Naushad

Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was a Hindi film composer. He is regarded as one of the industry's greatest music directors, often called "Moseeqar-e-Azam" (The Great Musician), and is credited with popularising classical music in films.

His first independent score was for Prem Nagar (1940), but his first major success was Rattan (1944). Over his career, he produced 35 silver jubilee hits, 12 golden jubilee hits, and 3 diamond jubilee mega successes. He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1980 (conferred in 1981) and the Padma Bhushan in 1992.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Lucknow, a centre of Indian Muslim culture, Naushad was the son of Wahid Ali, a court clerk. As a child, he attended the Deva Sharif fair in Barabanki, where he heard great qawwals and musicians. He studied Hindustani music under Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali, Ustad Babban Saheb, and others, and also repaired harmoniums. He joined a junior theatrical club as its music maestro and watched silent films at Lucknow's Royal theatre, where live musicians played tabla, harmonium, sitar, and violin for each scene.

This taught him the nuances of film background scoring. He later formed the Windsor Music Entertainers, named after the word "Windsor" he liked, which evolved into the Indian Star Theatrical Company in Lucknow's Golaganj colony. Trained under Laddan Khan, he learned to pick folk music from Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Saurashtra during the company's travels. The troupe once reached Viramgam in Gujarat, where they fell into poverty and had to sell props and instruments, returning to Lucknow only with a friend's help.

A cinema fan since the silent era, Naushad became fascinated when Indian cinema gained sound in 1931. He studied classical and folk music against his father's wishes and moved to Mumbai in late 1937 for a music career. There, he first stayed with a Lucknow acquaintance in Colaba, then slept on a footpath in Dadar opposite the Broadway theatre. He assisted music director Ustad Jhande Khan for Rs 40 a month.

Career

He worked on an unfinished film with a Russian producer in Chembur, then played piano in Ustad Mushtaq Hussain's orchestra, completing a score as his assistant. After that company collapsed, Khemchand Prakash hired him as an assistant for Kanchan at Ranjit Studios for Rs 60 a month—Naushad later called Khemchand his guru. Lyricist D. N.