Sapan Sengupta and Jagmohan Bakshi were two singers in Salil Chaudhary's choir and also were backup singers in Hindi films.Theirs was an interesting mix - the lilting rhythms of Punjab (Jagmohan Bakshi) with soft melodies of Bengal (Sapan Sengupta). Their overall style evolved, occasionally imbibing from various sources, but inherently built around their individual music backgrounds and inherent abilities.
Sapan Sengupta spent his childhood as a neighbour of renowned composer and singer Pankaj Mullick, whose son was his best friend. The influence was evident: Sapan regarded him his guru, getting to learn and draw inspiration from the man’s work and prevailing musical atmosphere
On the other hand, the love of singing and music brought Jagmohan Bakshi to Bombay. Graduating from Lucknow University, Jagmohan was known to be fond of dancing and singing as a child.
With love for music and partition memories being common, they soon became good friends. While Sapan also composed for All-India Radio when in Bombay, Jagmohan Bakshi’s individual singing attempts in a few films did not give him the fame he was looking for.
In 1961, they decided to team up and form a composer duo. Their first film was released in 1963 ( in the same year that Laxmikant Pyarelal, another aspiring duo got their Parasmani released, having chartbusters songs) as their film Begana was released.Though the film did not do well, one song was very popular and played frequently on Vividh Bharti
They had to wait till 1966 for their next project. The music scene in early 60s was extremely competitive . While all the stalwarts of previous years ( Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, S.D.Burman, ravi , O.P.Nayyar, Madan Mohan and Kalyanji Anandji) were still active, new composers such as Laxmikant Pyarelala, R.D.Burman and Usha Khanna had started to make an impact. The duo needed all their skills to survive in the rat-race !
Apart from an occasional hit ( like the beautiful title song in Teri Talash Mein -- a great haunting melody and another title song in Gustaakhi Maaf) , the 60s were , in general, a barren phase for the second SJ team !
The 1970 film Chetna changed all that and its music was a big hit, bringing limelight to the Sapan Jagmohan team. Mukesh's beautiful rendition of Naqsh Lyallpuri's amazing words ( “Pyar ki raah mein, phool bhi they magar, maine kaante chune”) made the song 'Main to har mod par tujhko doonga sadaa' a big hit. The song was played at No.23 in the 1971 Binaca Geetmala, as the film was released in late 1970.
Sapan Jagmohan started to get films and in each film they were able to give one or two good songs.Songs which were mildly popular were from films such as Doraha ( tumhi rehnuma ho),Nayi duniya naye log ( do honth hile , ek geet suna) and Alingan ( Pyaas thi, phir bhi taqaza na kiya and Maat ang chola saaje re) before they hit the bulls eye with Call Girl(1974). The tandem song Ulfat Mein zamaane ki was a big hit and the refreshing duet Hum hain jahan wo pyar ki, alongwith the title song, I am a call girl made the album a good one to listen to.
The success of Sholay and Deewar meant that the era of romantic musicals was fading away and action films were the films of future. With compositions suiting soft romantic situations, Sapan Jagmohan were handicapped and had infrequent work and that, too in B-grade films. They had a few successes like Kagaz ki Naav har janam mein hamara milan ) , Sajjo rani ( Nathaniya ne haaye raam) Mera Jeevan ( mera jeevan kuchh kaam na aaya) and Abhi to jee lein ( tu laali hai savere wali) were undoubtedly some of their compositions at par with the best of songs, though none of them made it to Hit Parades.
On the other hand, the love of singing and music brought Jagmohan Bakshi to Bombay. Graduating from Lucknow University, Jagmohan was known to be fond of dancing and singing as a child.
With love for music and partition memories being common, they soon became good friends. While Sapan also composed for All-India Radio when in Bombay, Jagmohan Bakshi’s individual singing attempts in a few films did not give him the fame he was looking for.
In 1961, they decided to team up and form a composer duo. Their first film was released in 1963 ( in the same year that Laxmikant Pyarelal, another aspiring duo got their Parasmani released, having chartbusters songs) as their film Begana was released.Though the film did not do well, one song was very popular and played frequently on Vividh Bharti
They had to wait till 1966 for their next project. The music scene in early 60s was extremely competitive . While all the stalwarts of previous years ( Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, S.D.Burman, ravi , O.P.Nayyar, Madan Mohan and Kalyanji Anandji) were still active, new composers such as Laxmikant Pyarelala, R.D.Burman and Usha Khanna had started to make an impact. The duo needed all their skills to survive in the rat-race !
Apart from an occasional hit ( like the beautiful title song in Teri Talash Mein -- a great haunting melody and another title song in Gustaakhi Maaf) , the 60s were , in general, a barren phase for the second SJ team !
The 1970 film Chetna changed all that and its music was a big hit, bringing limelight to the Sapan Jagmohan team. Mukesh's beautiful rendition of Naqsh Lyallpuri's amazing words ( “Pyar ki raah mein, phool bhi they magar, maine kaante chune”) made the song 'Main to har mod par tujhko doonga sadaa' a big hit. The song was played at No.23 in the 1971 Binaca Geetmala, as the film was released in late 1970.
Sapan Jagmohan started to get films and in each film they were able to give one or two good songs.Songs which were mildly popular were from films such as Doraha ( tumhi rehnuma ho),Nayi duniya naye log ( do honth hile , ek geet suna) and Alingan ( Pyaas thi, phir bhi taqaza na kiya and Maat ang chola saaje re) before they hit the bulls eye with Call Girl(1974). The tandem song Ulfat Mein zamaane ki was a big hit and the refreshing duet Hum hain jahan wo pyar ki, alongwith the title song, I am a call girl made the album a good one to listen to.
The success of Sholay and Deewar meant that the era of romantic musicals was fading away and action films were the films of future. With compositions suiting soft romantic situations, Sapan Jagmohan were handicapped and had infrequent work and that, too in B-grade films. They had a few successes like Kagaz ki Naav har janam mein hamara milan ) , Sajjo rani ( Nathaniya ne haaye raam) Mera Jeevan ( mera jeevan kuchh kaam na aaya) and Abhi to jee lein ( tu laali hai savere wali) were undoubtedly some of their compositions at par with the best of songs, though none of them made it to Hit Parades.
The Eighties were worse than the Seventies and SJ found themselves literally out of work and whatever they had was inconsequential. The fact that they were mostly relegated to B-grade movies and that seldom affected their enthusiasm proves what they were made of. As a result, their music, at least until the late 70s, rarely sounded indifferent. One wonders where they constantly drew their energies and motivation from. They made a great team with lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri ( the association was involved in 70% of the songs) and Asha Bhonsle who sang many of their songs.
When one looks at Sapan Jagmohan’s career as a whole, they emerge as strong and well-rounded composers. The time of their period in the industry was not conducive : in their earlier years they had a stiff competition and later, the era of musicals was over, leaving them high and dry.
Leaving you with a breezy Kishore Kumar songs, recorded a couple of years before he died. The voice sounds young and the composition is an absolute pleasure to listen to.
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