It has been Salil Chowdhury's genius on my iPod all morning. Salilda was a one-of-a-kind composer and easily one of the greatest music composers of the last century. Salilda's musical style is easily recognizable - his tunes follow their own rules. The orchestra is thrilling though complex. The notes soar and fall successively as to give even a singer like Lata Mangeshkar a tough time.
Salilda never formally learnt music but he was exposed to a variety of music from his childhood. All his knowledge was picked up from his personal listening and interaction with other artistes. In the early 1940s, he started moving from one village to another hiding from the police due to his protests against the government for their management of the Bengal famine. His passion for folk music had its roots there. He visited various parts of the world to understand the folk music of the land. No wonder then that folk songs find a pride of place in his music creations. By the 1950s, Salilda was a well-known name in Bengal having created a host of cherished songs with Hemantda - "runner", "paalkir gaan" etc. In 1953, he was invited by Bimal Roy to compose for "Do bheega zameen", a film for which he wrote the script as well. The run-away musical success of the film with such songs as "mausam beetaa jaaye" and "aajaa ri aa ni.ndiyaa tu aa" ensured that Salilda was established in Bombay. He went to turn in many outstanding creations in Bombay - "Parivaar", "Awaaz", "Madhumati", "Maayaa", "Chhaayaa", "Parakh", "Prem patra", "Chaar deewaari", "Chand aur suraj", "Jhoolaa" etc were some of his memorable soundtracks during this period. After a brief hiatus when he was engaged in composing for Malayalam films, he returned with such tracks as "Chhoti si baat", "Anand", "Rajnigandhaa", "Annadaataa" etc in the 1970s. He passed away in 1993 leaving behind a treasure of amazing compositions and melodies that continue to enthral every new generation.
Thats an introduction to the man and his career. More detailed thoughts on his music later...
1 comment:
Salilda died on September 5, 1995. Not 1993.
His "brief" hiatus with Malayalam Filmss started in 1965 with award winning "Chemmeen" and ended in 1994 with "Thumboli Kadappuram" after 26 Malayalam films.
He didn't run from village to village in the '40s !
He was involved with the "Krishak Andolon" (Farmer's struggle) and Tebhaga Andolon (tri-Partite Land movement). He composed around 60 songs in Bengali during the '40s most of them are protest songs. He called them "Songs of consciousness".He went underground briefly in the early '50s just before the release of "Kono ak gaanyer bodhu".
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