Manoj Muntashir reveals Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor were behind union of musician duo Shankar–Jaikishan

MUMBAI: The upcoming episode of Indian Idol will see lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir taking viewers on a nostalgic journey, diving deep into the golden era of Indian cinema.

Manoj was seen sharing a heartfelt anecdote about how the legendary music duo Shankar–Jaikishan first met.

Recalling the beautiful coincidence that brought the iconic duo together, Manoj shared, “Main batata hoon ki Shankarji aur Jaikishanji mile kaise ittefaq se. Shankarji Hyderabad se aaye the aur ek film producer ke yahan kaam maangne ke liye chakkar lagaya karte the. Woh producer unhe hafton aur mahino tak ghumata raha. Ek din Shankarji ne notice kiya ki ek ladka (Jaikishanji) sofa ke kone mein baitha rehta hai. Unhone poocha, ‘Tum yahan kyun aaye ho?’ Us ladke ne kaha ki woh bhi kaam dhoondhne aaya hai. Jab Shankarji ne poocha ki kya karte ho, toh usne kaha, ‘Main harmonium bajata hoon.’"

(I’ll tell you how Shankarji and Jaikishanji met by chance. Shankarji had come from Hyderabad and used to make frequent rounds to a film producer’s office looking for work. That producer kept making him wait for weeks and even months. One day, Shankarji noticed a young man (Jaikishanji) sitting quietly in a corner of the sofa. He asked him, ‘Why have you come here?’ The young man replied that he too had come looking for work. When Shankarji asked what he did, he said, ‘I play the harmonium.)