Music Directors and Composers
R.D. Burman, son of S.D. Burman, is widely regarded as one of the greatest music directors in Hindi cinema, known for his innovative and timeless compositions. Burman composed music for over 331 films, bringing a new level of music to Bollywood with his compositions. He worked mainly with legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi. He has also worked extensively for lyricist Gulzar. R.D. Burman was an influence on the new generation, and his songs continue to be popular and have been an inspiration for new singers and music composers.
A.R. Rahman, a two-time Academy Award winner and five-time nominee, is credited with redefining contemporary Indian music. A.R. Rahman has sold over 150 million music copies, with landmark films like Roja, Lagaan, and Slumdog Millionaire, winning numerous awards, including eight Academy Awards.
Timeless Classics
S.D. Burman was a renowned music composer and singer, known for his work in Bengali and Hindi films. He composed music for over 100 films and had legendary singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, and Kishore Kumar render his timeless classics.
Naushad was regarded as the pioneer of Indian cinema. Pioneering composers like Naushad Ali, Shankar-Jaikishan, and S.D. Burman laid the foundation of Bollywood music, introducing legendary singers and creating timeless classics.
Legendary Composers
Naushad’s music style blended Indian classical ragas with Western techniques, incorporating classical rhythms and innovative sound mixing, and background scores.
O.P. O.P. Nayyar was a celebrated music composer known for his rhythmic compositions and iconic collaborations with Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, and Mohammed Rafi.
Iconic Soundtracks
Madan Mohan was a master music director known for soulful ghazals and iconic collaborations with Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, and Talat Mahmood.
Melodic Memories
Khayyam, a music director and a background score composer, had a career span across four decades. He had won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music. His most famous music compositions were for the films Umrao Jaan in 1981, Kabhi Kabhi in 1976 and Lion in 2016. Mohammed Zahur Khayyam was a renowned music composer awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, known for blending ghazals with Indian classical music and poetic depth in his compositions. His compositions were soulful and melodious. The songs he composed were emotional with rich poetry. Khayyam’s style was noticeably different from the other popular musicians of those days, who were either semi-classical or light and peppy.
Kalyanji- Anandji
Kalyanji-Anandji, a legendary composer duo and brothers, created timeless and evergreen soundtracks for Hindi films like “Don”, “Qurbani”, and “Tridev”, achieving immense success stiff competition.
Laxmikant- Pyarelal.
The duo consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma composed music for over 750 films. They worked with several prominent filmmakers and playback singers.
The duo began their career in the Hindi film industry in 1963. The Songs Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra and Kali Zulfen Rang Sunhera were super hits and proved to be financially successful films.Kalyanji-Anandji’s breakthrough came with Rajshri Productions’ musical hit “Safar”, and its songs topped the Binaca Geetmala charts the same year, establishing their reputation.
Rhythms of the Past
The duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal achieved huge success with Raj Kapoor’s 1973 film “Bobby,” creating timeless hits like “Main Shayar Toh Nahin” and “Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Bandh Ho.”
Salil Chaudhry was a versatile music director who composed for over 75 Hindi films, 41 Bengali films, and 27 Malayalam films, blending Eastern and Western traditions. C Ramchandra, another notable composer, was known for timeless duets with Lata Mangeshkar like “Kitna Haseen Hai Mausam” and “Shola Jo Bhadke”. Ramchandra provided music compositions to films that he produced. He had produced three Hindi films besides providing music compositions to Bhojpuri, Marathi, Telugu and Tamil movies.
Echoes of Eternity
Roshan, Roshan Lal Nagrath, is one of the most famous music directors and composers. Roshan was also an accomplished sarod player with an ear for music since he was very young. He gave up his job in 1948 to seek fame and fortune in the land of opportunities, Bombay! He had his initial struggles, but thereafter, he met producer-director Kidar Sharma, who gave him a job of composing music for his films. Roshan soon appeared as one of the players in the music circle of Hindi cinema, churning out big musical hits. Roshan has worked with singers Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar, etc. He also composed bhajans like Meera Bhajan, which went on to become a hit.
Roshan was a notable music composer who gave breaks to lyricists like Indeevar and Anand Bakshi. He blended folk music with Hindustani classical, creating timeless classics in films like “Devar”.
Melodies that Never Fade
Rajesh Roshan, son of music director Roshan and brother of Roshan, actor and film producer director. Rajesh had a successful collaboration with Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Amit Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.Roshan gained fame with films like “Kunwara Baap” and “Julie,” winning the Best Music Director award for the latter. He collaborated with Kishore Kumar on several films and won numerous awards for his contributions to Hindi cinema.
Evergreen Hits
Anu Malik is music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. Anu has won award as winning musician from Filmfare. He primarily composed music for Hindi film industry. He got his commercial success with Hindi films such as Main Hoon Na, Baazigar, China Gate, Refugee . He is known for using Tabla in some of his popular songs.
Ravindra Jain music composer, is also a lyricist and a playback singer.Ravindra Jain began his film career in 1970, composing music for various films, including hits like “Chor Machaye Shor” and “Ram Teri Ganga Maili.” He also composed iconic music for the TV show “Ramayan” and received the Padma Shri in 2015.
The Soundtrack of Bollywood’s Glory
Jagjit Singh was a renowned ghazal singer, music composer, and musician known for blending classical poetry with meaningful lyrics and melodies, achieving great success in Bollywood and beyond. His untimely death halted his booming career. He had redefined the range of music with his work.
Vishal Bharadwaj, director, composer and singer-producer directed ten feature films and produced five. He composed music for over forty films. He has received several awards for his music composition. Vishal had made his debut as a music composer in 1995 with a children’s film and received recognition from Gulzar for his film Maachis in 1996. Vishal wont Awards for the latter. He went on to compose music of several other films. He made his directorial debut with the Film Makdee in 2002. Besides music direction and also film direction, Vishal Bharadwaj started his own production banner by the name of VB Pictures.
Musical Milestones
He directed films like 7 Khoon Maaf in 2011. Othello and Haider in 2014, Hamlet , Dedh Ishqiya 2014, Talvar in 2015 and Kaminey
Shankar Mahadevan not only gave playback singing for the films but also composed along with his partners, music composers and music directors Ehsaan and Loy. He got his popularity for films like Kal Ho Naa Ho in 2003, My Name is Khan in 2010 and Dil Chahta Hai in 2001.
Shankar-Ehsan-Loy Shankar started his music career singing jingles and songs in Bollywood and also in the down South. A few years later the trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, gave numerous hits with their music composition for some of the most popular songs like Senorita, Kajra Re. It set a trend in the industry to bring in a new flavor to the music. The trio invented the compositions with immense confidence and churned out some of the hit music. They believed by creating something different which was not done before it’s exciting to create music. Before they formed the trio team, Ehsaan was doing the jingles like Shankar and Loy was writing for television. The three started with non-filmy music, like rock pop and jazz at their concerts. With Karjre, they started off their music career in Bollywood as this song went to be a rage. There was no looking back thereafter.
The Golden Years Revisited
Jatin-Lalit, comprising brothers Jatin and Lalit Pandit, were prominent Bollywood music directors known for their memorable compositions in several hit films during the 1990s to early 2000s. Some of the films include Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha. Jatin- Lalit appears mostly on all their music albums or their CDs.
Nadeem-Shravan, a renowned Bollywood music duo, blended Hindustani classical and semi-classical styles in their compositions. They skillfully used traditional instruments like bansuri, sitar, and shenai in a modern way. Their unique style evolved Bollywood music in the 90’s. They created many memorable and timeless compositions.
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