
Mahendra Dehlavi-2
Prem Dhawan-2
Kamlesh Verma-1
Sant Kabir-1
Faiz Ahmed Faiz-1
Mirza Ghalib-1
Saraswati Kumar Deepak-2
Pyarelal Santoshi-3
Maykash Hyderabadi-3
Manohar Deepak-3
Arudra-14 (Telugu)
Dr. C. Narayan Reddy-2 (Telugu)
Kambadasan-9 (Tamil)
Ramesh Avanakar-2 (Marathi)
Ashok Paranjpe-1 (Marathi)

Although Shailendra and Hasrat were their regular team members, Shankar Jaikishan were very eager to promote the talent in any and every lyricist they could work with. Therefore, during their entire career, they worked with the highest number of lyricists than any other composers.