By Lakshmi K. Tummala
Remembering screenplay writer/ lyricist Vrajendra Gaur on his death anniversary.
Shankar Jaikishan and Vrajendra Gaur, a Very Good Association
The extremely successful Shankar Jaikishan and the prolific dialogue and screenplay writer, lyricist, Vrajendra Gaur came together in 1960 and worked for seven movies in fifteen years. Everyone of the movies had very good screenplay and dialogues with excellent music.
Singapore (1960): Produced by F. C. Mehra, the movie was directed by Shakti Samanta. Vrajendra Gaur wrote the dialogues. Shammi Kapoor and Padmini acted in the lead with the title song filmed on the Malay Beauty Queen, Maria Menado. There are eight songs in the album. Shailendra and Hasrat wrote four songs each. Lata sang three solos and three duets with Rafi, with Mukesh singing one solo. The movie had a successful run.
Pyar Mohabbat (1966): The movie was produced and directed by Shankar Mukherjee. Vrajendra Gaur wrote the dialogues. Dev Anand was cast opposite Saira Banu. There are nine songs in the album. Shailendra wrote five songs and Hasrat four. Rafi sang two solos and two duets, one with Asha and the other with Manna Dey. Sharda sang two solos with Lata and Asha singing a solo each. The latter also sang two duets, one with Rafi and the other with Usha Mangeshkar. Although the music was very good, sadly, the movie did not fare well at the box office.
Duniya (1968): The romantic thriller was produced by Amarjeet. Vrajendra Gaur and K. A. Narayan wrote the screenplay. It was directed by T. Prakasa Rao. Dev Anand and Vyjayantimala were cast in the lead. There are six songs in the album. Hasrat wrote three songs while ashailendra, Neeraj and S. H. Bihari wrote a song each. Rafi sang three solos, Asha sang a solo and a duet with Kishore Kumar. Mukesh and Sharda sang a duet. It had a good run at the box office.
Lal Patthar (1971): F. C. Mehra produced the movie, a remake of a Bengali movie by the same name. The dialogues are by Vrajendra Gaur. It was directed by Sushil Majumdar. Raj Kumar, Hema Malini, Vinod Mehra and Raakhee played the key roles. There are six songs in the album. Neeraj wrote three songs, Hasrat two and Dev Kohli wrote one. Asha sang three solos and a duet with Manna Dey, with Rafi and Kishore Kumar singing one solo each.
Jaane Anjane (1971): The movie was produced and directed by Shakti Samanta. Vrajendra Gaur wrote the dialogues. Shammi Kapoor and Leena Chandavarkar are cast in the lead. There are seven songs in the album. There are seven songs in the album. Hasrat wrote four songs, S. H. Bihari two and Gulshan Bawra wrote one. Lata sang a solo and a duet with Rafi. Asha, Kishore Kumar and Sharda sang a solo each, while Suman Kalyanpur sang a duet with Manna Dey. The movie did reasonably well at the box office.
Jangal Mein Mangal (1972): The movie was produced and directed by Rajendra Bhatia. Vrajendra Gaur wrote the dialogues. Kiran Kumar and Reena Roy played the lead roles. There are seven songs in the album. Hasrat and Neeraj wrote all the songs together. Asha sang three solos and a duet with Usha.Kishore Kumar sang two solos and a duet with Rafi.
Resham Ki Dori (1974): T. C. Dhawan produced the movie and Atmaram directed it. The dialogues were by Vrajendra Gaur. Dharmendra was cast opposite Saira Banu. There are six songs in the album. Indivar wrote three songs, Neeraj two and Hasrat wrote one. Asha sang two songs, a solo and another with a chorus. Rafi, Manna Dey, Suman Kalyanpur and Kishore Kumar sang one solo each. Indivar, Shankar Jaikishan and Suman Kalyanpur received Filmfare Award nominations for Best Lyricist, Best Music Director/s and Best Female Playback Singer. The movie ran well at the box.
Although their movies together did very well, Shankar Jaikishan and Vrajendra Gaur parted their ways.
Seen in the picture below are (L-R): Shankar, Shanker Mukherjee, Vrajendra Gaur and Shailendra at the recording of a song for Pyar Mohabbat.
Photo courtesy: Suneel Gaur
SHANKAR-JAIKISHAN 