Famous Composers from India
- Allahrakka Rahman pronunciation ; born A. S. Dileep Kumar) known professionally as A. R. Rahman, is an Indian music director, singer and music producer. His works are noted for integrating Indian classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements. Among his awards are six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 2010 by the Government of India. In 2009, Rahman was included on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. The UK-based world-music magazine Songlines named him one of "Tomorrow's World Music Icons" in August 2011.He is nicknamed "Isai Puyal"(English: the Musical Storm) and "Mozart of Madras". With an in-house studio (Panchathan Record Inn in Chennai), Rahman's film-scoring career began during the early 1990s with the Tamil film Roja. Working in India's film industries, international cinema, and theatre, Rahman is one of the best-selling recording artists, with an estimated 200 million units sold worldwide. Rahman has also become a notable humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for a number of causes and charities. In 2017, Rahman made his debut as a director and writer for the film Le Musk.
- Birthplace: Chennai, India
- Aashish Khan Debsharma (born 5 December 1939) is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Besides being a performer, composer, and conductor, he is also an adjunct professor of Indian classical music at the California Institute of the Arts, and the University of California at Santa Cruz, in the United States.
- Birthplace: Maihar, India
- Aadesh Shrivastava (4 September 1964 – 5 September 2015) was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Over the course of his career, he had composed music for over 100 Hindi films. Just a day after he turned 51, he died of cancer in Kokilaben Hospital.
- Birthplace: India, Jabalpur
- Adnan Sami Khan (born 15 August 1971) is an Indian singer, musician, music composer, pianist and actor. He performs Indian and western music, specially for Hindi movies. His most notable instrument is the piano. He is credited for being the first person to play Indian classical music on the piano in a style he created through the Santoor. A review in US-based Keyboard magazine described him as the fastest keyboard player in the world and called him the keyboard discovery of the nineties. As a multi-platinum recording artist, he has sold the biggest selling independent albums of all time in India. He can play over 35 musical instruments.He was born in London to Arshad Sami Khan, a Pakistani diplomat of Pashtun origin, and Naureen, who was originally from Jammu and Kashmir state. The Times of India has called him the "Sultan of Music".
- Birthplace: England, London
- Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain are ghazal singers from Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan state in India. Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain are two brothers who sing classical ghazals. Born in Rajasthan as sons of the famous ghazal and thumri singer Ustad Afzal Hussain, the duo touches genres like Indian classical music and bhajan as well as ghazal. They started their singing career in 1958 as classical and thumri artists belonging to Jaipur Gharana. Their first album Guldasta was released in 1980 and was successful. Since then they have released about 50 albums. They attempted popularizing their music by turning to tempo music in Maan bhi ja.Ustad Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain are a unique phenomenon in the world of ghazals. They are two brothers who sing ghazals together. They have a classical background and sing ghazals in the classical style. Their sons Javed Hussain, Mazzam Hussian and Imran Hussain are also singers.In 2010, they have released a new album Khwab Basera under Saregama label. Album contains selected Ghazals from Dr. Hariom's "Dhoop Ka Parcham" as well as some new ghazals.
- Birthplace: Rajasthan, India
- Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 1922 – 18 June 2009) was an Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he also composed numerous classical ragas and film scores. He established a music school in Calcutta in 1956, and the Ali Akbar College of Music in 1967, which moved with him to the United States and is now based in San Rafael, California, with a branch in Basel, Switzerland. Khan was instrumental in popularizing Indian classical music in the West, both as a performer and as a teacher. He first came to America in 1955 on the invitation of violinist Yehudi Menuhin and later settled in California. He was a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz.Khan was accorded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1989. Nominated five times for the Grammy Award, Khan was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts's National Heritage Fellowship.
- Birthplace: Comilla, Bangladesh
- Allauddin Khan, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan (1862 – 6 September 1972) was a Bengali Indian sarod player and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music.
- Birthplace: Brahmanbaria District, Bangladesh
Alphons Joseph is a music director and playback singer in the Malayalam film industry who got a break as a film music composer after composing for the film Vellithira. Alphons is also noted for singing the famous song "Aaromale" from the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, which was composed by A. R. Rahman.- Birthplace: Thrissur, India
Anjjan Meet
Anjjan Meet is a film music composer.Anoop Rubens
Anup Rubens is an Indian film, music composer, known for his works in Telugu cinema. His works include (Kannada Seetharam Kalyana 2018)Gowtam SSC (2005), Prema Kavali (2011), Ishq (2012), Sukumarudu (2013), Loukyam (2014), and Manam (2014). He has received the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director - Telugu for Manam.- Anupam Roy (Bengali: অনুপম রায়; born 29 March 1982) is an Indian singer-songwriter from Kolkata, West Bengal. He is best known for his song Amake Amar Moto Thakte Dao (আমাকে আমার মতো থাকতে দাও) , which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2010 film Autograph. Since then, he has gone on to compose, write lyrics and sing for many Bengali films. In 2015, he made his Bollywood debut, composing the songs and score for Piku. He was nominated for the 61st Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, and won the 61st Filmfare Award for Best Background Score for Piku. He is a recipient of 64th National Film Award for Best Lyrics for the song Tumi Jaake Bhalobasho.
- Birthplace: Kolkata, India
- Babbu Maan is a singer-songwriter, actor, producer, composer and film director.
- Birthplace: Khant, Punjab
- Mohammad Sabir Baburaj (Malayalam: എം.എസ്. ബാബുരാജ്), also known as M. S. Baburaj, was a Malayalam music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs.
- Birthplace: Kozhikode, India
- Balabhaskar Chandran (10 July 1978 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian musician, violinist, composer and record producer. He is best known for promoting fusion music in South India. Hailing from a musically affluent family, he was introduced to the world of instrumental music at the age of three by his uncle B. Sasikumar, a laureate in Carnatic music. Balabhaskar began his professional career at the age of 12. He made his debut as a music director by composing the soundtrack for the Malayalam film Mangalya Pallakku (1998), and was the youngest music composer to have worked in the industry at the age of 17. He had won the Bismillah Khan Yuva Sangeetkaar Puraskaar in 2008 by Kendra Sangeet Natak Academy for Instrumental Music (Violin).
- Bhupen Hazarika (Assamese: [bʱupɛn ɦazɔɹika]) (8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011) was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi. His songs, based on the themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, have become popular among the people of Assam, besides West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is also acknowledged to have introduced the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975. Recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padmashri (1977), and Padmabhushan (2001), Hazarika was awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1992), India's highest award in cinema, by the Government of India and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008), the highest award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, in 2012.He was posthumously awarded the Bharat ratna india's highest civilian award, in 2019.Hazarika also held the position of the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 2019.
- Birthplace: Sadiya, India
Chakri
Age: 50Chakradhar "Chakri" Gilla (15 June 1974 – 15 December 2014) was an Indian music composer and singer in Tollywood films. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Telugu for Satyam (2003).- Birthplace: India, Mahabubabad
- Deepak Devraj Komath, better known as Deepak Dev (Malayalam: ദീപക് ദേവ്), is an Indian music composer, best known for his compositions in Malayalam cinema, with films such as Chronic Bachelor, Udayananu Tharam, Naran, Puthiya Mukham, Urumi, Grandmaster and Bhaskar the Rascal.
- Birthplace: Kochi, India
- Ehsaan Noorani is an Indian composer and guitarist , Ehsaan is the part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio which consist of Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa and himself. He is a famous music composer and a guitarist. He was the guitarist for many music directors before he started composing music. Ehsaan studied music with Mr. Bismarck Rodrigues, an experienced guitar teacher from Mumbai (Bombay). Ehsaan studied music at the [Musicians Institute] in Hollywood, California from 1985 to 1986 . Ehsaan is the first guitarist from India to be endorsed by Fender guitars and has a Squier signature model to his name. He also endorses Fractal Audio and D'Addario strings . His playing is strongly influenced by players like Robben Ford BB King Larry Carlton etc. In 2015 Ehsaan was a co judge in India's first Western reality show called The Stage produced by Viacom and aired on Colours Infinity . In addition to Shankar Ehsaan Loy Ehsaan also performs with Fender and Friends featuring guitarists like Rudy Wallang Amyt Dutta and singers Arunima Banerjee and Tanya Sen He also performs with sitar player Purbayan Chaterjee in an ensemble called The String Fraternity Loy Mendonsa and Ehsaan have recently reformed their old Electronica band called Instant Karma Loy and he recently co composed and produced a Women's Day special song with Shruti Haasan called My Day In The Sun Ehsaan's roots are a testimony to the school of music that he hails from and defines the thought-processes that go on to make-up the phenomenon that Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy are in this part of the globe. He enjoys blues and electronica.
G. Ramanathan
Gobalsamy Ramanathan was an Indian music composer for Tamil movies. He is also known as Isai Methai (Genius of Music) or Sangeetha Chakravarthy (Emperor of Music) and is considered to be one of the influential Tamil music composers to take Carnatic music to the masses. Notable for his association with M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. G. Ramanathan also composed for films of Salem Modern Theatres and Coimbatore Central Studios. His career lasted until his death in 1963. During the 1950s G.Ramanathan's music dominated most of the box office hits of the then leading Tamil movie stars Shivaji Ganesan and M. G. Ramachandran.- Birthplace: Bikshandarkoil
- G. V. Prakash Kumar is an Indian actor, a composer of film scores and soundtracks, and a producer and singer. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films. His first film was S Pictures' Veyyil (2006).
- Birthplace: Chennai, India
- Ghulam Ahmed Chishti (Urdu: غُلام احمد چِشتی ), (often abbreviated to G.A. Chishti)(Urdu: جی اے چِشتی ), (17 August 1905 – 25 December 1994) was a Pakistani music composer, attributed as being one of the founders of Pakistani film music. He is also sometimes referred to as Baba Chishti.Working with filmi music, Chishti excelled at Punjabi compositions and was 'apt at weaving the design of influences around Punjabi music'. With almost 5,000 tunes to his credit, he composed scores for 140–150 films and was the first musician to reach the '100 films' threshold in newly independent Pakistan after 1947. Being a poet, he had written lyrics for 12 of the most popular Pakistani film songs besides writing hundreds of other film songs during his career.
- Birthplace: Jalandhar, India
Ghulam Mohammed
Dec. at 65 (1903-1968)Ghulam Mohammed was an Indian film score composer, who is most remembered for his work in Hindi musical-hit films like, Mirza Ghalib (1954), Shama (1961) and Pakeezah (1972). He received National Film Award for Best Music Direction (then called State Awards for Films in 1954) for the film Mirza Ghalib (1954). The shooting of his last film, Pakeezah, was held up for many years due to marital and personal problems between the film producer Kamal Amrohi and the film's lead actress Meena Kumari, and the film was finally released only after Ghulam Mohammed's death.- Birthplace: Bikaner, India
- Guru Arjan (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ [gʊɾuː əɾd͡ʒənᵊ]) 15 April 1563 – 30 May 1606) was the first of the two Gurus martyred in the Sikh faith and the fifth of the ten total Sikh Gurus. He compiled the first official edition of the Sikh scripture called the Adi Granth, which later expanded into the Guru Granth Sahib. He was born in Goindval, in the Punjab, the youngest son of Bhai Jetha, who later became Guru Ram Das, and Mata Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das. He was the first Guru in Sikhism to be born into a Sikh family. Guru Arjan led Sikhism for a quarter of a century. He completed the construction of Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a pool. Guru Arjan compiled the hymns of previous Gurus and of other saints into Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture, and installed it in the Harimandir Sahib.Guru Arjan reorganized the Masands system initiated by Guru Ram Das, by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one-tenth of their income, goods or service to the Sikh organization (dasvand). The Masand not only collected these funds but also taught tenets of Sikhism and settled civil disputes in their region. The dasvand financed the building of gurdwaras and langars (shared communal kitchens).Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam. He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE. Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture. His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism. It is remembered as Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan in May or June according to the Nanakshahi calendar released by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 2003.
- Birthplace: Goindval, India
Hafiz Ali Khan
Dec. at 84 (1888-1972)Hafiz Ali Khan (1888–1972) was an Indian sarod player. A fifth-generation descendant of the Bangash gharana (school or style) of sarod players, Hafiz Ali was known for the lyrical beauty of his music and the crystal-clear tone of his strokes. The occasional critic has, however, observed that Khan's imagination was often closer to the semi-classical thumri idiom than the austere dhrupad style prevalent in his times. He was a recipient of the civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan Award, in 1960.- Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flutist, who plays the bansuri, an Indian bamboo flute, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
- Birthplace: Allahabad, India
Harmeet Meet
Harmeet Meet is a film score composer.- Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian film composer from Chennai , Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has won 6 Filmfare Awards South and since 2001, he has received 17 Filmfare Awards South nominations. He has also won 6 Mirchi Music Awards, 5 Vijay Awards, 3 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, 3 International Tamil Film Awards and Big FM Awards. He has been honoured with Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu and Life Time Achievement Award from Konijeti Rosaiah, the Governor of Tamil Nadu.
- Birthplace: Chennai, India
Hidayat Khan
Age: 50Hidayat Khan is the son of Ustad Vilayat Khan.- Himesh Reshammiya (born 23 July 1973) is an Indian actor, music director, lyricist, composer, producer, singer, screenwriter and film distributor who predominantly works in Bollywood film industry.
- Birthplace: Gujarat, India
Hridayanath Mangeshkar
Age: 87Hridaynath Mangeshkar is a music director from India. He is the only son of noted musician Deenanath Mangeshkar and younger brother of Indian music legends Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. He is popularly known as Balasaheb in the music and film industry.Ismail Darbar
Age: 60Ismail Darbar (born 1 June 1964) is an Indian bollywood film score composer, instrumentalist, violinist and music director, a popular name in Indian Film Industry: Bollywood. Darbar is a national award winning music director . He was a contestant on Bigg Boss 3 in 2009.- Birthplace: Surat, India
- Jagjit Singh, born Jagmohan Singh Dhiman (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011), popularly known as "The Ghazal King" or "King of Ghazals", was an Indian Ghazal singer, composer and musician. He sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian Classical music, his style of composing and Gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth (1982) , and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning five decades and many albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining. Singh's 1987 album, Beyond Time, was the first digitally recorded release in India. He was regarded as one of India's most influential artists. With sitar player Ravi Shankar and other leading figures of Indian classical music and literature, Singh voiced his concerns over politicisation of arts and culture in India and lack of support experienced by the practitioners of India's traditional art forms, particularly folk artists and musicians. He lent active support to several philanthropic endeavours such as the library at St. Mary's School, Mumbai, Bombay Hospital, CRY, Save the Children and ALMA. Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2003 and in February 2014, the government released a set of two postal stamps in his honour.
- Birthplace: India, Sri Ganganagar
Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal
Dec. at 41 (1929-1971)Jaikishan Dayabhai Pankal was a film score composer. Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal was a part of an Indian music composer duo in the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949–1971, known as Shankar Jaikishan. Shankar-Jaikishan, along with other artists, wrote "everlasting" and "immortal melodies" in fifties and sixties. Their best work was noted for being "raga-based and having both lilt and sonority".- Birthplace: Bansda, India
Jassi Sidhu
Age: 46Jassi Sidhu (born 1978, Birmingham, West Midlands, England) is a Bhangra singer and the former lead singer of British Indian bhangra band B21. He split from the group, declaring that they would "never, ever reconcile" and that "(B21 was) nothing more than a glorified mime act", quoting differences between himself and Bally Jagpal. He has released five solo albums to date. Reality check in 2003, No Strings Attached in 2005, The New Adventures of Jassi Sidhu in 2008, Singing Between The Lines in 2011 & Coleshill Road in 2014. Sidhu was born and raised in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, and has a blossoming solo career, having toured many countries since going solo from the US to the Far East. He is an avid Liverpool F.C. fan.Since departing from B21, Jassi Sidhu has released four solo albums and one greatest hits album. His debut album titled Reality Check was released in 2003, and contained ten brand new songs. This release landed him a place in India, it was the first step for him to cement his name as a solo act. The album contained seven songs and three remixes. His second album called No Strings Attached was released in 2005, and also contained 10 new songs. This time Sidhu created a rock ballet type of song called honkeh. The album was fairly successful and boosted his reputation as a solo artist. The greatest hits album was filled with eight songs. Sidhu had redone three of the songs, "0Chandigarh", "Din Raat" and "Bhabi". The other five songs had the same music but saw Sidhu resigning them. Jassi Sidhus latest offering was called Ke Kehne and was released in 2008. This album has ten new songs and two remixes and saw Sidhu team up with "MBE" Malkit Singh. Jassi Sidhu also teams up with producer and friend Rishi Rich, as well as the man behind the hits "Tharti Hilde" and "Sher Punjabi", Aman Hayer.In April 2009, Jassi Sidhu released, Jassi What Happened?, an album comprising all his hits in live version recorded in the studio. It also came with a bonus DVD.Singing Between The Lines, featuring the single "Oh Jatta", was released for Digital Download on iTunes on 18 May 2011 and the CD released a week later. He appeared on the Breakdown Bhangra show in May 2011 on the BBC Asian Network and publicly declared that this would be his last ever album although he did not rule out singing occasional songs on other artists album. The reason he gave was that he wanted to quit the Bhangra industry after almost 20 years and try something new.- Birthplace: Birmingham, England
Jeet Ganguly
Jeet Gannguli (born Chandrajeet Ganguly, Bengali: চন্দ্রজিৎ গাঙ্গুলী on 24 May 1977), popularly known as Jeet, is a score composer of Bengali and Hindi movies. Gannguli is a music director in Bollywood, scoring music for films.- Birthplace: India, Mumbai
- Joginder (real name Joginder Shelly) was an Indian actor, director, producer, writer, singer, songwriter and distributor. Two Hindi films produced–directed–written–acted–distributed by him were "Super Hits" – Bindiya Aur Bandook and Ranga Khush. (In Indian cinema any film which runs for over 50 weeks continuously is classified as "Super Hit.") He successfully instituted a plagiarism suit against the producers of one of India's greatest films Sholay for substantially copying his work. The character Ranga Khush was a household name in India in the 1970s, especially among little children who copied his maniacal laugh and rolling eyeballs, and favourably compares with Gabbar Singh who copied him. The film Ranga Khush was a spinoff from Joginder's two-word dialogue in Bindiya aur Bandook (known internationally as "The girl with the gun").
- Birthplace: Khanewal, Pakistan
- Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and Politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Telugu and Hindi films and TV serials. He won a Filmfare Best Actor Award for Mundhanai Mudichu (1983). He is the editor of weekly magazine Bhagya and has also written several novels.
- Birthplace: Vellankoil
- Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian musician and playback singer. Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional and cinematic songs. He has recorded more than EightyThousand songs in a number of Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Odia and Telugu as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, during a career spanning more than five decades.Yesudas has performed in most Indian languages except for Punjabi, Assamese, Konkani, and Kashmiri. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s. Yesudas won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer record eight times, the Filmfare Awards South five times, and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer forty-three times, including awards given by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan (second-highest civilian award) in 2017 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts. In 2011 Yesudas was honoured with the CNN-IBN outstanding achievement award having recorded more than 80,000 songs in a five-decade career. In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai.
- Birthplace: India
Kanu Roy
Kanu Roy was an Indian film actor and music composer in Hindi and Bengali films. He gave music for most of Basu Bhattacharya's films. His most famous compositions are for Geeta Dutt, such as Aaj ki Kaalighata and Uski Kahani (1966), Lyrics: Kaifi Azmi, and the songs of Geeta Dutt's last film as a singer, Anubhav (1971) – "Koi Chupke Se Aake", "Mera Dil Jo Mera Hota" and "Meri Jaan Mujhe Jaan Na Kaho". He also gave two hits to Manna Dey in Anubhav – "Phir Koi Phool Khila" and in Avishkaar – "Hansne Ki Chaah Ne Kitna Mujhe Rulaya Hai". The Jagjit and Chitra Singh rendition of "Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye" in Avishkaar (1973) is also fairly well known. His other films were not so successful, however.- Birthplace: India
- Kaushal S. Inamdar (born 2 October 1971) is an Indian music composer and singer in Marathi and Hindi movies. His work in music spans from composing music for films, television, drama to events, concerts in Hindi and Marathi, composing music for ballets, advertisements, and also albums. He is currently settled at Goregaon, a Mumbai suburb.
- Birthplace: Pune, India
Khemchand Prakash
Dec. at 42 (1907-1950)Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 - 10 August 1949) was a music composer in the Hindi film industry. He had few peers in 1940s, the best decade for Indian film music which started with Saigal very active on the scene and ended with Lata Mangeshkar firmly established as the brightest star in the industry. Lata had fruitful association with him (in films Asha, Ziddi, Mahal) when she started making a name for herself. Many years after Khemchand Prakash's death, the ace composer Kamal Dasgupta rated him the best composer. Khemchand's brother, Basant Prakash, was also a film composer.- Birthplace: Jaipur, India
Kothainayaki Ammal
Dec. at 58 (1901-1960)Vaithamanithi Mudumbai Kothainayaki Ammal (1 December 1901 – 20 February 1960), familiarly known as Vai Mu Ko, was a Tamil writer, novelist, and journalist who was the first woman to occupy the editorial board of a Tamil magazine. She wrote 115 books and published a monthly Tamil magazine, Jaganmohini. Kothainayaki was the first female writer in Tamil to write a detective novel. She was interested in a variety of topics and excelled in fields like public speaking, social service, music composition, and fiction writing. Kothainayaki was also a feminist and a freedom fighter. She was hailed as the "Queen of Fictions" by contemporary authors. However, Kothainayaki was not well recognized in books about the history of Tamil literature.- Birthplace: Chengalpattu, India
- Krishnakumar Kunnath (popularly known as KK, K.K. or Kay Kay) is an Indian singer. He is a prominent singer in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati languages films. KK is noted for his clear and soothing voice; broad vocal range and noteplay. He is considered as one of the most versatile singers of India.
- Birthplace: New Delhi, India
- Aathira Krishna is an Indian violinist. She holds the Guinness World Record for her 32-hour-long non-stop Carnatic violin solo concert. She is among the youngest cultural ambassadors of India.
- Birthplace: Kerala, India
- Lakshminarayana Shankar (born 26 April 1950), also known as L. Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian violinist, singer, and composer. In the 1970s he formed the band Shakti with British guitarist John McLaughlin. His style combines jazz and Indian classical music, though he also worked in pop and rock, as with Peter Gabriel. Shenkar (aka Shankar, L.Shankar) is widely considered a living legend, a pioneer and a musical genius by his peers who hold him in the highest esteem. Shenkar has enthralled audiences and critics alike all over the world. A child prodigy who is a virtuoso violinist, vocalist (with 5 1/2 octaves range), composer and record producer who has sold over 50 million albums through his solo projects and collaborations with other artists throughout the world.Shenkar was born in Madras, India and grew up in Jaffna, Sri Lanka where his father V. Lakshminarayana Iyer was a professor at the Jaffna College of Music. He was exposed to Carnatic music and other styles from an early age.He started studying the vocal at the age of two then violin at five then mrdangam at seven. His father was an esteemed violinist, vocalist, his mother L Seethalakshmi played the veena and all his five older siblings were also proficient in music. At the age of seven, Shenkar gave his first public concert,at a Ceylonese temple, Nallur Kandaswarmy. He gained considerable reputation performing and recording with some of the most eminent names in Carnatic music, playing all through India, such as Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Chembai Vaithyanatha Baghavatar, Palghat Mani Iyer, Alathur Srinivasa Iyer and many other leading musicians besides his own solo concerts which he performed with the great Palghat Mani Iyer all over India and USA.
- Birthplace: Chennai, India
- Pandit Dr. Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (born 23 July 1947) is an acclaimed Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music, and renowned for his virtuoso playing techniques and compositions in orchestral fusion.
- Birthplace: Chennai, India
- Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (17 September 1930 – 22 April 2013) was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. His disciples included his two children Lalgudi G. J. R. Krishnan, Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, his sister Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandam, renowned musician S P Ramh (grandson of Shri. G.N. Dandapani Iyer), renowned Harikatha exponent Vishaka Hari, Saketharaman, Vittal Ramamurthy, Dr. N. Shashidhar, Film Music Composer Girishh G, Padma Shankar, Kanchan Chandran, Raghuram Hosahalli, Srinivasamurthy, Pakkala Ramdas, Sankari Krishnan, Yamini Ramesh, Mumbai Shilpa, Shreya Devnath, Krithika Natarajan, Salem Sisters, Arushi Ramesh, the leading Vainika Srikanth Chary and the Academy Award-nominated Bombay Jayashri Ramnath.
- Birthplace: Chennai, India
- Lucky Ali (born 19 September 1958), born Maqsood Ali (Nastaʿlīq: مقصود علی), is an Indian singer-songwriter, composer and actor.
- Birthplace: India, Mumbai
- M. G. Sreekumar is an Indian singer, music director, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works in Malayalam films and television. He has sung more than 3000 songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages. He owns a music company named KMG Musics and also Sareegama School of Music in Trivandrum. Sreekumar has won several awards, including two National Film Awards, three Kerala State Film Awards and a Filmfare Awards South.
- Birthplace: Haripad, India
Manmeet Meet
Manmeet Meet is a film score composer.Mohammed Zahur Khayyam
Age: 97Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi (18 February 1927 – 19 August 2019), better known mononymously as Khayyam, was an Indian music director and background score composer whose career spanned four decades.He won three Filmfare Awards: for Best Music in 1977 for Kabhi Kabhie and 1982 for Umrao Jaan, and a lifetime achievement award in 2010. He was awarded the 2007 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Creative Music, by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Theatre. He was awarded the third-highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India for 2011.- Birthplace: Rahon, India
Monty Sharma
Age: 54Monty Sharma (born April 17, 1970) is a music composer from India scoring music for Bollywood. He is popular for being the background music composer for Black (2005), Ram-Leela (2013) and music director for Saawariya (2007). He is cousin of famous Indian music composer Mithoon & nephew of famous music composer Pyarelal Sharma of popular Indian music composer duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal.- Birthplace: India, Mumbai
Nachiketa Sharma
Nachiketa (Sharma) Yakkundi (Kannada: ನಚಿಕೇತ, Devanagari:नचिकेत, IAST: Naciketā) is an Indian classical vocalist in the San Francisco Bay Area.- Birthplace: Karnataka, India
- Neeraj Vora (22 January 1963 – 14 December 2017) was an Indian film director, writer, actor and composer from Gujarat. He made a mark in Bollywood with his work as a writer for Aamir Khan's film Rangeela. His directorial debut was Khiladi 420 in 2000. Later in 2006, he wrote and directed Phir Hera Pheri. He suffered a stroke in October 2016, putting him in coma. He was working on Hera Pheri 3 before he went into coma and died on 14 December 2017 at 3 a.m. in Criti Care hospital, Mumbai.
- Birthplace: India, Ahmedabad
Nikhil Banerjee
Dec. at 54 (1931-1986)Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. A student of the legendary Baba Allauddin Khan, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee was known for his technical virtuosity and clinical execution. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He was a recipient of the Indian civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.- Birthplace: Kolkata, India
Nikhil D'Souza
Age: 43Nikhil D'Souza is an Indian playback singer, song writer and guitarist. He was the South Asia Soloist Winner at SUTASI '09. He made his playback singing debut in Rajshree Ojha's Aisha.- Birthplace: India, Mumbai
- Nitin Sawhney (born 1964) is a British Indian musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, his work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics, and spirituality. Sawhney is also active in the promotion of arts and cultural matters, and is a patron of numerous film festivals, venues, and educational institutions.
- Birthplace: Rochester, Kent, England, UK
P. Adinarayana Rao
Dec. at 75 (1915-1990)Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao (July 12, 1915–1991) was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil. Later, he produced several blockbuster Telugu movies under his own production house, Anjali Pictures, named after his actress wife, Anjali Devi. He also composed and produced music for several Tamil and Hindi movies. According to the music critic V. A. K. Rangarao, "Adinarayana Rao is credited for introducing Hindustani music in contemporary flavour and simplified orchestration, and thereby impressing both laymen audience as well cognoscenti. It is this music that survives him enthralling all the music lovers". Memorable music compositions from Rao are: "Rajasekhara Neepai Moju Theera Leduraa" in the movie Anarkali released in 1955, "Piluvakuraa Alugakuraa" in the movie Suvarna Sundari released in 1957, "Telugu Veera Levaraa Deeksha Booni Sagara" and "Vastaadu Naraju" in the movie Alluri Seetarama Raju released in 1974 and all songs including "Ghana Ghana Sundara" in Bhakta Tukaram, released in 1973.Music directors such as Satyam, Thotakura Venkata Raju and Laxmikant–Pyarelal honed their skills by working under him as assistant directors.- Birthplace: Kakinada, India
Philip V. Francis
Dec. at 43 (1964-2008)Philip V. Francis (5 November 1964 – 4 March 2008) was a tabla player, composer and Ghazal singer from Kerala, India. He died at the age of 43 in a bike accident, leaving his wife and son.- Birthplace: Thrissur, India
- Pravin Godkhindi (28 October 1973) is an Indian Classical Hindustani flute (Bansuri) player. He has mastered both the styles of Tantrakari and Gayaki style of playing on the Flute. He is a Top Ranking Artiste in Hindustani Bansuri, by Akashvani (AIR).
Pravin Mani
Pravin Mani is an Indian musician who has been credited as singer and as music composer in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and English films in India. He has been a long term associate with noted music director, A. R. Rahman, with recent collaborations in [[]]. He has also played a key role in the background scores for several Rahman films including Mudhalvan and Alaipayuthey. He resides in Toronto, Canada.- Birthplace: Chennai, India
Prem Dhawan
Dec. at 77 (1923-2001)Prem Dhawan is a film score composer and screenwriter.- Birthplace: Ambala, India
- Pritam Chakraborty (born 14 June 1971), also known mononymously as Pritam, is an Indian composer, record producer and music director for Bollywood films.
- Birthplace: Calcutta, India
Raaghav
Age: 50Venkataraghavan Ranganathan, better known as Raaghav on screen, is film actor and television personality in Tamil Nadu, India. Before his break into films, he appeared in season 1 of Jodi Number One.- Birthplace: India, Madurai
- Rabindranath Tagore ( (listen); born Robindronath Thakur, 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), and also known by his sobriquets Gurudev, Kabiguru, and Biswakabi, was a polymath, poet, musician, and artist from the Indian subcontinent. He reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of the "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse" of Gitanjali, he became in 1913 the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore's poetic songs were viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. He is sometimes referred to as "the Bard of Bengal".A Brahmo from Calcutta with ancestral gentry roots in Jessore, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old. At the age of sixteen, he released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha ("Sun Lion"), which were seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost classics. By 1877 he graduated to his first short stories and dramas, published under his real name. As a humanist, universalist, internationalist, and ardent anti-nationalist, he denounced the British Raj and advocated independence from Britain. As an exponent of the Bengal Renaissance, he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings, sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs; his legacy also endures in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University.Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced) and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla. The Sri Lankan national anthem was inspired by his work.
- Birthplace: Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Radhika Mohan Maitra
Dec. at 64 (1917-1981)Radhika Mohan Maitra (1917–1981) was an Indian sarod player and the guru of Narendra Nath Dhar, Kalyan Mukherjea, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Abanindra Maitra, Samarendra Nath Sikdar, and many other outstanding musicians of this generation. Maitra was considered an influential figure in 20th century sarod playing and received the title Sangeetacharya. He was among those awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971.Radhika Mohan Maitra came from a Bengali zamindar family that had a history of musicianship and of patronising that art. His grandfather, Lalit Mohan Maitra, was a player of the tabla, his father, Brajendra Mohan, played the sarod, and his mother learned the sitar. Among those who were patronised by his grandfather was Mohammed Amir Khan and it was he who acted as the guru and principal teacher of Radhika, although the pupil also learned other instruments and styles of music with his permission. In addition to his musical training, Maitra held an M.A. degree in philosophy, awarded by the University of Calcutta, and also a LL.B. law degree. He taught philosophy for a while and was also a noted musicologist with several books to his name.Maitra rose to prominence as a musician in the 1950s, when he was in demand for concerts both within India and elsewhere in the world. Aside from radio recitals, he performed in countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, China, New Zealand and the Philippines as part of cultural delegations organised by the Government of India, and he also performed in a non-government tour of the USA in 1975. It was from around that time that he gradually reduced his appearances, preferring instead to concentrate on teaching both the sarod and the sitar. His students were often obtained by a referral method, whereby a potential new pupil was introduced by someone who was already being taught by Maitra. Sometimes he would teach directly, and other times he would delegate the task to a student.In July 1944, Maitra married Lalita Chaudhuri, a lady from the "royal family" of Sushang. He died in 1981, aged 64, following an accident.- Birthplace: Kolkata, India
Raghav Sachar
Age: 43Raghav Sachar (born 24 July 1981, in India) is an Indian singer, composer and film scorer- Birthplace: India
- Rahul Raj is an Indian music composer. He has composed and produced original scores and soundtracks for Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil movies.
- Birthplace: Kochi, India
Ram Sampath
Age: 48Ram Sampath (born 25 July 1977) is an Indian composer, music producer and musician, who started his career composing advertising jingles for Mumbai-based advertising industry, subsequently he started composing for pop albums like Tanha Dil (2000) by Shaan, before composing for films like Khakee, Delhi Belly (2011), Talaash (2012), Raees etc. He has composed music for advertising jingles for brands like Airtel, Docomo, Thums Up, Pepsi and the Times of India.- Birthplace: Mumbai, India
- Ravi Shankar, (IPA: [ˈrobi ˈʃɔŋkor]; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012), born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury (Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury in Hindi), his name often preceded by the title Pandit (Master) and "Sitar maestro", was an Indian musician and a composer of Hindustani classical music. He was the best-known proponent of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century and influenced many other musicians throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999. Shankar was born to a Bengali Brahmin family in India, and spent his youth touring India and Europe with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956. In 1956, Shankar began to tour Europe and the Americas playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Beatles guitarist George Harrison. His influence on the latter helped popularize the use of Indian instruments in pop music in the latter half of the 1960s. Shankar engaged Western music by writing compositions for sitar and orchestra, and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992, he served as a nominated member of Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. He continued to perform until the end of his life.
- Birthplace: India, Varanasi
Ravindra Jain
Dec. at 71 (1944-2015)Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 - 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist, playback singer, and Bollywood film composer. He received the Best Music Director award from Filmfare for his work in Ram Teri Ganga Maili in 1985.. He started his career in the early 1970s, composing for hit movies such as Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978). He composed music for a lot of films and TV shows based on Hindu epics, including Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan (1987). He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India in 2015 for his contribution to arts.- Birthplace: Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
S. Hanumantha Rao
Dec. at 63 (1917-1980)Saluri Hanumantha Rao (1917–1980) (Telugu: సాలూరు హనుమంతరావు) was a music composer of South Indian films. He is son of Sri.Saluri Sanyasi Raju who was a mridangam player for the concerts of Sri. Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu and also a lyricist. Rao was born in 1917 at Sivaramapuram, near Salur (Vijayanagaram district). He is elder brother of Saluri Rajeswara Rao. He started his early life as a student of Sri. Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu. He was trained in Carnatic and Hindusthani classical music. He became music composer for Golla Baama in the year 1944. He has composed music for around 75 movies. Rao married Raja Mani with whom he had three daughters and one son. Rao died 27 May 1980.- Birthplace: Sivaramapuram, India
S. Rajeswara Rao
Dec. at 77 (1922-1999)Salur Rajeswara Rao (11 October 1922 – 25 October 1999) was an Indian composer, multi instrumentalist, conductor singer-songwriter, actor, music producer, and musician known for his works predominantly in South Indian cinema. Regarded as one of the finest music composers, Rao's works are noted for integrating Indian classical music in Telugu cinema for over half a century.In his recordings, Rao pioneered the use of light music in Telugu cinema; "Thummeda Oka saari", "Kopamela Radha", "Podarintilona", "Rave Rave Koyila", "Challa Gaalilo" and "Paata Paduma Krishna" were all written by his father. Rao's most rewarding assignments came from Gemini Studios, which he joined in 1940 and with which he remained for a decade.After leaving Gemini, he received an offer to provide music for B. N. Reddy's "Malleeswari" in 1950; the song was a hit. "Vipranarayana", "Missamma" and a host of other musical hits – more than a hundred in Telugu most of which won the National Film Awards for best film(s), and Tamil and a few in Kannada – followed. When Vijaya's Missamma (originally a Telugu film) was remade as Miss Mary in Bollywood, the film's soundtrack retained one of Rao's compositions.- Birthplace: India
Sachin Gupta
Age: 43Sachin Gupta (born 12 August 1984 in New Delhi) is an Indian music director, composer, guitarist, record producer and a Singer. His work has spanned everything from playing live shows with his previous band 'Mrigya' to composing indie pop albums for artists like Atif Aslam, Alisha Chinoy, Jal, Ahmed Jahanzeb, Apache Indian and Mika among others. Termed by international media as the 'Flying Finger Melodies', his music, as he says, is inspired by real life instances, while his guitar playing has been heavily influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen.- Birthplace: New Delhi, India
Sandeep Chowta
Sandeep Chowta is an Indian music director who primarily works in Bollywood and Telugu cinema. He is also the head of Columbia Records in India. He has also sung some of his songs. In 2003, he produced an anti substance abuse documentary, titled Dead End, which entered into numerous film festivals. This was produced by seventeen-year-old college student and drug activist, Tanya Khubchandani. In 2004 Chowta invited Jay Oliver and Richard Gannaway of the world/new age musical group, AO Music (also known as AO), to his Mumbai studio, and has since become one of the group's core members. AO Music also features Miriam Stockley, the voice of Karl Jenkins' Adiemus project, and children's choral ensembles from around the globe. AO Music album releases crediting Chowta have charted in the top five internationally since 2009.When it comes to Tollywood, he composed music for 10 films of which Akkineni Nagarjuna is associated with 5 films in some or the other way and Mohan Babu has been involved with remaining 5 films.- Birthplace: Ghana
Sandesh Shandilya
Age: 45Sandesh Shandilya is an Indian film composer, musician, singer, working in Bollywood, most known for his work in films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Chameli, Road, Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai and Socha Na Tha. His 2001 music album Piya Basanti was a mega-hit and won International viewers' choice award at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. His teacher, Ustad Sultan Khan sung the hit song Piya Basanti for him on this album. Till date his most praiseworthy composition is "Aoge jab tum sajna" from the film "Jab We Met". He took basic training of music from maestro Ustad Sultan Khan who was a noted Sarangi player too.Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Age: 70Sanjoy Bandopadhyay (born 16 September 1954) is a Bengali Hindustani classical sitar player. He is primarily a disciple of Radhika Mohan Maitra and Bimalendu Mukherjee. His performance is a unique synthesis of Senia-Shahjehanpur, Rampur-Senia and Etawah gharana.Satyasheel Deshpande
Age: 74Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande (born 9 January 1951) is a Hindustani classical musician who specialises in singing Khayal. He is a disciple of Pandit Kumar Gandharva and the son of musicologist Vamanrao Deshpande.- Birthplace: Mumbai, India
- Shankar Jaikishan (also known as S-J), were a popular and successful Indian composer duo of the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949 to 1971. They are considered to be among the best composers of the Hindi film industry. Later, Shankar continued to function as a Music Director alone, still giving music under the banner Shankar-Jaikishan, till 1987. Shankar-Jaikishan, along with other artists, composed "everlasting" and "immortal melodies" in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Their best work was noted for being "raga-based and having both lilt and sonority".
- Birthplace: Tanaku, India
- Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composing trio team for Indian films.
- Birthplace: Mumbai, India
Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi
Dec. at 64 (1922-1987)Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi was a film score composer. Shankar Raghuwanshi was a part of an Indian music composer duo in the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949–1971, known as Shankar Jaikishan. Shankar-Jaikishan, along with other artists, wrote "everlasting" and "immortal melodies" in fifties and sixties. Their best work was noted for being "raga-based and having both lilt and sonority".- Birthplace: Punjab Province
Shantanu Moitra
Age: 57Shantanu Moitra (born 22 January 1968) is an Indian background music director who has composed songs for the Hindi film industry, and is most known for his scores in the films Parineeta (2005), Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005), Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006) and 3 Idiots (2009), and private albums, Mann ke Manjeere and Ab ke Saawan sung by Shubha Mudgal. In 2014, he received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction (Background Score) for Na Bangaaru Talli.- Birthplace: Lucknow, India
Sharib Sabri
Age: 36Sharib Sabri is a singer from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.- Birthplace: Delhi, India
- Shibani Kashyap is an India singer, who is actively working in Bollywood film industry. She has Judged a reality singing show named Bathroom Singer. Kashyap achieved fame by singing the signature tune of the AIR FM channel of All India Radio and Amul India. Shibani mostly composes music in the Sufi-western blend. In 2012 she sang a Pakistani serial title song Mohabbat Jai Bhar Mein in Urdu language which was a major hit in Pakistan and as well as India too. She has made her acting debut in the Star Plus T.V show Veera as musician "Megha".
- Birthplace: India, Delhi
Shujaat Khan
Age: 64Shujaat Husain Khan (born 19 May 1960) is an Indian musician and sitar player of the Imdadkhani gharana (school of music). He has recorded over 60 albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for his work with the band Ghazal with Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor. He also sings frequently. His style of sitar playing, known as gayaki ang, aims to imitate the human voice.- Birthplace: India, Kolkata
- Sohail Sen (born 24 June 1984) is an Indian film composer, musician and singer who works in Bollywood. He debuted as a film composer with the Hindi film Sirf (2008), which went majorly unnoticed. Later, he gained fame as a Hindi film composer, with his acclaimed work in What's Your Raashee? (2009). He is also known for composing the popular soundtracks of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ek Tha Tiger, and Gunday.
Stephen Devassy
Age: 43Stephen Devassy (born 23 February 1981) is an Indian musician hailing from Palakkad, Kerala. He started his career at an early age, and has performed on stage around the world. Stephen is the founder of Musik Lounge, an audio technology school and studio in Chennai.- Birthplace: Ottapalam, India
Subbaraya Sastri
Dec. at 59 (1803-1862)Subbaraya Sastri (1803–1862) the son and student of Syama Sastri, one of the most famous figures in the history of Carnatic music. He also has the unique distinction of having studied music from all the three of the musicians now acknowledged as "the Trinity of Carnatic Music": his father, and the master musicians Tyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshitar.- Birthplace: India
Syama Sastri
Dec. at 65 (1762-1827)Shyama Shastri (IAST: Śyāma Śāstri; 26 April 1762–1827) or Syama Sastri was a musician and composer of Carnatic music. He was the oldest among the Trinity of Carnatic music, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar being the other two.- Birthplace: Thiruvarur, India
- Taufiq Qureshi (born 1962) is an Indian classical musician. He is a percussionist and a composer.
- Birthplace: India, Mumbai
- Toshi Sabri is an Indian singer and music composer. He gained fame with the song "Maahi" from the 2009 Bollywood film Raaz: The Mystery Continues.
- Birthplace: India, Punjab, India
- Tulsidas (Hindi pronunciation: [t̪ʊls̪iːd̪aːs̪]; 1532–1623), also known as Goswami Tulsidas, was a Hindu Vaishnava saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. Tulsidas wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi; he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana based on Rama's life in the vernacular Awadhi dialect of Hindi. Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. The Tulsi Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him. He founded the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman in Varanasi, believed to stand at the place where he had the sight of the deity. Tulsidas started the Ramlila plays, a folk-theatre adaption of the Ramayana.He has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poets in Hindi, Indian, and world literature. The impact of Tulsidas and his works on the art, culture and society in India is widespread and is seen to date in vernacular language, Ramlila plays, Hindustani classical music, popular music, and television series.
- Birthplace: Rajapur, India
Usha Khanna
Age: 84Usha Khanna (Hindi: उषा खन्ना; born 7 October 1941) is an Indian music director in Hindi cinema. She is the third female music director to enter the Indian film industry, after Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi and is one of the most commercially successful music directors in the male dominated music industry. She is most known for songs like Hum tum say juda ho ke (ek sapaira ek lutaira, 1965) "Chhodo kal ki baatein", "Shaayad meri shaadi ka khayal", "Zindagi pyaar ka geet hai" and "Aap to aise na the". She remained active for more than 3 decades from 1960s to 1980s. She is still active making some music for some movies and television-serials, more than 40 years after her debut as music director in Dil Deke Dekho (1959). She received a Filmfare Award nomination for composing the songs for the huge hit film Souten (1983). She was married to director, producer, lyricist, Sawan Kumar Tak, from whom she separated later on.- Birthplace: Gwalior, India
- Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928[1] – 13 March 2004) was an Indian classical sitar player. Along with Imdad Khan, Enayat Khan, and Imrat Khan, he is credited with the creation and development of gayaki ang (an attempt to mimic vocal music) on the sitar. He recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8, and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75.
- Birthplace: Gauripur, India, India
- Zakir Hussain was an actor who had a successful Hollywood career. Hussain worked on a variety of projects during his early entertainment career, including "Apocalypse Now" with Marlon Brando (1979), "Gang Related" (1997) and "Heat and Dust" (1983) starring Julie Christie. He also contributed to "In Custody" (1994), "Little Buddha" (1994) starring Keanu Reeves and "The Perfect Murder" (1990). In the early 2000s, Hussain devoted his time to various credits, such as "Everybody Says I'm Fine!" (2003) starring Rehaan Engineer, "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" with Rahul Bose (2003) and "One Dollar Curry" with Smriti Mishra (2004). He also worked on "James" (2005). Film continued to be his passion as he played roles in "World Cupp 2011" (2009) with Ravi Kapoor, the foreign "Phoonk 2" (2010) with Sudeep and the foreign "Satrangee Parachute" (2011) with Jackie Shroff. He also appeared in "Shagird" (2011) with Nana Patekar and "Not A Love Story" (2011) with Mahie Gill. Hussain most recently acted in the R Madhavan sports drama "Saala Khadoos" (2016).
- Birthplace: Bombay, State of Bombay, India
Verma Malik
Dec. at 83 (1925-2009)Verma Malik (13 April 1925, in Ferozepur – 15 March 2009, in Juhu) was a Bollywood lyricist. He was an active freedom fighter during the British Raj. He wrote many patriotic songs and lived in India after partition. He wrote Bhajan and recited them immediately prior to penning lyrics for films. Born as Barkatrai Malik, he took name of Verma Malik on the advice of Hansraj Behl who helped him in the beginning of his career. He penned lyrics first time for a song in 1952 film Jaggu. Later he wrote songs for other films including Shree Nagad Narayan (1955), Mirza Sahiban (1957), CID 909 (1957), Taqdeer (1958). He remained away from film industry for almost 7 years from 1961. He then wrote songs for Dil Aur Mohobbat (1967). His first big break was as Yaadgaar (1970 film) by Manoj Kumar. He is known for the song "Ek Tara Bole". Two more films in same year, Purab Aur Paschim and Pehchan got him due attention and he became prominent lyricist for Bollywood.- Birthplace: Firozpur, India
- Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of seven National Film Awards in four categories. Bhardwaj made his debut as a music composer with the children's film Abhay (The Fearless) (1995), and received wider recognition with his compositions in Gulzar's Maachis (1996). He received the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for the latter. He went on to compose music for the films Satya (1998) and Godmother (1999). For the latter, he garnered the National Film Award for Best Music Direction. Bhardwaj made his directorial debut with the children's film Makdee (2002), for which he also composed the music. He garnered critical acclaim and several accolades for writing and directing the Indian adaptations of three tragedies by William Shakespeare: Maqbool (2003) from Macbeth, Omkara (2006) from Othello, and Haider (2014) from Hamlet. He has also directed the caper thriller Kaminey, the black comedy 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), and the satire Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013). In addition, Bhardwaj produces films under his banner VB Pictures. He has co-written and produced the films Ishqiya (2010), its sequel Dedh Ishqiya (2014), and the crime drama Talvar (2015), among others. He has composed the musical score for each of his directorial and production ventures, and frequently collaborates with the lyricist Gulzar. He is married to playback singer Rekha Bhardwaj.
- Birthplace: India, Bijnor
The Best Movies Directed by Vishal BharadwajSee all
- 1Omkara59 Votes
- 2Maqbool50 Votes
- 3Kaminey: The Scoundrels46 Votes
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Age: 74Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, also known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is a Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena (slide guitar).- Birthplace: Jaipur, India
