Music lovers of the golden era of hindi film music (i.e. 1950s & 60s) fondly remember Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, and S D Burman, favourite composers of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand respectively. Other popular composers of the golden age were Madan Mohan , O P Nayyar, Roshan, Salil Choudhary and C Ramachandra to name a few. Even today musical evenings and such other shows are organized in their memory. However, there were several music composers who were talented but did not get their due. Today let us talk about one such composer who was under-rated and who also remain unrewarded throughout his career.
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| Photo courtesy: humaraforums.com |
CHITRAGUPTA, born as Chitragupta Shrivastav in Gopalganj district of Bihar on 16th November 1917 is one of the unsung heroes of the golden age. He was a lecturer in a Patna college but quit his job to make a career as a music composer. Entry to the Bombay film world was no cakewalk for him. He started off as an assistant to music director S N Tripathi who generally composed music for devotional and mythological films. So did Chitragupta at the beginning of his career. Some of the films of the genre were Shivratri,
Balyogi Upmanyu, Gayatri Mahima, Sati Madalasa and Pavanputra
Hanuman. Other kind of folms he got were the stunt films. Most of these films had zero creative value The name of some of the films such as Mala
the Mighty, Fighting Hero, Stunt Queen, Tigress, Lady Robinhood, Toofan Queen says it all.
He was still struggling in the early fifties to make his mark. One fine day he was introduced to AVM productions of South by S D Burman. Burmanda knew his work through S N Tripathi. He composed music for AVM's Bhabhi (1957) and got his due break.
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Miss mala (1954)- Manzil kahan meri gulshan
kahan mera by Kishore Kumar
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Bhabhi (1957)- chal ud ja re panchhi by Rafi, Chali chali re patang meri by Rafi-Lata,
Kare kare badra by Lata, Chupakar meri
aankhon ko By Rafi-Lata
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Kali topi laal rumaal (1959)- Lagi chhute na ab
to sanam by Rafi-Lata, Daga daga wai wai by Lata
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Tel malish boot polish (1961)- Kanha ja re By
Manna Dey-Lata (Classical base)
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Bada Aadmi (1961)- Ankhiyan sang ankhiyan lagi
by Rafi (Classical base)
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Zabak (1961)- Teri duniya se dur by Rafi-Lata
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Main chup rahungi (1962)- Chand jane khan kho
gaya by Rafi-Lata, Tum hi ho mata pita tum hi ho by Lata
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Main shadi karne chala (1962)- Albeli naar
pritam dware by Manna Dey (Classical base)
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Opera house (1962)- Dekho mausam kya bahar hai
by Mukesh-Lata, Balma mane na by Lata
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Ganga ki laheren (1964)- Chhedo na meri zulfen
by Kishore-Lata
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Akashdeep (1965)- Mujhe dard-e dil ka pata na
tha by Rafi, Dil ka diya jala ke gaya by Lata
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Oonche log (1965)- Jag dil e diwana by Rafi, Aaja
re mere pyaar ke rahi by Lata-Mahendra Kapoor
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Vasna (1967)- Ye parbaton ke daayre by Rafi-Lata
Apart from hindi films, he also composed music for many Bhojpuri films. Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo (1963) is the first ever film made in Bhojpuri language and the music was composed by Chitragupta, lyrics were penned by Shailendra and the songs were sung by eminent playback singers like Lata, Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur and Usha Mangeshkar.
An interesting observation is that Chitragupta's music rose above the films he was offered. But, in spite of creating such melodious songs he never won a Filmfare. Years later, it was won by his sons Anand-Milind for the film Qayamat se Qayamat Tak in 1989. His sons worked as his assistants for eight years before starting their own work. Chitragupta was content with his sons' success and passed away peacefully on 14th January 1991.
The music of the fifties and sixties is a treasure which remained hidden for the next generations of music lovers but thanks to Internet that these gems are freely available to all music connoisseurs. Chitragupa will always remain one of the greats of our Golden Era of music.
