Shailendra Birth Anniversary: ​​A sad end to a happy dream Shailendra

Raj Kapoor was very happy that night in 1948. A lyricist whom Raj Kapoor respected from the bottom of his heart had joined his company. The lyricist's first song was recorded that day and Raj Kapoor was very happy. The lyrics of the song were:

We met you in the rain, my love. You met me in the rain. What a simple word composition was this!

Raj Kapoor was confident that this new lyricist would become the pillar of his films. Has Raj Kapoor's belief ever been false? This lyricist was Shailendra! When Shailendra stepped into RK Studio with 'Barsaat', he remained with Raj Kapoor till his last breath. After all, what was so special about Shailendra?

Why did his songs become an addiction and capture the hearts and minds of the people?

This was the quality of Shailendra. The use of simple words. He was a lyricist of the masses and wrote songs in their language. This was the reason that his songs were directly on the lips of the masses. On the other hand, Shailendra's songs gave pace to the film, took the story forward. It never happened that his songs were like a patch on the film. In every Raj Kapoor film, there was definitely one Shailendra song that revealed Raj Kapoor's character in the film. Just look, can't you guess after listening to this song that the hero of the film is a simple and innocent young man! These songs create the entire image of the hero in the mind of the audience!

My shoes are Japanese, these trousers are English The red cap on my head is Russian, but still my heart is Indian. (Film: Shree 420) We have learnt everything, but have not learnt cleverness It is true, people of the world, that we are naive (Film: Anadi) Mera naam Raju Gharana Anam Bahti Hai Jahan Mera Dham Film: Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Awara Hoon, Awara Hoon Ya Gardish Mein Ya, Aasman Ka Tara Hoon (Film: Awara) Shailendra had a deep understanding of the psychology of the people. He knew very well when and what thing would affect the hearts of the people. He had suffered a lot in the early years of his life. There was no human emotion that was untouched by him. He understood the joys and sorrows of the people How is the separation of a lover reflected in this song:-

Come foreigner, I have been standing on this side for so long, my eyes are tired of gazing at the path (Film: Madhumati) and when the beloved gets everything, pulling this pallu from the thorns, breaking the bond and tying the anklet, today again I have a desire to live, today again I have the intention to die (Film Guide)

So where will we find better words to express his happiness? Listen to how a disappointed lover feels - Broken dreams have taught us what the heart has seen, the eyes have lost what the heart has seen (Film: Madhumati) Shailendra believed in the communist stream. He had developed the habit of daydreaming. He used to write songs for films based on social reforms with special interest. He wrote many hit songs in the film Patita. Shailendra used to be very happy while writing a song that was to be filmed on children. He saw the future of the country in children. This song of boot polish has such a deep meaning in itself

Little child, what is in your fist? Our destiny is in our fist, we have controlled our destiny.

Shailendra wrote songs for Shankar-Jaikishan in most of the films, although every composer wanted to take him for his songs. When he wrote songs for Salil Chaudhary in 'Madhumati', all the songs of the film became hits. Shailendra received the Filmfare Award three times for his songs, but he remained indifferent towards awards. It doesn't matter if he got the award, it doesn't matter if he didn't get it. He deserved all this fame, but he did not deserve the kind of farewell the film world gave him.

The year is 1960. Shailendra and Basu Bhattacharya were getting along well in those days, both were used to dreaming. Then Basu Bhattacharya had left Bimal Roy Productions and was living in a small room. That room of 100 square feet had become Shailendra's second home, he used to write most of his songs there.

Shailendra's brother saw the same dreams. Both of them read Phanishwar Nath Renu's story 'Teesri Kasam'. Both of them felt that if a film is made on 'Teesri Kasam', it will be a great art film and the audience will like it a lot. Two crazy people were sitting together and building castles in the air.

Shailendra asked - 'Basu da, how much money will it cost to make the film?

You can guess how experienced Basu da must have been from his answer that the work will be done in two and a half lakh rupees. We do not have to take any top hero and heroine, the cameraman will be Subrata Mitra. It is just the cost of raw reel, the set will be cheap and natural. We do not have to show any pomp and show.

This was not a business man's account, it was a writer's account. And Shailendra was with him. On hearing the plan, Shailendra jumped up and said, "I have one lakh rupees. Some arrangement will be made for the rest. Our car will start with one lakh rupees."

'It will definitely work out' and in his excitement Basu hugged Shailendra, both of them had completely forgotten that one lakh rupees are spent in three days of shooting.

When Raj Kapoor came to know that Shailendra was going to make a film, he was shocked. He was also a little scared that what kind of rebellion is this in RK studio? But when Raj Kapoor heard the story of the film, he must have laughed a lot in his mind. He would have preferred to throw such a story in the Arabian Sea. Raj Kapoor was convinced that RK banner had no threat from Shailendra's film, so he himself proposed to work in Shailendra's film for free. Accepting this proposal was a big mistake of Shailendra, the price of which he could not pay in his entire life.

Shailendra rushed to Basu with Raj Kapoor's proposal. Basu was not able to fit Raj Kapoor for the role of a simple village youth but he had this in his heart that the film will be a hit with Raj Kapoor's name. Basu gave the role of Hiraman to Raj Kapoor. Now the search for a suitable Heerabai for Raj Kapoor began. If the hero is a top class then the heroine should also be a top class. Waheeda Rehman was taken as the heroine.

The dream that Basu and Shailendra saw as a 'low budget film' started like a big film. If the film had small stars, it would have been ready in no time, but where did Raj Kapoor have dates? He was busy making 'Sangam' by collecting the overflow of 'Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai'. Whenever Shailendra approached Raj Kapoor for a date, Raj Kapoor's reply would be- 'I am a member of the family. I will come whenever you say. Just let 'Sangam' be completed.'

It was because of this 'man of the house' that 'Teesri Kasam' was delayed. When 'Sangam' was completed, preparations for its release began as it was a big man's film. When 'Sangam' was released, the story of 'Mera Naam Joker' started getting finalized. Shailendra was suffering huge losses due to this procrastination. Every inch of his body was stuck in debt. But who opens his mouth in front of the 'man of the house'? And a great artist like Raj Kapoor was working for free in the film.

Somehow, after a lot of crying and wailing, 'Teesri Kasam' was completed. Now the question of its release arose. Everyone knows how much influence Raj Kapoor has on distributors. He did not give any benefit of this influence to Shailendra. When the distributors saw 'Teesri Kasam', they said, 'What kind of a film is that? Where is the fight in the film? Hiraman swears that he will not make any woman sit in his bullock cart and the film ends, who will watch this? Show Hiraman's fight with the landlord's men in the end. Hiraman gets injured in the fight and Hirabai gives him blood... if you add two-four such scenes, the film will be a hit.'

Shailendra was stunned to hear this. He was ready to accept that the film would be shelved but he was not ready to 'kill' Phanishwar Renu's story in any way. 'Teesri Kasam' was shelved and Raj Kapoor was collecting the overflow of 'Sangam'. If he wanted, he could have freed Shailendra from debt. If he wanted, he could have released 'Teesri Kasam'.

If he had done this, how would Shailendra have been punished for making the film? Somehow Shailendra got the film released without taking any guarantee money from the distributors. The film flopped due to lack of promotion and Shailendra was heartbroken.

Hasrat Jaipuri was Shailendra's partner. Both of them wrote songs for Shankar-Jaikishan. Hasrat was irritated by the fact that Shailendra's songs became hits while his songs got suppressed. He also started speaking against Shailendra in those days.

Shailendra was shocked. The same people who claimed to be his friends till yesterday were rubbing salt on his wounds and stabbing him in the back. His soft poetic mind could not tolerate all this and on 14 December Shailendra left this world. See the cruel humor of fate, 14 December is Raj Kapoor's birthday.

Later, 'Teesri Kasam' was awarded the President's Gold Medal that year. Now the distributors and the audience appreciated 'Teesri Kasam' even more.

At this time, the producer of 'Teesri Kasam' was sitting in faraway heaven thinking, if I could get even a fraction of this honor while I was alive, then why would I leave this earth?