Music Composer - Salil Chowdhury

Salil Chowdhury was one of the greatest musical talents India ever had. A man of many talents. He was not only an outstanding composer, an accomplished and gifted arranger, poet and writer but above all an intellectual. A master multi-instrumentalist, he played excellent flute, Esraj, violin and piano , with a deep and well-studied understanding of several other instruments as is evident from their creative use in his music.

Salil was born on November 19, 1925. He spent many years of his childhood in the Assam tea gardens where his father was a doctor. He grew up listening to his father's large collection of western classical music and the folk songs of Assam and Bengal. This influenced him considerably and shaped his musical thinking. Young Salil could sing very well and played excellent flute from tjhe age of eight. In fact his expertise in flute brought him in contact with the outside musical world. He was very fond of his father. Salil remembered how his father once hit one of the British managers and broke his three front teeth after he called his father 'dirty nigger'. Salil's father organised and staged plays with the tea-garden coolies and other lowly paid workers . Salil remembers his father's strong anti-British feelings and his concern and love for the oppressed tea garden workers.

After graduating from Bangabaashi College in Calcutta, during his university years his political ideas were fast maturing along with his musical ideas. Living through the second world war, the Bengal famine and the hopeless political situation of the '40s, he became acutely aware of his social responsibilities. This is when he joined IPTA (Indian Peoples Theater Association) and became a member of the communust party. During this period he wrote numerous songs and with IPTA took his songs to the masses. They travelled through the villages and the cities and his songs became the voice of the masses.These songs were very powerful indeed. Songs of protest which made people aware of the rampant social injustice which surrounded them. These songs became very powerful and stimulating. In fact, Salil always retained his strong feelings for the social injustice and very often wrote songs which reflected this feelings. He called these songs the 'Songs of consciousness and awakening'.

In 1952 Salil Chowdhury came to Bombay to compose the music for Do Beegha Zameen. This was the Hindi version of the successful Bengali Film 'Rikshawalla' . The story of 'Rikshawaala' was written by him and the music was composed by him. It was a tremendous success and so was 'Do Bigha Zameen'. Since then he had composed for over 75 Hindi Films, around 26 Malayalam Films and several Tamil, Telegu, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi, Assameese and Oriya Films. He had also composed for several Tele-Films and Tele-Serials.

His phenomenal flair for instruments prompted even an expert like Jaikishen to refer to him as a 'The Genius'. Raj Kapoor once said 'He can play almost any instrument he lays his hands on, from the tabla to the sarod, from the piano to the piccolo'. He was in fact a composer's composer, because unlike his market-driven counterparts, he never really set prose to music. To him the melody was sacrosant and had to precede the words. The situation could then be adapted. Salil's music was a unique blending of the east and the west. He had once said 'I want to create a style which shall transcend borders - a genre which is emphatic and polished, but never predictable'.

Shared By: Mr. Gautam Chowdhury

Sr.	FILM TITLE	YEAR OF RELEASE	Sr.	FILM TITLE	YEAR OF RELEASE
1	Do Beegha Zameen	1953	36	Gehra Raaz	1971
2	Biraj Bahu	1954	37	Mere Apne	1971
3	Amaanat	1955	38	Annadata	1972
4	Naukari	1955	39	Anokha Daan	1972
5	Taangewali	1955	40	Anokha Milan	1972
6	Aawaz	1956	41	Mere Bhaiya	1972
7	Jaagte Raho	1956	42	Sabse Bada Sukh	1972
8	Parivaar	1956	43	Rajni Gandha	1974
9	Ek Gaon Ki Kahani	1957	44	Sangat	1975
10	Laal Batti	1957	45	Jivan Jyoti	1976
11	Musafir	1957	46	Mrigya	1976
12	Zamaana	1957	47	Udanchhoo	1976
13	Apradhi Kaun	1958	48	Minoo	1977
14	Madhumati	1958	49	Anand Mahal	1977
15	Honey Moon	1960	50	Room No. 203	1980
16	Jawahar	1960	51	Chemmeen Lahren	1980
17	Kaanoon	1960	52	Daisy	1980
18	Parakh	1960	53	Kuhasa	1980
19	Usne Kaha Tha	1960	54	Chirutha	1981
20	Chaar Diwaari	1961	55	Jeena Yahan	1981
21	Chhaya	1961	56	Nani Maa	1981
22	Kabuli Wala	1961	57	Plot No. 5	1981
23	Maaya	1961	58	Agni Pareeksha	1982
24	Mem Didi	1961	59	Dil Ka Saathi Dil	1982
25	Sapne Suhaane	1961	60	Kanoon Kya Karega	1984
26	Half Ticket	1962	61	Trishangini	1989
27	Jhoola	1962	62	Aakhiri Badla	1990
28	Prem Patra	1962	63	Triyaatri	1990
29	Chaand Aur Sooraj	1965	64	Jawahar	1991
30	Poonam Ki Raat	1965	65	Swami Vivekanand	1994
31	Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose	1966	66	Mera Daamad	1995
32	Pinjre Ke Panchhi	1966	67	Maange Mile Na Pyar	198?
33	Ittefaq	1969	68	Mitti Ka Dev	197?
34	Saara Aakash	1969	69	Hamari Shadi	198?
35	Anand	1970	70	Raat Ki Uljhan	197?

SALIL CHOWDHURY

Filmography