Jagjit Singh’s unforgettable association with Shabana Azmi, Lata Mangeshkar and Hindi Cinema

When Jagjit Singh composed and sang Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho Kya Gham Hai Jissko Chupa Rahe Ho in Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth he could have never imagined the song would become so iconic.


Although it was lip-synced by Raj Kiran, it was Shabana Azmi whose exquisite emoting edified the song to immortality.


Recalls Shabana, “It was a very emotional moment in Arth. My character Pooja has just been served a divorce notice from her husband and it is also her birthday. There were myriad emotions floating in that song. That my father (the great Kaifi Azmi) wrote the words just made it all the more special for me.”


Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho was not Shabana’s first tryst with Jagjit’s evocative baritone. Two years prior to Arth and its popular Ghazals Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar, Koi Yeh Kaise Bataye and Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho, Jagjit had sung Raakh Ke Dher Mein Sholon Ko Dabaa Rakha Hai, an extraordinary Ghazal composed by Bappi Lahiri in Ek Baar Kaho.


In Prem Geet in 1981, Jagjit sang Hothon Se Chu Lo Tum Mera Geet Amar Kar Do for Raj Babbar. “To this day, I am associated in the audiences’ mind with this song,” says Raj Babbar emotionally.


The most productive phase for Jagjit in Hindi cinema was in the early 1980s when the he spun a slew of chartbusters like Pyar Mujhse Jo Kiya Tumne, Tumko Dekha Toh Yeh Khayal Aaya and Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar in Saath Saath.


During the later part of his life and career, Jagjit focused more on his live concerts, he would occasionally surface in cinema with a gem, like the duet Donon Ke Dil Hain Majboor Pyar Se with Lata Mangeshkar in the unreleased film Nargis. This was the only duet that Jagjit sang in cinema with Lataji. In 1991, Jagjit’s dream came true when he finally did a whole album of Ghazals titled Sajda with Lataji. Sajda is considered a milestone in both Lataji and Jagjit’s careers.


Jagjit’s last bunch of memorable film songs were in the films Leela and Dhoop. His last recorded song for a film was in Ajai Sinha’s Khaap.