NAUSHAD ALI

 
NAUSHAD ALI

(25.12.1919 - 5.5.2006)

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 Hindi film Industry. He is particularly known for popularising the  use of classical music in films.

Early Life :

Naushad Ali was born on 25th 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 (court clerk). As a child, Naushad would visit the annual fair at the Deva Sharif in Barabanki, 25 km from Lucknow, where all the great qawwali 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 as the club's music maestro for their theatrical presentations. He used to watch silent films at Royal theatre in Lucknow. Theatre owners would hire a team of musicians to play 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 . 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. However, the travelling players had incurred a heavy loss and thus limped back to Lucknow.

Naushad had already  become a cinema fan in the silent era and then in 1931, Indian cinema got voice under and music that further fascinated the 13 year old boy. He learnt the classical and folk music against the wishes of his father. He moved to Mumbai in late 1937 for a career as a musician.

Career 

In Mumbai, he initially stayed with an acquaintance from Lucknow at Colaba and after a while shifted to Dadar opposite to Broadway theater where he would sleep on the footpath. He assisted music director Ustad Jhande Khan who was at the peak of his success, at a monthly salary of Rs 40. Naushad was a piano player, so he worked as a pianist in composer Ustad Mushtaq Hussain's orchestra. Composer Khemchand Prakash took him as his assistant at Ranjit Studios at a salary of Rs 60 per month, which made Naushad extremely happy.  

His friend lyricist D.N.Madhok, trusted Naushad's unusual talent for composing music and introduced him to various film producers. Naushad's first independent film as a composer was Prem Nagar (1940). With A.R.Kardar's film Nayi Duniya (1942), he got first credit as 'music director' and he began to work regularly for Kardar Productions. He  first got noticed with Kardar's film Sharda (1942) wherein 13 year old Suraiya debuted with the song "Panchhi ja" for the playback for heroine Mehtab. It was Rattan (1944) that took Naushad right to the top and enabled him to charge Rs 25,000 a film during those days. Music for the film Rattan was such a phenominal hit that the Kardar Productions company earned Rs 3 lacs as royalty from gramaphone 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 the 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 life time, 26 of them celebrated silver jubilees (25 weeks run), 8 celebrated golden jubilees (50 weeks run) and 4 celebrated diamond jubilees (60 weeks run)

Naushad also composed background music for the TV serial 'Akbar The Great' telecast in 1988 which was directed by Akbar Khan, brother of actors Sanjay Khan and Feroz Khan as was also 'The Sword of Tippu Sultan' produced and directed by Sanjay khan and Akbar Khan which was telecast in 1990 and became very popular.

Naushad worked with several lyricists, including Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, D.N.Madhok, Zia Sarhadi, Yusufali Khacheri and Khumar Barabankvi.

Amongst his assistants , Mohammad Shafi, Jerry Amaldev and Ghulam Mohammad standout prominant. 

Awards and Recognition

Naushad was the first winner of the Filmfare award  for the best music director in 1954 for the song 'Tu ganga ki mauj" of Baiju Bawra.

Mother India (1957), 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.

In 2013 a commemorative stamp was released by India Post to celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema.

In 1992 he received Padma Bhushan Award by the Govt. of India.

Naushad on a 2013 stamp of India


Death and Legacy :

Naushad died on 5th May 2006 in Mumbai due to cardiac arrest at age 86.  He is survived by six daughters and three sons.

Filmography :

Out of 65 films he gave music during his life time some of the popular movies are : Rattan (1944), Anmol Ghadi (1946), Shahjehan (1946), Dard (1947), Anokhi Ada (1949), Dillagi (1949), Dulari (1949), Babul (1950), Daastan (1950), Deedar (1950), Jadoo (1951), Aan (1952), Baiju Bawra (1952), Amar (1954), Shabab (1954), Uran Khatola (1955), Mother India (1957), Sohni Mahiwal (1958), Kohinoor (1960), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Gunga Jumna (1961), Son of India (1962), Mere Mehboob (1963), Leader (1964), Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966), Saathi (1968), and Pakeezah 1972). 

NAUSHAD ALI SONGS :


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