Gone with the wind ? Shailendra Singh

GONE WITH THE WIND ? Shailendra Singh 

‘Main shayar to nahi magar aye haseen’ remember this soulful melody from Raj Kapoor’s teenage romantic blockbuster Bobby(1973)? Now we do remember Rishi Kapoor’s chocolatey image in this song but what’s about the distinctly unique vocals of the young singer Shailendra? Forgotten ? 

Shailendra turned 68 on 4th October this year, an almost forgotten into oblivion playback singer from the yesteryear’s, one has to really try hard to recollect about him. Shailendra a strapping young aspirant in the early 70’s with dreams of becoming a Bollywood actor had a complete turn of fate when chosen to playback for debutant Rishi Kapoor in Bobby(1973). Getting the golden opportunity to sing for a RK banner was a never seen dream come true for someone who was aspiring to act in front of the camera rather than play ‘back’. In Bobby(1973) he sang hits like Main Shayar To Nahi, Na Maange Sona Chandi, Chaabi Kho Jaae, and others. 

Thereafter Shailendra sang primarily for Rishi Kapoor in movies like Zehreela Insaan(1974), Khel Khel Mein(1975), Rafoo Chakkar(1975), Rangila Rattan(1976), Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai(1981), Saagar(1985) and Hathyar(1989). Even though he had an original voice, did not sound like any veteran singer, did not copy any senior artists yet things didn’t work out. He got what can be termed limited success, in era dominated by Kishore Kumar he was lagging much behind in the competitive race. He was given occasional songs by R D Burman and by his own admission Rishi Kapoor used to recommend him to producers. Shailendra also fulfilled his original dream of acting by playing roles in movies like Do Jasoos(1975), Agreement(1978) and Nauker(1979). 

In a poignant interview some years ago, Shailendra had confessed how he was deprived of his work due to internal politics in Bollywood. He claims he was assured of singing all songs filmed on Rishi in Saagar(1985) but due to some politics he wasn’t called after singing ‘Jaane Do Na’. He has also claimed he was originally supposed to sing ‘ O Hansini’. Nevertheless Shailendra did get stardom from his debut film the music of which is considered timeless and memorable till date, he sang with none other than Lata Mangeshkar in it. 

Lost in the music diaries of retro Bollywood music, Shailendra at-least deserves credit for being an original.