Naushad


Naushad Ali was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of classical music in films.
His first film as an independent music director was Prem Nagar in 1940. His first musically successful film was Rattan, followed by 35 silver jubilee hits, 12 golden jubilee and 3 diamond jubilee mega successes. Naushad was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Bhushan in 1981 and 1992 respectively for his contribution to the Bollywood film industry.

Early life and education

Naushad Ali was born on 25 December 1919 in Lucknow and raised there also, a city with a long tradition as a center of Indian Muslim culture. His father, Wahid Ali, was a munshi. As a child, Naushad would visit the annual fair at the Deva Sharif in Barabanki, 25 km from Lucknow, where all the great qawwals and musicians of those days would perform before the devotees. He studied Hindustani music there under Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali, Ustad Babban Saheb and others. He also repaired harmoniums.
As a lad, he joined a junior theatrical club and was appointed the club's music maestro for their theatrical presentations. He used to watch silent films at the Royal theatre in Lucknow. Theatre owners would hire a team of musicians to play the tabla, harmonium, sitar and violin. The musicians would watch the film first, make notes, finalize the scales required. When the show began in the evening, they would sit in front of the screen and play music for the scenes. This was a great way to be entertained and learn music at the same time. It made him grasp the nuances required in composing a film's background music score.
In time Naushad formed his own Windsor Music Entertainers or just Windsor Entertainers, so named because he had seen the word "Windsor" around Lucknow and liked its ring. It led to the Indian Star Theatrical Company in a theatre at Golaganj colony in Lucknow. He was trained under Laddan Khan until he became capable of working independently as a composer. There he also developed the sense to pick rare musical jewels from the folk tradition of Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Saurashtra during the company's sojourns in those regions. The travelling players got as far as Viramgam in Gujarat, where they discovered penury, even after selling off theatrical props and musical instruments. The company limped back to Lucknow through the kindness of one of Naushad's friends.
Naushad had already become a cinema fan in the silent era and then, in 1931, Indian cinema got voice and music that further fascinated the 13-year-old boy. But his family was strict follower of Islamic diktat of prohibition of music and his father gave him ultimatum to leave music if he wanted to stay at home. He ran away to Mumbai in late 1937 to try his luck as a musician.

Career

In Mumbai, he initially stayed with an acquaintance from Lucknow at Colaba and after a while, shifted to Dadar opposite the Broadway theatre where he would sleep on the footpath. He assisted music director Ustad Jhande Khan who was at the peak of his success those days, at a monthly salary of Rs 40.
Then he worked on a film where the producer was a Russian and the studio was at Chembur. This film could not be completed. Naushad was a piano player so he worked as a pianist in composer Ustad Mushtaq Hussain's orchestra. He then polished off an unfinished film score and got a credit as assistant to Mushtaq Hussain. Then the film company collapsed. Composer Khemchand Prakash took him on as his assistant for the film Kanchan at Ranjit Studios at a salary of Rs 60 per month, for which Naushad remained extremely grateful and in interviews, he had called Khemchand his guru.
His friend, lyricist D. N. Madhok, trusted Naushad's unusual talent for composing music and introduced him to various film producers. Chandulal Shah, the owner of Ranjit Studios, offered to sign Naushad for one of his forthcoming films. Naushad composed a thumri for this film, "Bata de koi kaun gali gaye Shyam", but the film never got on the floors. He was assistant music director for the Punjabi film Mirza Sahib.
He composed for his first independent film Prem Nagar in 1940 that had a story set in Kutch for which he did a lot of research into the folk music of the area. With A.R. Kardar's film Nayi Duniya, he got first credit as "music director" and he began to work regularly for Kardar Productions. He, however, had a flexibility that he could work outside Kardar Productions and this arrangement continued throughout his career. He first got noticed with A.R. Kardar's film Sharda wherein 13-year-old Suraiya debuted with the song "Panchhi Ja" for the playback for heroine Mehtab. It was Rattan that took Naushad right to the top and enabled him to charge Rs 25,000 a film during those days.
Film expert and author Rajesh Subramanian opines that Kardar productions spent Rupees seventy five thousand in 1944 to make Rattan. The music by Naushad saheb was such a phenomenal hit that the company earned Rs 3 lacs as royalty from gramophone sales in the first year.
But his Lucknow-based family remained against music and Naushad had to hide from his family the fact that he composed music. When Naushad got married, the band was playing the tunes of the super hit songs of Naushad's film 'Rattan'. While Naushad's father and father-in-law were condemning the musician who had composed these songs, Naushad dared not tell them that it was he who had composed the music. Naushad understood Hindu and Muslim culture and the languages of those cultures.
From 1942 until the late 1960s, he was one of the top music directors in Hindi films. While he did 65 films during his lifetime, 26 of those films celebrated Silver jubilees – 8 celebrated golden jubilees and 4 celebrated diamond jubilees -.
Naushad worked with several lyricists, including Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, D. N. Madhok, Zia Sarhadi, Yusufali Kechery and Khumar Barabankvi.
Mother India, for which he had composed music, was the first Indian film that got nominated for an Oscar award.
In 1981, Naushad was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.
He composed the tunes of at the age of 86.
Amongst his assistants, Mohammed Shafi, Jerry Amaldev and Ghulam Mohammed stand out prominently.
The songs Naushad composed for the 1988 Malayalam film Dhwani which were sung by P. Suseela & K. J. Yesudas are evergreen superhits that Malayalis do repeatedly listen to even after 3 decades.
Five films have been made on his life and work. Biographical books published are Dastaan-E-Naushad by Shashikant Kinikar; Aaj Gaawat Man Mero ; Hindi and Urdu biographical sketches in Shama & Sushma Magazines respectively, titled "Naushad Ki Kahani, Naushad Ki Zubani"; the last one was translated into Marathi by Shashikant Kinikar. Kinikar also came up with a book titled "Notes of Naushad" which puts together some interesting anecdotes of Naushad's life.
Naushad also composed background music for the TV serial "Akbar The Great" telecast in 1988 which was directed by Akbar Khan, brother of Hindi film stars Sanjay Khan and Feroze Khan as was also The Sword of Tipu Sultan produced and directed by Sanjay Khan and Akbar Khan which was telecast in 1990 and became very popular.

Death and legacy

Naushad died on 5 May 2006 in Mumbai due to cardiac arrest at age 86. He was buried at the Juhu Muslim cemetery.
He is survived by six daughters Zubeda, Fehmida, Farida, Sayeeda, Rashida, and Waheeda and three sons Rehman Naushad, Raju Naushad & Iqbal Naushad. Rehman Naushad being the eldest of all assisted him in some of his films. Also, Naushad composed music for two movies directed by Rahman Naushad, My Friend and Teri Payal Mere Geet.
Naushad was ranked as one of the most respected and successful music directors of Indian Film Industry.
Naushad had requested the Maharashtra State Government to sanction a plot for an institution for promoting Hindustani music. This was sanctioned during his lifetime and the 'Naushad Academy of Hindustani Sangeet' was formed.

Writer

Naushad was also a respected and published poet and formally launched his book of Urdu poetry entitled Aathwaan Sur and the Navras label's album titled "Aathwan Sur – The Other Side of Naushad" having 8 ghazals as part of Hounslow's book fair and festival "Bookmela" in November 1998. The album has lyrics and composition by Naushad, arranged by Uttam Singh.
Track list:
  1. Aabadiyon Mein Dasht Ka Munzar Bhi Aayega – A. Hariharan – 7:08
  2. Aaj Ki Baat Kal Pay Kyun Taalo – A. Hariharan & Preeti Uttam Singh – 6:17
  3. Ghata Chhaayi Thi Saawan Khul Ke Barsa – Preeti Uttam Singh – 7:19
  4. Kabhi Meri Yaad Unko Aati To Hogi – A. Hariharan & Preeti Uttam Singh – 6:18
  5. Mujh Ko Muaff Kijiye – A. Hariharan – 5:35
  6. Peenay Waalay Bekhudi Say Kaam Lay – A. Hariharan & Preeti Uttam Singh – 8:13
  7. Saawan Kay Jab Baadal Chhaaye – A. Hariharan – 6:50
  8. Tanhaa Khud Say Baat Karoon – Preeti Uttam Singh – 7:49

    Music style

Naushad gave a new trend to popular film music by basing his tunes on classical music ragas and folk music. Naushad was known for his skillful adaptation of the classical musical tradition for movie songs. For some movies like Baiju Bawra, he composed all scores in classical raga modes and arranged for the well-known vocalist Amir Khan to be a music consultant for this film. Naushad could easily work with Western instruments, including the clarinet, the mandolin and the accordion. He could incorporate Western musical idioms in his compositions and compose for Western-style orchestras.
During the early 1940s, recordings were done in quiet parks and gardens after midnight because the studios did not have sound-proof recording rooms. In the gardens, there would be no echo and disturbances, unlike the studios where the sound reverberated because of the tin roofs.
For films like 'Uran Khatola' and 'Amar', he recorded the voice of a particular artiste on a scale of 90, then recorded it on 70, then on 50 and so on. After the complete recording, it was played for the scene and the impact it created was terrific.
He was one of the first to introduce sound mixing and the separate recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing. He was the first to combine the flute and the clarinet, the sitar and mandolin. He also introduced the accordion to Hindi film music and was among the first to focus on background music to extend characters' moods and dialogue through music. But perhaps his greatest contribution was to bring Indian classical music into the film medium. Many of his compositions were inspired by ragas and he even used distinguished classical artistes like Amir Khan and D.V. Paluskar in Baiju Bawra and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in Mughal-e-Azam. Baiju Bawra demonstrated Naushad's grasp of classical music and his ability to bring it to the masses, for which he won the first Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1954.
Naushad commented on a pre-release meeting about "Baiju Bawra":
“When people heard that the film would be full of classical music and ragas, they protested, ‘People will get a headache and they will run away.’ I was adamant. I wanted to change public taste. Why should people be fed what they like all the time? We presented them with music from our culture and it worked.”
For Aan, he was the first to use a 100-piece orchestra. He was the first composer to have developed the system of western notation in India. The notation for the music of the film 'Aan' was published in book form in London.
In Uran Khatola, he recorded an entire song without the use of orchestra, having replaced the sound of musical instruments with choral sound of humming.
For Mughal-e-Azam song Ae Mohabbat Zindabad, he used a chorus of 100 persons. He asked Lata Mangeshkar to render a part of the song "Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya" in a bathroom that had glazed tiles and then recorded the music to get the echo effect.
For Ganga Jamuna, he used lyrics in chaste Bhojpuri dialect.
He used just six instruments in the title song of Mere Mehboob.
In 2004, a colorized version of the classic Mughal-e-Azam was released, for which Naushad had the orchestral music specially re-created by today’s industry musicians, while maintaining all the solo vocals from the original soundtrack. To elaborate, the playback vocals recorded four decades ago are mixed with orchestra tracks created in the present millennium.
As Indian film music gradually assumed a Western bend starting in the late 1960s, Naushad came to be considered old-fashioned. Composers who could compose rock-and-roll and disco-inflected music started getting increasingly popular. Naushad was still esteemed as a maestro, but his talents were sought mostly for historical movies where traditional scores were appropriate.

Filmography

Music director

FilmYearDirectorCastRemarks/Verdict
Prem Nagar1940Mohan Dayaram BhavnaniRamanand, Bimla Kumari, Husn Banu, Rai Mohan, Nagendra, Salu, GulzarNaushad was assistant for Baaghbaan and Kanchan. According to him, he had composed one song in each film.
Darshan1941Chimanlal Muljibhoy LuharPrem Adib, Jyoti, Kaushalya, Bhudo Advani, Miradevi, M. Nazir, Shakir, Amirbai Karnataki, Madhusudan
Mala1941Balwant BhattJayant, Rose, Jairaj, Nazir, Daya Devi, Heera
Nai Duniya1942Abdul Rashid KardarJairaj, Shobhna Samarth, Wasti, Azurie, Mazhar Khan. Hari Shivdasani, JeevanDebut of Singer Surayya in the song "Boot Karoon main Polish"
Silver Jubilee
Sharda1942Abdul Rashid KardarUlhas, Mehtab. Wasti, Nirmala, Badri PrasadSilver Jubilee
Station Master1941Chimanlal Muljibhoy LuharPrem Adib, Pratima Devi, Gulab
Kanoon1943Abdul Rashid KardarMehtaab, Shahu ModakSilver Jubilee
Namaste1943Mohammed Sadiq SaniWasti, Protima Das, Jagdish Sethi, MisraSilver Jubilee
Sanjog1943Abdul Rashid KardarCharlie, Anwar Hussain, MehtabSilver Jubilee
Geet1944S. U. SunnyShahu Modak, Nirmala, Amir Ali
Jeevan1944Mohammed SadiqWasti, Mehtab, Badri Prasad, Anwar, Shyam Kumar
Pehle Aap1944Abdul Rashid KardarShamim, Wasti, Anwar Hussain, Jeevan, DixitRafi's first song for Naushad "Hindustan Ke Hum Hain" in a chorus
Silver Jubilee
Rattan1944S SadiqAmir Banu, Karan Dewan, SwarnalataDiamond Jubilee
Sanyasi1945Abdul Rashid KardarShamim, Amar, Misra, Shyam Kumar, Naseem Jr., Gulam MohamadSilver Jubilee
Anmol Ghadi1946Mehboob KhanNoorjehan, Surinder, SuraiyaDiamond Jubilee
Keemat1946Nazir AjmeriAmar, Sulochana Chatterjee, A Shah, Sharda, Badri Prasad, Sofia, Anwari, Nawab
Shahjehan1946Abdul Rashid KardarKundan Lal Saigal, RaginiSilver Jubilee
Dard1947Abdul Rashid KardarUma Devi, SuraiyaDebut of Singer Uma Devi in the song "Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon"
Silver Jubilee
Elaan1947Mehboob KhanHimalaywala, Leela Mishra, Shah Nawaz
Naatak1947S. U. SunnySuraiya, Amar, Sofiya, Kanwar, Sham Kumar, Pratima DeviSilver Jubilee
Anokhi Ada1948Mehboob KhanSurendra, Naseem Bano, Murad, CuckooGolden Jubilee
Mela1948S. U. SunnyDilip Kumar, Nargis, JeevanGolden Jubilee
Andaz1949Mehboob KhanDilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, NargisGolden Jubilee
Chandni Raat1949Mohammed EhsanShyam, Naseem Bano
Dillagi1949Abdul Rashid KardarShyam, Suraiyya, Sharda, Amir Banu, AmarSilver Jubilee
Dulari1949Abdul Rashid KardarSuresh, Madhubala, Geeta BaliSilver Jubilee
Babul1950S. U. SunnyDilip Kumar, NargisAlso as Producer
Silver Jubilee
Dastan1950Abdul Rashid KardarRaj Kapoor, Suraiya, Veena, SureshAlso as Co-producer
Silver Jubilee
Deedar1951Nitin BoseDilip Kumar, Nimmi, Nargis, Ashok KumarGolden Jubilee
Jadoo1951Abdul Rashid KardarSuresh, Nalini JaywantAlso as Co-producer
Silver Jubilee
Aan1952Mehboob KhanDilip Kumar, Nimmi, NadiraGolden Jubilee
Baiju Bawra1952Vijay BhattBharat Bhushan, Meena KumariAlso as Co-producer Film debut of singers Amir Khan and D. V. Paluskar in the song "Aaj gaavat man mero jhoomke"
Diamond Jubilee
Deewana1952Abdul Rashid KardarSuraiya, Suresh, Sumitra Devi, Shyam KumarSilver Jubilee
Amar1954Mehboob KhanDilip Kumar, Nimmi, Madhubala
Shabaab1954Mohammed SadiqBharat Bhushan, NutanSilver Jubilee
Uran Khatola1955S. U. SunnyDilip Kumar, Nimmi.Also as Producer
Silver Jubilee
Mother India1957Mehboob KhanNargis, Raj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, KanhaiyalalDiamond Jubilee
Sohni Mahiwal1958Raja NawatheBharat Bhushan, NimmiDebut of singer Mahendra Kapoor in the song "Chaand Chhupa Aur Taarey Doobey"
Kohinoor1960S. U. SunnyDilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Kumkum, JeevanGolden Jubilee
Mughal-e-Azam1960Karim AsifDilip Kumar, Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote, AjitFilm debut of singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in the songs "Shubh din aayo" and "Prem jogan ban ke"
Diamond Jubilee
Gunga Jumna1961Nitin BoseDilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala BaliLyrics of several songs were in Bhojpuri dialect
Golden Jubilee
Son of India1962Mehboob KhanKamaljit, Kumkum, Sajid, Simi Garewal, Jayant
Mere Mehboob1963Harnam Singh RawailRajendra Kumar, Sadhana, Ameeta, Ashok Kumar, NimmiSilver Jubilee
Leader1964Ram MukherjeeDilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala Bali
Dil Diya Dard Liya1966Abdul Rashid KardarDilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Pran
Saaz Aur Awaaz1966Subodh MukherjiSaira Banu, Kanhaiyalal, Joy Mukherjee
Palki1967S. U. SunnyRajendra Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Rehman, Johnny WalkerAlso as Writer
Ram Aur Shyam1967Tapi ChanakyaDilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Mumtaz, Pran, Nirupa Roy, Leela MishraGolden Jubilee
Aadmi1968A. BhimsinghDilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Manoj Kumar
Saathi1968C. V. SridharRajendra Kumar, Vyjayantimala Bali, Simi Garewal
Sunghursh1968Harnam Singh RawailDilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Balraj Sahni
Ganwaar1970Naresh KumarRajendra Kumar, Vyjayantimala Bali, Nishi
Pakeezah1972Kamal AmrohiRaj Kumar, Meena Kumari, Ashok KumarBackground Score and a few songs
Golden Jubilee
Tangewala1972Naresh KumarRajendra Kumar, Mumtaz, Sujit Kumar
My Friend1974M RehmanRajeev, Prema Narayan, Utpal Dutt, Jagdeep, Asit Sen, Tuntun
Sunehra Sansar1975Adurti Subba RaoRajendra Kumar, Hema, Mala Sinha
Aaina1977Kailasham BalachanderMumtaz, Rajesh Khanna
Chambal Ki Rani1979RadhakantMahendra Sandhu, Dara Singh, Chand Usmani
Dharam Kanta1982Sultan AhmedRaj Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Jeetendra, Reena Roy, Rajesh Khanna, Sulakhshana Pandit
Paan Khaae Sainyyan Humaar1985Sujit KumarSujit Kumar, Bandini, S. N. TripathiBhojpuri film
Love and God1986K. AsifSanjeev Kumar, Nimmi, Pran
Dhwani1988A. T. AbuPrem Nazir, Jayaram, ShobanaMalayalam film
Teri Payal Mere Geet1989Rehman NaushadGovinda, Meenakshi Seshadri
Awaaz De Kahan Hai1990Sibte Hassan RizviBindu, Annu Kapoor, Satyendra Kapoor
Guddu1995Prem LalwaniShah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, Mukesh Khanna
2005Akbar KhanKabir Bedi, Sonia, Monisha Koirala
Hubba KhatoonUnreleasedB. R. ChopraSanjay Khan, Zeenat Aman"Jis Raat Ke Khwaab Aaye", sung by Rafi is released

Non-film album