Classical maestro Pandit Jasraj had refused to accept fees for his first-ever romantic filmy playback song in horror-movie (‘1920’)

Chaitanya  Padukone 

‘Late’ classical virtuoso-vocalist Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj, who endeared himself to millions of his ardent fans and lakhs  of  students, is no more,  but his rich repertoire and illustrious legacy lives on forever. Thanks to his music-savvy entrepreneur-impresario daughter Durga Jasraj, I was formally introduced to him at one of Anup Jalota’s  private birthday events way back in the ‘90s. Thereafter I would meet the modest Pandit-jee off and on at various concerts and events. Since he was also a staunch Krishna-bhakt ( like me), he would briefly share with me nuggets of religious teachings of Lord Krishna and raise both his hands in divine devotion. 

“Besides prayers and meditation, an ideal way to connect with the Divine Powers is thru humming, singing or listening to inspiring music,” Pt.Jasraj shared with me at the music album (2008) release of this horror-movie ‘1920’  ( directed by Vikram Bhatt)  at the Juhu-J W Marriott hotel . Where the iconic singer had sung a  ‘solo’ peppy romantic playback song ‘Vaada Tumse Hai Vaada’ composed by Adnan Sami.  In fact Adnan-bhai had whispered to us that “Jasraj-jee had refused to accept payment as he explained that he treated me like his own son”.  It was Pandit-jee’s first-ever romantic filmy song with his own vocal improvisations  and had a foot-tapping racy metre. The haunting track was used as a background with no ‘lip-sync’.  

Although not a film-addict Jasraj-jee told me that he loved to listen to raga-based filmy-songs compositions  Jasraj’s first playback song was in ( his legendary father-in-law) V. Shantaram’s Ladki Sahyadri Ki (1966) . Where he sang the intricate raga-based bhajan Vandana Karo in raag Ahir Bhairav, composed by  genius Vasant Desai. His second song was composed by Shyam Prabhakar in the film Birbal My Brother (1975). Jasraj and Pt. Bhimsen Joshi collaborated on a classical-jugalbandi  The classical gem is a testimony of their vocal excellence, but it sadly remains ‘unsung’ because the film failed to click at the box-office.

On 08th Sept 2016, when reclusive melody-queen Asha Bhosle decided to celebrate her birthday in public  ( for the first-time after many decades ), with a musical event co-hosted by Zee Classic and producer Mahesh Tilekar, she was  overwhelmed when Pt. Jasraj honoured her on stage with an ornate memento. “ It’s one of my most memorable B’day gifts, especially since legendary Pt. Jasraj has presented it to me, “ enthused madame Asha Bhosle to the media, on that memorable occasion.