Posted on 17/07/2023 on Trivia – The Spice of Life
Hindi film music witnessed several changes in the 1970s. While there were new music directors like Ravindra Jain and Bappi Lahiri entering the fray, the golden era music directors (i.e. those who started their career as independent music directors in the 1950s or earlier) were still working, though not very prolifically. Some turned to regional cinema to explore avenues for creative expression. But, both in terms of number and quality, there appears to be a dip in their work, though there were some exceptions like Kalyanji Anandji, Jaidev and Khayyam who composed some of their best Hindi film music in the 1970s and 1980s. The decade also belonged to Laxmikant – Pyarelal who had made their debut as independent music directors in 1963 with Parasmani and R.D.Burman who had started off independently with Chhote Nawab in 1961.
In this post, I have tried to list lesser known songs of ten music directors of the golden era who continued to compose in the 1970s.
1) C. Ramchandra (1918 – 1982) Statistics suggest that C.Ramchandra gave music for only two Hindi films – Tulsi Vivaah (1971) and Toofani Takkar (1978), between 1971 and 1980. Here is a song from Toofani Takkar – Radha Thumak Thumak Mat Chalna – a solo sung by Hemlata and penned by Ram Rasila. C. Ramchandra used Talat Mehmood’s voice for some songs of the movie. This movie is rather obscure but this raaga – based song (raag manj khamaaj?) is quite melodious. The video of the song is not available.
2) Shankar – Jaikishan (1922-1987 & 1929-1971) This duo had ruled the roost for two decades with their lovely compositions. However, in 1971, Jaikishan passed away. Shankar continued to compose under the name Shankar – Jaikishan. They composed for about 50 films between 1971 and 1980. After the death of Jaikishan, though a few films like Sanyasi did well, by and large, the magic had waned. Here is a very melodious song – Tumhaare Bin Guzaare Hai Kai Din Ab Na Guzrenge, from a less popular film Atmaram (1979). The lyricist is Vishweshwar Sharma. Lata Mangeshkar and Md. Rafi are the playback singers.
3) S.D. Burman (1906 – 1975) Another doyen of the golden era S.D.Burman composed music for about 27 films. He passed way in 1975, but the last film with him as music director – Tyaag – was released in 1977. S.D. Burman did not lose his magical touch as some of his most memorable songs from movies such as Tere Mere Sapne, Abhimaan, Chupke Chupke and Mili – belong to the 1970s. Here I have picked one of the lesser known films – the last one – Tyaag(1977). The song is Man Pukaare, penned by Anand Bakshi and sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar.
4) Ravi Shankar Sharma (1926 – 2012) Ravi continued to work in the 1970s with about 12 films to his credit. Again, most of the movies appear to be non-descript. His partnership with B.R.Chopra continued. The song that I have picked up is Aapki Inayatein from Vandana (1975). The lyricist is Anjaan and the playback singer is Lata Mangeshkar.
5) Salil Chowdhury (1922 – 1995) Salil Chowdhury, whose lilting tunes are very popular, composed music for about 17 Hindi films between 1971-1980 which included successful films like Mere Apne, Annadata, Chhoti Si Baat and Rajnigandha. He had a very successful association with Basu Chatterjee. The song I have chosen is Dekhte Dekhte Ek Dhuaan Cha Gaya from Sangat (1976) sung by Manna De and penned by Jan Nisar Akhtar. Sangat was directed by Basu Bhattacharya.
6) Chitragupt (1917 -1991) This music director who composed captivating music for movies like Bhabhi and Opera House worked in about 17 Hindi movies as music director between 1971 and 1980. The movies he worked in were not big budget blockbusters. The song I have chosen is Chanda Ke Kirnon Se Lipti Hawaein from the movie Intezaar (1973). This is very soulfully rendered by Kishore Kumar; the lyricist is Verma Malik.
7) Khayyam (1927 – 2019) – Khayyam was one music director who had started off his career as an independent music director in the golden era and he continued to produce top class music both in the 1970s and 1980s. Movies such as Kabhie Kabhie, Shankar Husaain, Trishul and Khandaan had delightful songs. Here’s a lesser heard melody from the movie Pyaase Dil (1974) – Yeh Dilnashi Nazaare – penned by Jan Nisar Akhtar and sung by Mukesh. The tune of this song has an uncanny similarity to many a lilting melody of Salil Chowdhury.
8) Naushad (1919 – 2006) Naushad was perhaps the most senior of the musicians of the golden era who was still composing in the 1970s. He obviously had to reinvent himself, for some of the songs composed by him sound nothing like those of his hey days. There were about 6 films that he composed music for (including some songs of Pakeezah which stands apart from the rest for obvious reasons). I have picked up this ghazal/mujra(?) from a lesser known movie where Lata Mangeshkar sings beautifully and the charm of Naushad’s music can still be noticed. The song is Yeh Bekasi Ke Andhere from Chambal Ki Rani (1979), penned by Jan Nisar Akhtar.
9) Madan Mohan (1924 – 1975) This king of ghazals composed music for about 18 films in the 1970s – some of which were released posthumously. His music in Mausam, Bawarchi, Hanste Zakhm, Hindustaan Ki Kasam – was extremely popular. His associaiton with Chetan Anand and Gulzar proved fruitful. However, he always had a feeling that he did not get the recognition that his music deserved. The song I have picked up is Raahi Tha Main Aawaara, from Saheb Bahadur (1977) sung by Kishore Kumar featuring a jaded Dev Anand (who was reprising his role of a 1950 movie Afsar) paired with Priya Rajvansh. The lyrics are by Rajinder Krishan.
10) O.P.Nayyar (1926 – 2007) This master of foot tapping Punjabi folk tunes had his magic waning especially after parting ways with Asha Bhosle in 1972-73. Since Asha was no longer singing for him, he started giving Dilraj Kaur, Krishna Kalle and Vani Jairam opportunities to sing. However, most of these songs are a poor shadow of his earlier hits. I have picked up this song – Sau Saal Jiyo Tum Jaan Meri sung by Dilraaj Kaur from the movie Heera Moti (1979); the lyrics are by Ahmed Wasi. Dilraj Kaur sounds so much like Asha Bhosle.
This brings me to the end of my post where I have tried to briefly trace the trajectory of the careers of ten golden era music directors in the 1970s. The cruel hands of death took away Jaikishan, S.D.Burman and Madan Mohan much before they should have departed from this world. Of the others, music directors like Salil Choudhury, Ravi and Khayyam could hold their own even in the changing scenario; music directors like O.P.Nayyar, C.Ramchandra, Naushad and Chitragupt just faded away.
Disclaimer
anitamultitasker.wordpress.com claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from Daily Motion, YouTube and other platforms only to make the post audio visual. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies. The source of information for each of the songs has also been mentioned.
Trivia 
Good concept!
Actually I was planning 70s posts covering the songs of composers in two parts
Those who started in the 50s/60s and continued in the 70s.
And the once who debuted in the 70s.
I’ll do it now, inspired by your post.
Anup
🙂
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Thanks, Anupji! Actually, this post is just an overview. The detail was consciously avoided. I will wait for your take on the music of 1970s.
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Anita,
1970s also deserve a look. I should admit I have some prejudice about Naushad of 1970s, though he was my undisputed the Great Mughal Movie Music. You seem to have been influenced by equity considerations. The ones I liked from your post are #2 and 4. Khayyam, SD Burman retained their melody. It became the RD Burman era. LP was able to continue his old melodic style with Rafi and Lata, you can’t miss their signature orchestration. Since Kishore Kumar was the new Rafi, LP were able to adapt their style to the new Kishore Kumar. Kalyanji-Anandji are the most remarkable adaptors; from ‘Chaand si mehbooba ho meri kab’ to ‘Khaike paan banaraswala’ is a big shift. There were others too. I felt your post was not a representative sample of the best of the 70s.
AK
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AK ji, thanks a lot for your insightful comment! This post is more of an overview with ten music directors who began their innings in the golden era i.e. in the 1950s or earlier and continued to compose in the 1970s. I have thus not included Jaidev and Kalyanji Anandji who also started their innings in the golden era. Perhaps to include all the names, a sequel would be needed. I excluded L-P and R.D.Burman because they started off as independent music directors in early 1960s. The only exceptions in my list would be Khayyam and to some extent Ravi who were prolific in the 1980s as well. Otherwise, the rest in the list (i.e. of those who lived beyond the 1970s )are those who were not a force to reckon with in the 1980s.
Also, I consciously avoided the more popular songs. I chose songs which are lesser known but are representative of the music director’s style of composing. In fact, some of the songs in the list were unknown to me till I wrote this post.
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