Salil Chowdhary: A tribute to the mystic musician
Salil Chowdhary was a composer par excellence, who began his musical journey from Bengal but influenced Hindi cinema in a big way. The simplicity of his music, the variety in his repertoire and ability to read the pulse of listeners was unmatchable.
As he grew in pre-independence India, he was influenced by his father's anti British feelings. He saw the conditions of the poorly paid workers and the conditions of Bengal as it lived through the Second World war, the Bengal famine and the turbulent political scenario of the forties. These incidents deeply influenced his way of thinking. When he graduated from the Bangabasshi College in Calcutta where his political and musical ideas received a foundation, he joined IPTA (Indian Peoples Theatre Association). With IPTA, Chowdhary gave free reign to his poetic abilities, writing songs and taking them to the masses. These were songs of protest against social injustice that he saw around him. They became a part of the Independence struggle as well as Bengali heritage, forming the very basis for modern Bengali music. He moved to professional composition with the Bengali film Rikshawalla in early fifties for which he wrote both the story as well as composed the music. Bimal Roy decided to remake the film in Hindi, calling Chowdhary to Bombay to work on its music too. This adaptation became Do Bigha Zameen, whose success gave the latter impetus to work in cinema. From 1954 till the end of the decade, he churned out compositions for sixteen films which included the classic Madhumati. The sixties saw him venturing out towards his only directorial venture Pinjare Ke Panchhi (1966) and his surprising stint as an actor for Kamal Gandhar (1961). There were also compositions for the classic Kabuliwala (1961) and Half Ticket (1962). However, his most acclaimed work was yet to come. The seventies brought with Chowdhary's music for Anand, Mere Apne, Rajneegandha and Chhoti Si Baat. Overall he has worked his magic in 75 Hindi and 26 Malayalam films apart from several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese and Oriya ones. He has also composed background scores for documentaries produced by Films Division and independent persons like Darpok ki Dosti, Netraheen Sakshi, From Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi and The World that is India. Besides, this he has also composed music for a number of television serials and telefilms like Daraar, Darpan, Alag and Kurukshetra. The genius who could play any musical instrument passed away, about fourteen years ago on September 5, 1995. Like he transcended professions in the industry, jumping from music arranger, composer, writer, director and even actor, he moved from one music style to another.
When he was asked in an interview two years before his death, about his stature in music, he had remarked, “When I started my music career I imagined the whole world of music as a very tall tower for me to climb and now after all these years I see that the tower has remained as tall as before.”
When he was asked in an interview two years before his death, about his stature in music, he had remarked, “When I started my music career I imagined the whole world of music as a very tall tower for me to climb and now after all these years I see that the tower has remained as tall as before.”
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"IN A music sphere dominated by names like Anu Malike, Himesh Reshammiya and Pritam, few people would remember Salil Chowdhary in today's times."
I DO NOT agree. It is impossible for anyone, who loves Music even faintly, to NOT remember Salil Da. Yes, one might (will) forget the others you have mentioned, but NEVER Salil Da !
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