KHEMCHAND PRAKASH

KHEMCHAND PRAKASH

(12.12.1907 -  10.8.1949)

Khemchand Prakash was a music composer in the Hindi film industry. He had few peers in 1940s, the decade of Indian film music which started with K.L.Saigal very active on the scene and ended with Lata Mangeshkar firmly established in the industry. Lata had fruitful association with him in films  (Asha, Ziddi and Mahal) when she started making name for herself. Many years after Khemchand Prakash's  death, the ace composer Kamal Das Gupta rated him as the best composer.

In the 1949 movie, Mahal , his music was considered extraordinary, in terms of its melodies, use of sounds and orchestration. Khemchand Prakash gave Lata Mangeshkar her break in Mahal, despite many objections such as her voice was too thin and reedy. The veteran actor, Ashok Kumar supported Khemchand Prakash's choice and the song "Aayega Aanewala" went on to become one of the most beautiful and lingering songs.

Khemchand Prakasah's work in movies like Mahal, Tansen and Chalte Chalte was an inspiration to several music composers. He directed some of the industry's biggest singers like Indubala Ishwarlal, Meena Kapoor, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Kantilal, Brijmala, Geeta Dutt, Khurshid, Rajkumari and Shamshad Begum.

Khemchand Prakash not only gave a boost to Lata Mangeskar's career, he was also the one who introduced Kishore Kumar with 'Marne ki Duayen kyon Mangoon' in Ziddi in 1948 as well as in Rhim Jhim. Other music composers like Naushad and Bulo C.Rani were mentored by him.

Khemchand Prakash was born in Sujangarh in Rajasthan in a musical family to Pandit Govardhan Prasad and his second wife. Pt.Govardhan Prasad was a Dhrupad singer  and Kathak dancer in the Royal darbar of Jaipur. Khemchand's musical training began at a young age when he learnt Hindustani classical music from his father, his uncle Gopalchand and Ustad Maula Baksh Dhavsi. He was also trained in Kathak, learning from his older step brother Badri Prasadand Pandit Lailal.

At the age of 18, he joined the court of Jaipur as a singer and dancer, gaining immense popularity in a short time. Later Khemchand became the official performing artist at the  court of the king of Nepal, Naresh Rudra Shamsher Singh. When the king got ousted seven years later, Prakash left the court and shifted to Calcutta to  try his luck.The move did not prove opportune for him. While he did receive some assignments at AIR and gained experience, steady work was hard to find. In 1935, Timir Bharan engaged him as an assistant for New Theatres, where he met and befriended Prithviraj Kapoor.

Prakash left Calcutta for Bombay in search of work supposedly with K.N.Singh and K.L.Saigal. In Bombay, thanks to his friend Prithviraj Kapoor, he could branch out as an independent music director, assisted by Naushad for the film Ghazi Salahiddin (1939).

As part of Ranjit Movietone, Prakash went on to compose music for nineteen films in 5 years,like Diwali,Holi, Pardesi, Fariyaad etc. Khursheed was his leading singer and both of them gave many hits of early 40s. His biggest hit with Ranjit studios was Tansen (1943) with which Khemchand assisted by Bulo C.Rani, broke all previous records. Starring the singing stars K.L.Saigal and Khursheed, Tansen is still remembered as one of the best musicals ever made in the annals of Indian cinema. 1948 marked yet another significant film of his career , Bombay Talkies's Ziddi. He gave first major break to Kishore Kumar as a singer in Ziddi. His song was 'Marne ki duayen kyon Maangu'. You can notice Kishore imitating K.L.Saigal, who was a famous singer at that time.  Ziddi featured a beautiful song by Lata Mangeshkar 'Chanda re Jaa Re Jaare'  

Khemchand left Murli Movietone once Khursheed migrated to Pakistan. His new choice of voice was the now legendary Lata Mangeshkar. Khemchand  Prakash used Lata Mangeshkar's voice in Asha (1948) and then in Mahal (1949), which cemented his success as a music director. However, Khemchand Prakash did not live long to enjoy the adulation and success.  

Khemchand Prakash died at an early age of 41 on Aug 10, 1949 (Bombay) due to cirrhosis.

  

Partial Filmography as composer :

Mahal (1949), Ziddi (1948), Sindoor (1947), Sawan Aye Re (1949), Tamasha (1952), Jan Pehchan (1950), Fariyad (1942), Aaj Ka Hindusran (1940), Mumtaz Mahal (1944), Holi (1940), Khilona (1942), Shahenshah Babar (1944), Tansen (1943), Bhanwara (1944).

The following is the playlist for Khemchand Prakash songs :

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa2hQ6nGCRh-bDXW5ijDqExkbIri8LD_h