Naushad Ali
Will there ever be anyone quite like Naushad Ali? He is truly a musical prodigy. He is the best we ever had. He brought life to the poetry of many writers and made them immortal. Notably Shakeel Badayuni. No one can ever reach the depths of Naushad. His mastery over folk and classical made him a class apart. He is truly Allah’s gift to this country. If he fell out it was simply because other music directors who were no match to Naushad used catchy tunes to rope in front benchers. Naushad a true worshipper of Indian music never changed his style for the sake of a few rupees.
Ghulam Mohammed
Naushad was actually an assistant under Ghulam Mohammed who was a true genius. Remember the immortal music of Mirza Ghalib? Remember Suraiyaa singing Ghalib’s compositions like’ Rahiye ab aisi jagah chal kar jahan koi na ho? It was Ghulam Mohammed’s magic wand that made these songs and the movie immortal. His music brought a whole new generation of fans to the great poetry of Ghalib. He is also credited to have set the score for Pakeeezah, a task later finished by his worthy disciple Naushad Ali.
RC Boral
Rai Chand Boral. A different place. A different time. A different music. A mighty icon of the pre-bollywood era. When movies meant music and his songs were on every lips. The legendry Golden Voiced KL Saigal sang to his tunes, so did the stalwarts of that era like Pankaj Mullik and KC Dey.
Sudhir Phadke
I dont know how many films did this creative genius do. But one film was enough to make him immortal. The song that he composed for Lata Mangeshkar in a relatively unknown movie won him and Lata the prestigious Filmfare award. I would rate the song as the best ever done in Bollywood. It was penned by the noted hindi poet Pandit Narendra Sharma and till this date I have not heard a more magical song. It is an ode to nature.
*Jyoti Kalash Chhalke
Hue gulabi, lal sunahare rang dal baadal ke
Jyoti kalash chhalke
and another one sung by Mukesh, perhaps one of his best.
Tumse hee ghar ghar kehlaya
The words, the voice and the music remain unparalleled in Hindi cinema.
Timir Baran
I wish I knew some more about this great son of Bengal. All I know is that he set music to what is perhaps Kundan Lal Saigals best rendition:’Baalam aye baso more man mein’ More importantly, the song is sung with the background of just one instrument, the sitar. And that magical sitar was played by none other than Timir Baran himself.
S.D. Burman
He needs no introduction. He is amply qualified to have a place of honour in this exclusive club and does not need the recommendation of likes of me! His works are all too well known. And whenever he sang, he brought the magic of Bengal to life.
Shankar Jaikishan
Were very modern yet traditional at the same time. They took inspiration from all sources, be it folk, classical or even western and produced some great music. Their contribution to the RK camp is well known. I still find music of Awara as their greatest. Lata sang some of her best songs under the duo’s baton. See how they used a very nascent voice of Lata in’ Barsaat’ and’ Aag’ I would rate these two as the best ever of Lata. Her voice has a magical flow in’ Barsaat mein hum se mile tum’
Salil Chowdhury, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Anil Biswas
were all great music directors and together with the likes of Roshan, Ravi and others produced great music in what was Bollywood’s Golden Years from 1950-1965
AR Rahman
I like the celebrated composer’s’Choti si Asha’ Sadly I am not much familiar with his other works. But can one Rahman alone save the Indian music from disaster that it faces in the hands of Remix Romeos?