Sajjad Hussain (composer)
Sajjad Hussain | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 21 July 1995 | (aged 78)
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Film music director |
Years active | 1944 – 1977 |
Sajjad Hussain (15 June 1917 – 21 July 1995) was an Indian
Biography
Sajjad Hussain was born in 1917 in Sitamau, which was at that time, a village in the then Central India Agency, now part of Madhya Pradesh, India . As a child, he was taught sitar by his father Mohammed Amir Khan. He learned veena, violin, flute and piano during his teenage years. He was also an accomplished mandolin player, and could play Indian classical music on the instrument.[1][5]
In 1937, Sajjad Hussain decided to try his luck as a film score composer, and came to
In 1940, Sajjad was introduced to the composer Mir Allah Baksh (father of actress Meena Kumari) by a friend. Impressed with Sajjad's mandolin skills, Ali employed him as an assistant.[5]
Sometime later, Sajjad became an assistant to the music director Hanuman Prasad. In this capacity, he composed two songs for the film Gaali (1944): Aag Lage Saavan Mein and Ab Aaja Dil Na Lage (both sung by Nirmala Devi). The songs of Dost (1944), his first film as an independent music director, were big hits.[6] These songs included the three songs sung by Noor Jehan: Koi Prem Ka Deke Sandesa, Alam Par Alam Aur Sitam Par Sitam and Badnaam Mohabbat Kaun Kare. But when the film producer Shaukat Hussain Rizvi gave the entire credit to his wife Noor Jehan for the success of the songs, Sajjad Hussain vowed never to work with Noor Jehan again.[5][3]
Sajjad went on to work with many notable singers, including
Contentious personality
Sajjad Hussain was known for his contentious personality.
His attitude made him an avoidable character and people from the industry started ignoring him. As a result of his controversial behaviour, Sajjad got less than 20 film score assignments in his 34-year-long music career. However, one notable milestone in his career as music director is the songs he composed for Sri Lankan Sinhala film "Daiwa yogaya-1959". Daiwa Yogaya was filmed in Prasad Studios in Pune and was a box office hit in Sri Lanka mainly owing to the songs he composed. The songs "Hada Gile Ama Mihire" and "Doi Doiya putha" sung by Rukmani Devi, the most popular Actress/Singer of Ceylon in that era are still popular. His last film as a composer was Aakhri Sajda (1977), although he participated in concerts till the 1980s.[1]
Lata Mangeshkar was once asked in an interview about music directors that she had found difficult to please. She replied that in the beginning of her career, there were difficulties with everyone because she was still learning and was new in the field. But she was always apprehensive with Sajjad Hussain because he was so particular. Sajjad Hussain never liked loud singing. He always insisted that all the musical instruments were perfectly tuned. He never compromised on that. She added that even many years after the first recording, Sajjad Hussain's songs sound effortless and are not painful to hear.[1]
Death and legacy
Sajjad Hussain lived in the Natalwala Building at Mahim, Mumbai, India in the last years of his life. He had five sons and one daughter. All five of his sons (Mustafa, Yusuf, Noor Mohammad, Nasir Ahmmad and Abdul Karim) went on to become musicians. Sajjad Hussain died on 21 July 1995 in oblivion: Khayyam and Pankaj Udhas were the only notable film personalities to attend his funeral.[5]
It is a widely-considered view of Sajjad Hussain in India that this music maestro, though had a bad temper and was a perfectionist, had a profound understanding of film song lyrics, instrumentation, classical music and the voice quality of his singers. He had learned and mastered these instruments –
Filmography
- Gaali (1944)[1]
- Dost (1944)[1]
- Dharam (1945)
- 1857 (1946)[1]
- Tilasmi Duniya (1946)
- Kasam (1947)
- Mere Bhagwan (1947)
- Rooplekha (1949)
- Khel (1950)
- Magroor (1950)
- Saiyyan (1951)
- Hulchul (1951)
- Sangdil (1952)[1]
- Rukhsana (1955)
- Rustam Sohrab (1963)[1]
- Mera Shikaar (1973)
- Aakhri Sajda (1977)[1]
A nearly 15-minute mandolin composition by Sajjad was used in the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Profile of Sajjad Hussain". Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation website. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ISBN 978-81-88789-07-8.
- ^ a b c Param Arunachalam (13 June 2015). "Bollywood Retrospect: Sajjad Hussain's musical gems". DNA India website. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Mustafa Sajjad Hussain, Mandolin artist". meetkalakar.com website. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Satish Chopra. "A contentious perfectionist of film-music: Sajjad Hussain". Academy of the Punjab in North America (APNA) website. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ISBN 978-81-85002-64-4.
- ^ Subhash K Jha (25 September 2012). "Lata Mangeshkar: I Have a Fierce Temper". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2023.