Happy birth anniversary to rebel star Shammi Kapoorji

Viewers remembered Shammi Kapoorsahab on his birth anniversary on 21st October, 2024. Rebel Star Shammi Kapoor is remembered on 14th August, 2023, his death anniversary, for his immense contribution to Bollywood films. On 14th August, 2011, veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, passed away. He was 79 years old. The country had become sad due to his demise. He brought a new wave in Indian films with powerful performances in films like Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Janwar and other films. He used to be called Rebel Star and the Indian Elvis Priestley. One thing for which viewers used to be mad to see his films during 60s used to be the everlasting music in the films and brilliance of Mohammad Rafi in those songs. Rafi had sung 341 songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan during his illustrious career with 216 solos. Very significantly 3 of the filmfare awards that Rafi received during 60s had been composed by Shankar Jaikishan. They included “teri pyari pyari surat ko kiski nazar na lage” from the film Sasural, “baharon phool barsao” from the film Suraj and “dilke jharoke me mujhko bithaker” from the film Brahmchari. But in the list of songs sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, at least half of the total sungs were composed for Shammi Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan worked together for around 22 films, most of which did great business in the 60s. If Rafi’s songs sung for Shammi Kapoor are remembered for the loud music and melo-dramatic dance numbers, there were lot of songs which were ever romantic and touched the hearts of the viewers. In the film Junglee, Rafi’s songs “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” and “meri yaar shabba khair” had very melodious appeal and the sweetness of Rafi haunted the listeners for years. In Shammi Kapoor’s Professor, the songs “awaz deke hume tum bulayo”, “mai chali mai chali”, probably had set the mood of the film. From that time Rafi, Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan created magic in one film after the other. In Raj Kumar, Rafi’s soft numbers for Shammi Kapoor like “yeh rang badalti duniya me”, “tumne kisiki jaan ko jate hue dekha hai” made the viewers speechless. Even the western numbers of Shankar Jaikishan for Rafi stole the hearts in the 60s. In the film Janwar, Rafi’s number “meri muhabbat jawan rahegi” and “humko hai tumse pyar” had been the most romantic songs in the film, where the landscape of Kashmir and Rafi’s melodious voice complimented each other. In the film An Evening in Paris, Rafi’s songs “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho” and “raat ke humsafar” were the most romantic numbers which were more melodious than the loud numbers which equally became hits. In Shammi Kapoor’s Brahmachari, probably the best songs included “mai gayun tum so jayo” and “dil ke jharoke mai”. “mai gayun tum so jayo” was sung twice by Rafi in the film, one with a even slower rhythm. Shankar Jaikishan’s background music was as brilliant as Rafi’s singing style for Shammi Kapoor. In the film Tumse Accha Kaun Hai, Rafi’s soft number “janam janam ka saath hai” had remained evergreen and melodious for years. In Latt Sahab, Rafi’s romantic number with Asha Bhosle titled “aye chaand zara ruk ja” haunted the listeners for years after years. Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan combined together in other films of Shammi Kapoor like Prince, Buttameez, Laat Sahab, Ujala, Chote Sarkar, Hong Kong, etc. There were many more romantic numbers of Rafi sung for Shammi Kapoor, which cannot be covered in a small article. In Shammi Kapoor’s Jawan Muhabbat, the song “jawan muhabbat jahan jahan hai” was very romantic. The last film where Shankar and Jaikishan worked together for Shammi Kapoor included Andaz. The songs “dil use do jo jaan de de” and “re mamma re mamma re” were brilliant both in form and orchestration. It was very unfortunate that Jaikishan died in 1971,and after that Shammi Kapoor also added weight and switched to character roles in films like Zameer, Parvarish, etc. The magical combination of Shankar Jaikishan, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi ended and the era of romantic songs also suffered a set back. Some section of listeners argue that Rajender Kumar probably received the more romantic numbers sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, but Shammi Kapoor’s combination with Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan was phenomenal which swept the youth and took them to a different inspite of Shammi Kapoor being called a rebel star and Shankar Jaikishan providing the most loud bomblastic numbers for Rafi. The songs and the films of the legendary combination of Shammi Kapoor, Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan should be preserved.