Vishal-Shekhar.... Tees Maar Khan

Vishal-Shekhar are a music directing duo (Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani) for Hindi films. They have had a number of successes including Jhankaar Beats, Om Shanti Om, Tara Rum Pum, Salaam Namaste, Dus, Bluffmaster, Tashan, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Dostana, I Hate Luv Storys, Anjaana Anjaani , Break Ke Baad And Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan 2010.
 
The duo rose in prominence when they composed the score for the film Jhankaar Beats, which included the hit song Tu Aashiqui Hai. Their efforts paid off when they won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for Jhankaar Beats. The music for the film Musafir became very popular with youths. They combined techno music with Indian sounds. The score of the film included the music hits Saaki and Door Se Paas. 2005 was a good year for the duo as they composed the scores for three hit films: Salaam Namaste, Dus and Bluffmaster.

Vishal Dadlani is also the vocalist of Mumbai-based electronic band Pentagram, and was a sometime-VJ at Channel V. Vishal is still very much a part of the Indian rock band Pentagram.

Shekhar is a trained classical singer and has a sound base of Indian music. Shekhar was a participant of Zee TV's singing contest Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 1997. Shekhar is married and has a daughter named Bipasha.
Their music is thus a combination of Indian classical with western rock influence brought by Vishal. They also were the mentors of Raja Hasan in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, a popular singing contest on Zee TV .
Following the terror attacks on Mumbai on 26 November 2008, Vishal Dadlani launched a petition to ban live media coverage during the rescue operations
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They are also the composers behind the famous Kailash Kher song 'Allah Ke Bande' from Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II

Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay

Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay , also known as Hemanta Mukherjee (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989) was an Indian singer, composer and producer. He sang in Hindi films under the name Hemant Kumar.

Under the influence of his friend Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Hemanta recorded his first song for All India Radio in 1933. The first line of the song was Amar Ganete Ele Nabarupi Chirantanii. Hemanta's music career was primarily mentored by the Bengali musician, Sailesh Duttagupta. In an interview on television in the early 1980s, Hemanta had mentioned that he had also received classical music training from Ustad Faiyaz Khan, but his tutelage was cut short by Ustad's untimely death.
In 1937, Hemanta cut his first gramophone disc under the Columbia label. His first Hindi songs were Kitana Dukh Bhulaya Tumne and O Preet Nibhanewali, released in 1940 under GCI's Columbia label.
Hemanta's first film song was in the Bengali film Nimai Sanyas released in 1941. His first Hindi film songs were in Irada in 1944 under Pt. Amarnath's music direction.


Hemanta is considered a foremost exponent of Rabindrasangeet. His first recorded Rabindrasangeet was in the Bengali film Priya Bandhabi (1944). The song was Pather Sesh Kothaye. He recorded his first non-film Rabindrasangeet disc in 1944 under the Columbia label. The songs were Aamar Aar Habe Na Deri and Keno Pantha E Chanchalata. His first movie as a music director was the Bengali film Abhiyatri in 1947. Although many of the songs Hemanta recorded during this time received critical acclaim, major commercial success eluded him until 1947. Some contemporary male singers of Hemanta in Bengali around that period were Jaganmay Mitra, Robin Majumdar, Satya Chowdhury, Dhananjay Bhattacharya, Sudhirlal Chakraborty, Bechu Dutta  and Talat Mahmood.
 Rabindra Nath Tagore
In the mid 1940s, Hemanta became an active member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and started an association with another active IPTA member – songwriter and composer – Salil Chowdhury.  Hemanta and Salil paired in several songs over the next four years and almost all these songs proved to be very popular.
Around the same period, Hemanta started receiving more assignments for music composition for Bengali films.Hemen moved to Mumbai a few years later, he called upon Hemanta to compose music for his first directorial venture in Hindi titled Anandmath under the Filmistan banner. Responding to this call, Hemanta migrated to Mumbai in 1951 and joined the Filmistan Studios. The music of Anand Math (1952) was a moderate success. Perhaps, the most notable songs from this movie is vande mataram sung by Lata Mangeshkar, which Hemanta set to a marching tune. Following Anandmath, Hemanta scored music for a few Filmistan movies like Shart in subsequent years, the songs of which received moderate popularity. Simultaneously, Hemanta also gained popularity in Mumbai as a playback singer. His songs playbacked for actor Dev Anand under music director Sachin Dev Burman in movies like Jaal, House No. 44, and Solva Saal became quite popular.
NAGIN

By the mid-1950s, Hemanta had consolidated his position as a prominent singer and composer. In Bengal, he was one of the foremost exponents of Rabindrasangeet and perhaps the most sought after male singer. In Mumbai, along with playback singing, He also carved a niche as a composer. He composed music for a Hindi film called Nagin (1954) which became a major success owing largely to its music. Songs of Nagin remained chart-toppers continuously for two years and culminated in Hemant receiving the prestigious Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1955. The very same year, he scored music for a Bengali movie called Shapmochan in which he also played back four songs for the Bengali actor Uttam Kumar. This started a long partnership between Hemant and Uttam as a playback singer-actor pair. They were the most popular singer-actor duo in Bengali Cinema over the next decade.
uttam kumar  Gulzar, nurtured as a poet with Hemant Da'
In the latter part of the 1950s, Hemanta composed music and sang for several Bengali and Hindi films, recorded several Rabindrasangeets and Bengali non-film songs. Almost all of these, especially his Bengali songs became very popular. This period can be termed as the zenith of his career and lasted for almost a decade. He sang songs composed by the major music directors in Bengal such as Nachiketa Ghosh, Robin Chatterjee and Salil Chowdhury. Some of the notable films Hemanta himself composed music for during this period include Harano Sur, Marutirtha Hinglaj, Neel Akasher Neechey, Lukochuri, Swaralipi, Deep Jwele Jaai, Shesh Parjanta, Kuhak, Dui Bhai, and Saptapadi in Bengali, and, Jagriti and Ek Hi Raasta in Hindi.

In the late 1950s, Hemanta ventured into movie production under his own banner Hemanta-Bela productions. The first movie under this banner was a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen, titled Neel Akasher Neechey(1959). The story of this film was based on the travails of a Chinese street hawker in Calcutta in the backdrop of India's freedom struggle. The movie went onto win the President's Gold Medal – the highest honour for a movie from Government of India.

In the next decade, Hemanta's production company was renamed Geetanjali productions and it produced several Hindi movies such as Bees Saal Baad, Kohraa, Biwi Aur Makaan, Faraar, Rahgir and Khamoshi – all of which had music by Hemanta. Almost all of these, except Bees Saal Baad and Khamoshi, weren't major commercial successes. Back in Bengal, Hemanta scored music for a movie titled Palatak in 1963 where he experimented with merging Bengal Folk Music and light music. This proved to be a major success and Hemanta's composition style changed noticeably for many of his future films in Bengal such as Baghini, and Balika Badhu.
 
 In Bengali films Manihar and Adwitiya, both of which were major musical as well as commercial successes, his compositions had a light classical tinge. In 1961, for commemorating Rabindranath Tagore's birth centenary, Gramophone company of India featured Rabindrasangeet by Hemanta in a large portion of its commemorative output. This too proved to be a major commercial success. Hemanta also went on several overseas concert tours in this period including his trip to the West Indies. Overall, in the 1960s decade he retained his position as the major male singer in Bengal, and, as a composer and singer to be reckoned with in Hindi films.

In the 1970s, Hemanta's contribution in Hindi films was nominal. He scored music for a handful of his home productions, but none of these movies were successful nor the music of them. In Bengal, however, he remained the foremost exponent of Rabindrasangeet. His non-film output was popular in the early part of the decade. In 1971, Hemanta debuted as a film director in for his self-produced Bengali movie titled Anindita. The movie didn't fare exceedingly well at the box office. In the early to mid 1970s, two major music composers in Bengal, Nachiketa Ghosh and Robin Chatterjee, who had worked closely with Hemanta since the early 1950s, died. Simultaneously, music composed by Hemanta for Bengali films like Fuleswari, Raag Anurag and Dadar Kirti established Hemanta as the major film music composer in the Bengal movie scene. In 1979, Hemanta re-recorded some of his earlier works with composer Salil Chowdhury from the 1940s and 1950s. This album, titled 'Legend of Glory, vol. 2' was a major commercial success, despite Hemanta's aged and slightly tired voice.
 Salil Da'
In 1980, Hemanta suffered a major heart attack (myocardial infarction) that severely affected his vocal capabilities, especially his breath control. He continued to record songs in the early eighties, but his voice was a shade of its rich baritone past. In 1984, Hemanta was felicitated by different organizations, most notably by the Gramophone Company of India, for completing 50 years in music. Ironically, that very year Hemanta released his last album with Gramophone Company of India – a 45 rpm extended play disc with four non-film songs. Over the next few years, Hemanta released non-film songs under various small-time labels that had cropped up in the nascent cassette-based music industry. Only a few of these were commercially successful. He composed music for a handful of Bengali movies and one Bengali and one Hindi tele-series. However, by this time he had become an institution, a beloved personality, and a courteous and friendly gentleman. He continued to feature regularly on All India Radio, Doordarshan (TV) and live programmes/concerts during this period.

In September 1989, he travelled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award. He performed a concert in Dhaka as well. Immediately after returning from this trip, he suffered a major heart attack (myocardial infarction) on September 26 and breathed his last at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcutta. Interestingly, even 15 years after his death, Gramophone Company of India releases at least one album by him every year, repackaging his older songs, because of the commercial viability of his songs. His legacy still lives on through the numerous songs he has recorded, music he has composed and through many male singers in Bengal and the rest of India who continue to imitate his singing style.

some of the best songs:

• Sun ja dil ki daastan.
• Tum pukaar lo.
• Zara nazron se keh do tum.
• Na ye chand hoga .. na ye tare rahenge.
• Hai apna dil to aawara.
• Na tum hame jano.
• Suraj re jalte rehna....  and many more......

Sahir Ludhianvi.... 'Nahi Pal Do Pal ka Shayar Tu...'

Sahir Ludhianvi (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980) was a popular Urdu poet and Hindi lyricist and songwriter. Sahir Ludhianvi is his pseudonym. He won the Filmfare Award twice, in 1964 and 1977, and in 1971 was awarded the Padma Shri.

Sahir lived on the first floor of the main building of an Andheri outhouse. His famous neighbours included the poet, Gulzar and Urdu litterateur, Krishan Chander. In the 1970s, he constructed "Parchaiyaan" ("Shadows"), a posh bungalow, and lived there till his death. Journalist Ali Peter John, who knew the poet personally, says real-estate sharks have been eyeing Sahir's abode after the death of his sister. His belongings and trophies are in a state of ruin, according to the journalist.

Sahir Ludhianvi made his debut in films writing lyrics for the film Aazadi Ki Raah Par (1949). The film had four songs written by him and his first song was "Badal Rahi Hai Zindagi..." Both the film and its songs went unnoticed. However, with Naujawaan (1951), he gained recognition. S.D. Burman composed the music for Naujawaan. Even today, the film's lilting song, "ठंडी हवाएँ लहराके आएँ...," remains popular.

His first major success came the same year with Guru Dutt's directorial debut, Baazi (1951), again pairing him with Burman. Thus he became part of the Guru Dutt team, and after the success of Naujawaan and Baazi, the combination of Sahir Ludhianvi and S.D. Burman came out with many more everlasting songs.
Sahir worked with many music composers, including Ravi, S.D. Burman, Roshan and Khayyam, and has left behind many unforgettable songs for fans of the Indian film industry and its music. Pyaasa marked an end to his successful partnership with S.D. Burman over what is reported to be S.D. Burman's displeasure at Sahir receiving more admiration (and thus credit for the success) from audiences for the words of the lyrics than S.D. Burman did for his memorable tunes.

Later, Sahir Ludhianvi teamed up with composer Datta Naik in several films. Datta, a Goan, was a great admirer of Sahir's revolutionary poetry. They had already worked together to produce the music for Milaap (1955). Sahir wrote many unforgettable gems for Datta.

In 1958, Sahir wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film Phir Subah Hogi, which was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. The male lead was Raj Kapoor and it was presumed that Shankar-Jaikishan would be the music composers. However, Sahir insisted that only someone who had read the novel could provide the right score. Thus, Khayyam ended up as the music composer for the film, and the song "Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegi" with minimal background music remains an all-time hit. Khayyam went on to work with Sahir in many films including Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul.

Admirers and critics rate Sahir's work in Guru Dutt's Pyaasa as his finest. Pyaasa, some say, bears resemblance to Sahir's early years as a poet. The onscreen poet, Vijay played by Guru Dutt, bears a strong likeness to the man whose poetry gave the film its soul.

Sahir Ludhianvi's work in the 1970s was restricted to films mainly directed by Yash Chopra. Though his output in terms of number of films had thinned out, the quality of his writing commanded immense respect. Kabhie Kabhie (1976) saw him return to sparkling form. These songs won him his second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist, the first being for Taj Mahal (1963).

Last days

On 25 October 1980, at the age of fifty-nine, Sahir Ludhianvi suffered a massive heart attack and died in the arms of his friend Dr R.P. Kapoor. He was buried at the Juhu Muslim cemetery. His tomb was demolished in 2010 to make space for new bodies.
Sahir's final works were released for the Hindi film Lakshmi (1982). He will always be remembered along with Kaifi Azmi as the poet who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Over twenty-five years after Sahir Ludhianvi's death, his poetry and lyrics remain an inspiration for lyricists of the day. Composers and singers of Sahir's time swear by the depth, intensity and purity in his poetry. As singer, Mahendra Kapoor said in a Vividh Bharati interview, "I don't think a writer like Sahir Ludhianvi will be born again."

Sahir Ludhianvi was known to be very egotistic, ^.perhaps as a result of his zamindar background; he fought for, and became the first lyricist or songwriter, to get royalties from music companies. Sahir insisted on writing the songs before the song was composed, against the Bollywood norm. However, some of his songs were written after the tunes were ready. For example, मांग के साथ तुम्हारा (Naya Daur 1957 - music by O.P. Nayyar). At the height of his popularity, Sahir is known to have demanded a rupee more than what was paid to Lata Mangeshkar for singing it. It was on Sahir's insistence that All India Radio started crediting lyricists along with singers and music composers for songs it aired.

A colossus amongst film lyricists, Sahir Ludhianvi was slightly different from his contemporaries. A poet unable to praise Khuda (God), Husn (Beauty) or Jaam (Wine), his pen was, at its best, pouring out bitter but sensitive lyrics over the declining values of society, the senselessness of war and politics, and the domination of materialism over love.

Whenever he wrote any love songs, they were tinged with sorrow, due to realisation that there were other, starker concepts more important than love. He could be called the underdog's bard; close to his heart were the farmer crushed by debt, the soldier gone to fight someone else's war, the woman forced to sell her body, the youth frustrated by unemployment, the family living on the street and other victims of society. His lyric from Payasa when lead actor Guru Dutt (Vijay) was passing through a red light area by singing this song, moved even Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Honourable Prime minister of India that time.

"ये कूचे, ये नीलामघर दिलकशी के,

ये लुटते हुए कारवां ज़िंदगी के,

कहाँ है कहाँ है मुहाफ़िज़ खुदी के?

जिन्हें नाज़ है हिंद पर,वो कहाँ हैं?"

Perhaps Sahir is the first renowned Urdu poet, who, could express his view towards The Tajmahal in a complete different way. He wrote
"मेरे महबूब कहीं और मिला कर मुझसे, बज़्म- ए- सही में ग़रीबों का गुज़र क्या माने. साबत जिस राहों पर है सतबते सही का निशां उसपे उल्फत भरी रूहों का गुज़र क्या माने?"-
The poet asks his lover to meet him anywhere else but Tajmahal. A tomb which has been a symbol of luxurious monarchy for years, there is no need to make journey of love by two beautiful but not famous hearts there.


Sahir will always be remembered as a poet who made his creation a lesson for all ages of Urdu poetry to come. In this way he contradicts his own creation: "kal aur ayenge naghmo ki khilti kalian chunnewale, koi mujhse behtar kehnewale, koi tumse behtar sunne wale;kal koi mujhe keun yaad kare, keun koi mujhe yaad kare, masroof zamana mere lie keun waqt apna barbad kare?"

Sahir Ludhianvi penned some of the finest Bollywood songs::

• aana hai to aa  (Naya Daur 1957), composed by O.P. Nayyar , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• ye dunia agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai  (Pyaasa 1957), composed by S.D. Burman , sung by Mohammed Rafi.
• tu hindu banega na musalman banega  (Dhool Ka Phool 1959), composed by Datta Naik , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• ye ishq ishq hai (Barsaat Ki Raat 1960), music by Roshan , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• na to karwaan ki talaash hai (Barsaat Ki Raat 1960), music by Roshan , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• allah tero naam  ishwar tero naam (Hum Dono 1961), composed by Jaidev
• chalo ik baar fir se ajnabi ban jaye hum dono  (Gumrah 1963), composed by Ravi
• man re tu kahe na dhir dhare (Chitralekha 1964), composed by Roshan , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• sansar se bhage firte ho  (Chitralekha 1964), composed by Roshan , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• ishwar allah tere naam (Naya Raasta 1970), composed by Datta Naik , sung by Mohammed Rafi.

• me pal do pal ka shayar hu (Kabhi Kabhi 1976), composed by Khayyam
• kabhi kabhi (Kabhi Kabhi 1976), music by Khayyam
• aye meri zoharjabin (waqt)
• aagey bhi jane na tu (waqt)
• Saathi haath badhana-naya daur

         .Awards

• 1964: Filmfare Best Lyricist Award: Jo Wada Kiya ( Taj Mahal)
• 1977: Filmfare Best Lyricist Award: Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein ( Kabhi Kabhie )