Cinema: The Magic Lantern!!

A powerhouse of talent, O.P. Nayyar, gave new orientation to Indian film music.   His music studded with melodious rhythm is a sheer joy for the Opiums (music lovers). His compositions are like bright sunshine full of beauty and romance. He is particularly acclaimed for haunting, mesmerizing and enchanting peppy numbers with Punjabi flavour . He always disclaimed any knowledge of classical music, yet composed some of the best songs based on ragas. He was a born music director, who attained ecstatic heights with his divine music. O.P. Nayyer (Omkar Prasad Nayyar) was born in Lahore on 16 January, 1926. He was initiated into classical music during his school days. He participated in children's show at Lahore Radio at the age of 11. He was not interested much in studies and used to frequent film shootings in Lahore. Luckily, he got the role of junior ‘Dulla’ in Punjabi film ‘Dulla Bhatti’ (1940) and also lent his voice in its chorus ‘ Rabb Di Janab Wichon.. He also com...

A creative genius, C. Ramchandra came to the city of dreams to become an actor, did only some cameos and vanished from the acting field. However, he continued to struggle and became a famous music director. He was a pioneer and trendsetter, whose mellifluous music left an indelible imprint on listener’s mind. He was brilliantly versatile, having composed music for peppy club songs to lullabies to ghazals and lilting love songs. His creativity, variety and flair for composing simple tunes without getting overly obsessed with classical music, reflected his flamboyant personality. He composed numerous juvenile songs depicting raucous and joyful mood, mostly picturised on the raunchy comedy team of Yakub and Gope. He gave playback as Chitalkar, while scoring music he adopted many names like Anna Sahib, Ram Chitalkar, P Ramakant, C Ramachandra and Shyamoo. C. Ramchandra was born as Ramachandra Narhar Chitalkar in Puntambe village (Ahmednagar), on January 12, 1918 in a t...

Rahul Dev Burman, a maverick and pioneer of Western-Indian orchestration, revolutionized the sound of Hindi film music by incorporating a wide range of influences drawn from several genres in his compositions. He was always ahead of the curve in picking up western notations, displaying his eclectic tastes and boundless quest for trying out new instruments in his films. The king of rhythm and vivacious Pancham , really brought the groove into Bollywood Music, ushering in the era of electronic rock. His music has vitality, unrestrained passion, energy and sweetness, which had not even dissipated with the passing of time. R.D. Burman was born on 27 June 1939 in the royal family of Tripura. His father Sachin Dev Burman was a famous singer-music director and his mother Meera was a lyricist. When his father heard him cry for the first time, he found that the pitch at which the newborn was screaming was the fifth octave of the ‘Sargam’. And that is how he came to be known as Panc...

Ramanand Sagar, the Doyen of Bollywood, who inked “Ramayana” on Small-screen, had a meteoric rise from a clapper boy in the movie "Raiders of the Rail Road" (1936), to be a successful film maker, writer, director & producer to be reckoned with. He was a born writer, who could express and write in Urdu, Sanskrit and Hindi with equal ease. As an ace producer-director, Ramanand Sagar churned out many silver jubilee hits like Zindagi, Aarzoo, Aankhen etc. But his TV serial ‘Ramayana’ attained the status of a block buster and became phenomenally popular all over the world. The unprecedented popularity of the serial Ramayana made Ramanand Sagar a cult figure and he has been hailed as a modern day Valmiki and Tulsidas. Ramanand Sagar alias Chandramauli Chopra was born with a silver spoon in his mouth on 29 December, 1917 at Asal Guru Ke, Lahore. He belonged to one of the most aristocratic and wealthiest Chopra family. His great-grandfather Lala Shankar Das C...