Shankar Singh came to Bombay from Hyderabad and JaiKishan hails from Panchal, Gujarat. The duo worked as musicians under the then-famous Husnlaal-Bhagatraam. Shankar Jaikishan started their career as a music director team from Raj Kapoors Barsaat. Then on, i.e. from 1948, till about 1971 the duo composed music for close to 280 films including numerous hits and probably are the most famous music directors. They literally ruled two decades of Indian filmmusicdom, and their popularity is reflected by the fact that they hold the record for the maximum number (nine) of Filmfare awards. What adds to their popularity is that they gained it during the years when the musical taste of the fans was nurtured by the likes of SDB, Roshan, Naushad, Madan Mohan and others.

SJ made a great impact right since they started. Their tunes range from pure Indian classical based (O Basanti pawan paagal, dil ek mandir hain..) to more westernised tunes (Raat ke hamsafar, sukoo sukoo..). They had a distinct style of music and they used it very well for different stars making the right choice of music and singers. Much of Raj Kapoor's and Shammi Kapoor's success was because of SJ's music. RK-SJ team has given us some excellent films which will be cherished forever.