Who was Shailendra ?

He wrote more than 800 songs and most of them went on to become hits. His songs, which reflected his yearning for building an equitable Indian society and his deep-rooted humanism, took India to foreign shores.

He created the famous slogan of the exploited and suppressed classes: “Har zor-zulm kee takkar mein, hartal hamara nara hai” (Strike is our weapon against every atrocity, every excess). Even now, the working class uses this slogan to voice its anger.

He produced a film titled Teesri Kasam based on Phanishwar Nath Renu’s immortal story Mare Gaye Gulfam. However, it bombed in the box office.

The film’s failure left him heartbroken. The people whom he had considered his well-wishers turned their backs on him and he came under a huge debt.

He became seriously ill and passed away on 14 December 1967. He was only 46. In his last days, he had become an alcoholic

Later, Teesri Kasam was chosen as the official entry for the Moscow International Film Festival and received global acclaim, but Shailendra was not around to witness the success.

He was conferred with the Filmfare Award thrice for his songs but this great artist, born into a Dalit family, was largely ignored by the media, the government and the Savarnna community – both when he was alive and after his death. Unfortunately, even the Dalit community has forgotten Shailendra.