E-Paper
Shankar’s piano enters NFAI hall of celluloid fame
The piano, manufactured in Stuttgart, Germany, is supposedly 90 to 100 years old.
National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has in its collection the personal piano of music composer Shankar (Shankar-Jaikishan duo). It was donated by Shankar’s grandson Santosh Kumar.
“This piano has been part of many song compositions during the Raj Kapoor era. The songs composed by Shankar-Jaikishan have been a very important part of India’s film music. The compositions they did, especially for RK films, in active collaboration with Raj Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, are integral part of the lives of film lovers across the world. Piano has been beautifully used in many of their popular songs. Therefore, it is a very precious piece of musical history that will now be a part of NFAI collection”, said Prakash Magdum, director NFAI.
The Schiedmayer-make is cross-strung under damper upright piano with 88 keys having 7 ½ Octave. The piano, manufactured in Stuttgart, Germany, is supposedly 90 to 100 years old.
The composer duo Shankar-Jaikishan are considered to be one of the finest music composers in the Indian film industry. With masterful mixture of rhythm, melody and orchestration, S-J, as they were fondly called, composed several popular numbers during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. The government of India conferred them with Padmashri in 1968 for their contribution to music.
