He was one half of one of the greatest composing duos that ever graced Hindi Cinema. And if O P Nayyar is be believed, Shankar was the most complete composer to ever work in Bollywood. Indeed, along with his partner and best friend, Jaikishan Dayabhai Paanchal, Shankar Singh Raghuvanshi composed music for some of the greatest Hindi films ever.

Masters of the tune, Shankar-Jaikishan today live on through their legendary melodies. Perhaps their greatest contribution was to Raj Kapoor’s R K Films banner, under which they gave music to Hindi cinema's classics like Awara, Shree 420, Boot Polish and Mera Naam Joker. Half a century after they were composed, songs like ‘Awara Hoon’, ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’, ‘Nanhe Munhe Bachche’ and ‘Jeena Yahan, Marna Yahan’ still make a listener’s heart flutter. In fact, if one agrees that music played a part in the success of Raj Kapoor’s films, then the RK Films owes an insurmountable debt to the duo of Shankar-Jaikishan.

However, few people know that the Shankar-Jaikishan pairing would not have happened if Shankar had not insisted on being paired with Jaikishan when he was offered their first project. At that point, the duo was assisting music composer Ram Ganguli, who was working on Raj Kapoor’s film, Aag. However, after the release of the film, Kapoor fell out with Ganguli and decided to offer his next film, titled Barsaat, to Ganguli’s young assistant Shankar instead. At that point, Shankar insisted on working along with Jaikishan and the rest, as they say, is history.

A unique attribute of Shankar’s contribution in the pair was the emphasis he laid on songs as a whole, instead of breaking them down into antaras and mukhdas. His approach gave special importance to arrangements in his songs and created intricate melodies that are tough to recreate, like ‘Awara Hoon’ and ‘Tera Jaana’ (Anari).

Amongst the fans of Shankar-Jaikishan is Anu Malik whose maternal uncle, Hasrat Jaipuri, was the lyricist of choice (alongside Shailendra) for Shankar-Jaikishan. Malik says: “They are musical gods. The kind of music they created, and the kind of importance they gave to every note of the song is something that will never be recreated. I don’t believe there is any composer in the Hindi film industry who came after them and can say that he or she wasn’t influenced by Shankar-Jaikishan.”

A special mention needs to be made of Shankar’s talent on the piano. A trained pianist, he frequently played on his recorded compositions as well when called upon. Two prominent examples are Sangam’s ‘Dost Dost Na Raha’ and Brahmachari’s ‘Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein’, which was shot on Shammi Kapoor. Shammi’s association with Shankar-Jaikishan is also the stuff of legends. Essentially, Shammi Kapoor-esque words like yahoo and suku suku were introduced into the Hindi film lexicon by Shankar-Jaikishan, who composed music for several of his films. In fact, not many people are aware that the famous catcalls in Junglee’s ‘Aiyaya Karun Main Kya’ were delivered by Shankar himself.

However, Shankar-Jaikishan’s glory faded gradually with the march of time, as the 70s decade saw their star wane with the rise of younger, more contemporary teams like those of Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji, with the former replacing Shankar-Jaikishan in the RK Films pantheon with Bobby (1971). With Jaikishan’s untimely death in the same year, it seemed like the sun had set on the glory of Shankar-Jaikishan’s music.

However, as part of a pact made when his best friend was still alive, Shankar continued with the name Shankar-Jaikishan through the 70s and the 80s, even as the projects dwindled. However, the maestro proved he had one last bulls-eye arrow in his quiver, as he delivered a hit soundtrack for Sanyaasi (1975), even as the film itself sunk at the box-office. But while the film projects may have faded away, Shankar continued to inspire young composers with his music and encouragement.

Malik reminisces: “I’m especially fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Shankar-Jaikishan in my youth. I especially remember one instance when I met Shankarji at the wedding of Shailee Shailendra (Shailendra’s son) and on hearing that I was trying to get into music too, Shankarji asked me to hum a tune. I complied, and he blessed me, wishing me success in my career.”

While Hindi films today might give a connoisseur the impression that music is an expendable commodity on screen, the music of Shankar-Jaikishan proves timelessly that while pictures may speak a thousand words, music is simply beyond it all.