Did You Know - Filmfare Award For Playback Singers Changed Thanks To Legendary Sharda
Did you know that through their long careers, the Mangeshkar sisters were accused of 'destroying' the careers of many potential competitors?
Did you know that through their long careers, the Mangeshkar sisters were accused of 'destroying' the careers of many potential competitors? But while much of it was wild gossip over the years (known to the Mangeshkar sisters, who were upset and vehemently denied it), only one singer went on record to make that accusation in the course of a television interview. Of course, she took several years. Don't recall it? Okay, we jog your memory. It was Sharda.
The versatile singer may not have wanted to, but she became controversial when a rift developed between her mentors -- Shankar-Jaikishan, then at the height of their popularity. They drifted apart as Bollywood's most successful composer team. Shankar Singh and Jaikishan Panchal (their real names) never worked together. The separation was credited, rightly or otherwise, to Sharda -- Sharda Rajan Iyengar in real life.
Remember 'Titli Udi', the most foot-tapping song of Suraj (1966)? Sad to say Sharda passed away on June 14, 2023, at age 85. The song evoked such nostalgia over five decades later that social media remembered the crooner with fondness.... "Titli Ud Chali... Well we all have to fly away someday... " was one such comment.
Did you know that the song did not get the Filmfare award because it lost to another song from the same film, "Baharon Phool Barsao" sung by Mohammed Rafi? And, did you know why? Those days the Best Playback Singer award was only one. An embarrassed Filmfare changed the rules. From next year, there were two separate awards, one for males, and the other for females. Did you know Sharda did get her Filmfare for a cabaret number "Baat Zara Hai Aapas Ki" in Jahan Pyar Miley (1970)?
Sharda had her heydays in Bollywood with Jaane Chaman Shola Badan (Gumnaam, 1965), Chaley Jaana Zara Thehro (Around The World), Hello Hello Sun Sun Sun (Pyar Mohabbat ) and years later, Kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma (Bombay) and many more.
Did you know that in 2007, although from the South with Tamil roots, Sharda brushed up her Urdu and cut an album. In Andaaz-E-Bayan Aur, featuring her own compositions based on Mirza Ghalib's ghazals? Well, she made her point with her fans and critics, those who adored her, and those who ignored her in her heydays. Titli has flown to sing in another world.
