Anil Biswas (composer)

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For other uses, see Anil Biswas (disambiguation).

Anil Biswas
music composer, playback singer, actor
Years active1932–1975
Spouse(s)Ashalata (1917–1954) (divorced)
Meena Kapoor (1959–2003) (his death)
RelativesParul Ghosh (sister)
Pannalal Ghosh (brother-in-law)
Paromita Vohra (granddaughter)

Anil Krishna Biswas (7 July 1914 – 31 May 2003), professionally known as Anil Biswas, was an Indian film

Bhatiyali in his music.[2][3][4] Out of his over 90 films, most memorable were, Roti (1942), Kismet (1943), Anokha Pyar (1948), Tarana (1951), Waaris (1954), Pardesi (1957) and Char Dil Char Rahen
(1959).

He was also the pioneer in using the counter melody in film scores, employing technique of western music, ‘cantala’, where one line overlaps the other in contra-melody, recitative prose songs as in Roti (1942), besides he was the first one to start extensively using the Ragmala.[5][6] Another important element that he introduced was western orchestration, using indigenous instruments both in the songs as well as in their melodic interludes, a trend that soon caught on and paved way for the musicals of Indian cinema today.[3]

He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.[7]

Biography

Early life

Anil Krishna Biswas was born on 7 July 1914, in a small village of

Indian Independence Movement, while still doing his matriculation, and was repeatedly jailed for his revolutionary activities, leading to repeated disruption of his studies. Eventually in 1930, after his father’s death he left for Calcutta in disguise to escape further arrest.[4]

Career

Anil Biswas first made name in

khayal, thumri and dadra, and had become an accomplished singer of devotional music, in Shyama Sangeet and Kirtan styles.[citation needed
]

He also worked as a singer, lyricist and composer, with the 'Hindustan Recording Company', where

Sachin Dev Burman worked, before migrating to Bombay themselves. He got assignments from renowned Bengali poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, all this got him into the notice of music director, Hiren Bose, and at whose behest he made his way to Bombay (Mumbai) in 1934.[8]

This was the period when

Manmohan and Deccan Queen
and also Pransukh Nayak, and continued with Sagar Movietones, even after it merged with the Yusuf Fazalbhoy of RCA’s newly established National Studios in 1939.

In the coming two years he did eleven films, mostly stunt films, until

Akhtaribai Faizabadi (Begum Akhtar), though they were deleted due to a contractual conflict (the music was recorded with HMV, while she was in contract with Megaphone Gramophone Company). In following years he gave scores for Bombay Talkies films like Jwar Bhata (1944), Dilip Kumar’s debut film, and Milan (1946) also starring Dilip Kumar and directed by Nitin Bose, who made it in Bengali, as Naukadubi.[6]

He gave break to famed playback singer, Mukesh in Pehli Nazar (1945), singing 'Dil Jalta Hai to Jalne De', and to Talat Mahmood in Arzoo (1949), singing 'Aye Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah Ley Chal' his first song in Bombay;[10] he was also behind the success of many singers such as Surendranath, Parul Ghosh, Amirbai Karnataki, Lata Mangeshkar and Roshan Ara Begum.[11] It was during his period that he married Asha Lata, an actress with Sagar Movietones under her maiden name Mehrunnisa who continued to act under the name Ashalata Biswas, and had three sons and a daughter, the couple later divorced. Later it was the death of his son Pradeep in an airplane accident, in 1961, which catapulted his exit from the film industry. Lata Mangeshkar has admitted that Anil Biswas gave her tips and trained her for breathing control during recording songs.

In 1942, he joined

National Film Award
.

In Delhi, he became director of the National Orchestra at the

Hum Log (1984) and a number of documentaries for the Films Division as late as 1991,[8] and remained the Advisor (Music) in the rank of a Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University for 2 years.[14] He won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
in 1986.

Personal life

Biswas was first married for love, and much against the wishes of his own family, a Muslim actress who was four years older than him. This was Mehrunnisa (born 17 October 1910, died 1992), who had adopted the screen-name 'Ashalata' for work purposes. Upon her marriage, Mehrunnisa assumed the name Ashalata as her one and only name. Ashalata worked as an actress during the 1930s and 1940s, a period during which acting in films was considered disreputable and few women entered the industry; she also owned Variety Pictures, a film-making company.[15] The couple became the parents of three sons and a daughter, named Pradeep, Amit, Utpal and Shikha. Their son, Utpal Biswas, also worked as a music composer, as part of the Amar-Uptal duo team which composed the music for a few films including Shahenshah (1988) and Main Azaad Hoon.[16] Biswas's daughter, Shikha Vohra, is the mother of the well-known documentary film maker, Paromita Vohra.[17][18] Biswas and Ashalata were divorced in 1954; Ashalata Biswas died in 1992.

In 1959, five years after his divorce, Anil Biwas married the playback singer, Meena Kapoor, daughter of actor Bikram Kapoor. Meena Kapoor did not have any children. Meena was most noted for singing hit 1950s songs like, "Rasiya re man basiya re" in Nargis starrer Pardesi (1957) and "Kachhi hai umariya" picturised on Meena Kumari in Char Dil Char Raahein.[19]

Anil Biswas died in New Delhi on 31 May 2003.[20] He was survived by his wife Meena Kapoor, sons Amit Biswas and Utpal Biswas, and daughter Shikha Vohra, his son Pradeep Biswas having predeceased him. Upon his death, the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee called him, “a doyen of film music who struck the rare balance between classical purity of music and popular pulse”, and credited him for leaving, “an enduring legacy as he introduced many talented singers and innovations to the Indian film music.”[21]

Filmography

  • Dharam Ki Devi (1935)
  • Fida-e-Vatan (alias Tasveer-e-vafa) (1935, co-composer with Jhande Khan)
  • Piya Ki Jogan (alias Purchased Bride)
  • Pratima (alias Prem Murti)
  • Prem Bandhan (alias Victims of Love) (1936, co-composer with Jhande Khan)
  • Sangdil Samaj
  • Sher Ka Panja
  • Shokh Dilruba (1936, with Sunder Daas)
  • Bulldog (1936)
  • Dukhiari (alias A Tale of Selfless Love) (1936, with Madhulal Damodar Master)
  • Gentleman Daku (1937)
  • Jagirdar (1937)
  • Kokila (1937)
  • Mahageet (1937)
  • Watan
     (1938)
  • Teen Sau Din Ke Baad (1938)
  • Hum Tum Aur Woh (1938)
  • Gramophone Singer (1938)
  • Dynamite (1938)
  • Abhilasha (1938)
  • Jeevan Saathi (1939)
  • Ek Hi Raasta (1939)
  • Pooja (1940)
  • Aurat (1940)
  • Alibaba
     (1940/I)
  • Bahen
     (1941)
  • Aasra (1941)
  • Vijay (1942)
  • Jawani (1942)
  • Kismet (1943)
  • Hamari Baat (1943)
  • Jwar Bhata (1944)
  • Pahali Nazar (1945)
  • Bhookh (1947)
  • Manjhdhar
     (1947)
  • Veena (1948)
  • Gajre (1948)
  • Anokha Pyar (1948)
  • Ladli (1949)
  • Jeet (1949)
  • Girls' School (1949)
  • Beqasoor (1950)
  • Arzoo (1950)
  • Lajawab (1950)
  • Tarana (1951)
  • Do Sitare (1951)
  • Aaram (1951)
  • Do Raha (1952)
  • Rahi (1952)
  • Mehmaan (1953)
  • Jallianwalla Baag Ki Jyoti (1953)
  • Fareb (1953)
  • Akash (1953)
  • Waris (1954)
  • Naaz (1954)
  • Mahatma Kabir (1954)
  • Maan (1954)
  • Jasoos (1957)
  • Jalti Nishani (1955)
  • Faraar (1955)
  • Du-janay (1955)
  • Paisa Hi Paisa (1956)
  • Heer (1956)
  • Pardesi (1957 film) (1957)
  • Abhimaan (1957)
  • Sanskar (1958)
  • Char Dil Char Raahein
     (1959)
  • Return of Mr. Superman (alias Mr. Superman ki Wapsi) (1960)
  • Angulimaal (1960)
  • Sautela Bhai (1962)
  • Chhoti Chhoti Baatein
     (1965)

Further reading

  • Anil Biswas: Tribute, A Collection of Essays on the Occasion of His Fiftieth Year of Music Composition for Films, Bangalore, 1986.

References

  1. ^ "Obituaries:Anil Biswas". Variety. 4 June 2003. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  2. Britannica.com
    .
  3. ^ a b c A composer with a difference Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Dawn , 8 June 2003.
  4. ^ a b c "Anil Biswas, 89, Whose Music Used Orchestras in Indian Films". The New York Times. 4 June 2003.
  5. ^ Obituary: Anil Biswas The Guardian , 5 July 2003
  6. ^ a b Anil Biswas Upperstall.com.
  7. ^ Creative Music Archived 15 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine Sangeet Natak Akademi Official Award listings.
  8. ^
    ISBN 81-85002-64-9
    . Page 183-186.
  9. ^ Anil Biswas Biography
  10. ^ Music composer Anil Biswas passes away Rediff.com, 31 May 2003.
  11. ^ a b "Anil Biswas dead". The Hindu. 1 June 2003. Archived from the original on 25 July 2003.
  12. The Tribune
    , 1 June 2003.
  13. ^ Anil Biswas filmreference.com.
  14. ^ "RMIM Archive Article Number: "222"".
  15. ^ "Down memory lane: Ashalata Biswas". Archived from the original on 25 August 2016.
  16. Indian Express. 31 May 2003. Archived from the original
    on 6 January 2015.
  17. ^ Her production company is Devi Pictures Archived 28 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Paromita Vohra's blog
  19. Indian Express
    , 9 February 2004.
  20. ^ Anil Biswas Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine lifeinlegacy.com.
  21. ^ Press Release Prime Minister's Office, 1 June 2003.

External links

Video link
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