Laxmikant-Pyarelal have remained one of the most successful music directors of Indian film industry in which they have continiously churned unforgettable hit songs. The duo has composed music for over 500 films which is quite enough to prove their success and acceptibility in the industry. Today they rule the heart of every film goer and every music admirer. They have given us a song for every mood and for every ocassion. The secret of LP's success lied in vast knowledge of Indian and Western Music, Rhythms and Musical instruments, accurate division of work, non-interference in each other's work, simple melodious hummable tunes, a huge orchestra of musicians mostly playing a variety of acoustic instruments, less but appropriate use of electronic instruments and the orchestra conduction that had the unique touch of Pyarelal's beautiful style.
Laxmi Kantaram Kudalkar was born in 1937. He was of nine years when his father passed away and as a result he discontinued his studies. He was very fond of music and was a great admirer of
Shankar-Jaikishan's music. His interest for music brought him to his ustaad, Hussain Ali. He learnt playing mandolin from Ali. He began organising and performing in Indian Classical Instrumental Music concerts in order to earn some money. Later Laxmi did get the opportunity to learn the mandolin from known player Bal Mukund Indorker and also to learn the violin from none other than Husnalal of from the popular duo of Music directors
Husnalal Bhagatram, especially in the 1940's.
Pyarelal Sharma was born in 1940. His father Ramprasad Sharma was a trumpeter, who also composed music for a few films in the late '40s. So when the young Pyarelal showed interest in music, his father put him into trainingand the lad learnt to play the violin.
Once Laxmikant got the opportunity to play the mandolin in a Lata Mangeshkar concert in Radio Club Colaba. His beautiful and polished playing did not go unnoticed. The legendary Lata herself called Laxmikant after the show and inquired about him. Both Laxmikant and Pyarelal joined the Mangeshkar family's "Sureel Kala Kendra", an academy where children were given an opportunity to learn and practice music. Lata recommended Laxmikant and Pyarelals' names to music directors like Shankar Jaikishan, S. D. Burman and C. Ramchandra.
Both these young men, Laxmi and Pyare, first started to perform in orchestra, after which they became arrangers, whose job is to explain the tunes to the instrumentalists and to decide which instrument is to be played where in a given number. Laxmi-Pyare assisted the music director duo
Kalyanji Anandji in a number of films, like, Madari, satta Baazar, Chhalia, Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere. This was after these movies that they were ready to compose independently. In 1962, bhojpuri film maker K Parvez signed the duo for his next four movies. But the project ran into the rough waters and Laxmi-Pyare left with nothing in hands. It was Babubhai Mistry who gave Laxmi-Pyare their first much awaited break in 1963, with his Parasmani. L-P showed their calibre with the hits like 'Hansta hua noorani chehra', 'Wo Jab yaad aaye', 'Mere dil mein halki si' and 'Roshan tumhin se duniya'. The songs of parasmani was a great success and L-P got popular among the masses.
Unlike most other music directors of their times, L-P did not have any reservations about getting songs sung from specific singers only. Singers were selected on the basis of the type of song and the character for whom the playback was to be given. All singers such as
Lata,
Asha,
Rafi,
Mukesh and
Kishore have equally sung for L-P. Even
Manna Dey,
Hemant Kumar and
Mahendra Kapoor have performed for L-P. L-P shared a very good relationship with the legendary
R D Burman. R D agreed to play the mouth organ for L-P in their film, Dosti, on thier fiendly call. Years later, L-P wanted R D to sing for their film Desh Premi, but this time R D has his own reasons so he refused softly. Later, Laxmikant himself sang the song. Both L-P and
R D Burman remained good friends till the end.
L-P won endless awards in their whole career. They got the
Filmfare award for the best music director for a record seven times. Music of Dosti, Milan, Jeene Ki Raah, Amar Akbar Anthony, Satyam Shivam Sundram, Sargam and Karz got him the award.
Laxmikant passed away of kidney failure on 25th May, 1998. He left behind his wife Jaya, son Hrishikesh and daughter Rajeshwari. They used to live in a bunglow called Parasmani, named after his very first film. Composer Pyarelal stays at Deep Bella, Mount Mary Road, Bandra with his wife Sunila, son Gautam, daughter-in-law Rashmi and grandson Siddhnath.
