Husnlal Bhagatram

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♫ Friday, February 4th, 2011

Husnlal Bhagatram

Husnlal Bhagatram are considered to be the first pair of music directors in Indian Film Industry, way back in 1944. It is said that the concept of music directors duo started with them. They served the bollywood in the era of Naushad, Anil Biswas and C. Ramachandra. They trained famous music director Shankar of Shankar Jaikishan.

Husnlal & Bhagatram were the first Hindi film music directors to work as a duo. Bhagatram was an ace harmonium player and Husnlal was an accomplished violinist and a good classical singer. They were younger brothers of the famous composer of the 40′s, Pandit Amarnath, and both worked as his assistants.

In 1944, the duo got their first break in the film Chand. The song, ‘Do Dilon Ko Yeh Duniya’ sung by Manju, was their very first hit. Husnlal – Bhagatram popularised Punjabi folk music, and featured its lilt and rhythm in their music compositions. In the late 1940s, they became the most celebrated composers with the success of films like Pyar Ki Jeet and Badi Bahen.

Their song, ‘Ek Dil Ke Tukde Hazaar Huye’ (Pyar Ki Jeet) sung by Mohammed Rafi brought in a new era of sad songs. They took a lot of pains to make sure this song was an instant hit. They also composed the famous song “Suno Suno Ai Duniya Walo, Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani”, sung by Rafi.

They worked with highly acclaimed lyricists like Shewan Rizvi, Aarzu Lucknavi, Brajendra Gaud, Kaif Irfani, Sarshar Sailani, Nakshab Jarachavi, Qamar Jalalabadi, Asad Bhopali, Rajendar Krishan and Mulk Raj Bhakri. Besides Rafi, Husnlal – Bhagatram worked with famous playback singers like Ameerbai Karnataki, Suraiyya, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambala, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Suman Kalyanpur, and Kishore Kumar.

The duo parted ways by the late sixties. Husnlal left for Delhi and Bhagatram stayed on in Bombay. Today, Husnlal’s family resides in Delhi, and Bhagatram’s younger son Ashok Sharma is a noted sitar player with Doordarshan.

The duo was born in Village Kahma, District Jalandhar, Punjab.

Husnlal & Bhagatram became the first music director who worked as a pair. They got their first break in the film ‘Chand’ in 1944. They gave their first hit with ‘Do dilon ko yeh duniya milne bhi nahin deti..’ sung by Manju.

Husnlal and Bhagatram were younger brothers of Pandit Amarnath, a famous composer of the 40′s. Husnlal was accomplished violinist, and also a good classical singer. Bhagatram was an ace Harmonium player. They both worked as assistants for Pandit Amarnath.

Husnlal & Bhagatram beacme the first music director who worked as a pair. They got their first break in the film ‘Chand’ in 1944. They gave their first hit with ‘Do Dilon Ko Yeh Duniya..’ sung by Manju. Husnlal Bhagatram popularised Punjabi folk music, and their range of music has a rare lilt and rhythm. They became the most sought after composers with the success of films like ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’ and ‘Badi Bahen’ in the late 1940′s.

Though many sad songs have been recorded before the song ‘Ek Dil Ke Tukde Hazaar Huye..’ (Pyar Ki Jeet) sung by Mohd. Rafi, got released. But this song gave a new dimensions to the sad songs. Mohd. Rafi got many sad songs after this one. According to Husnlal Bhagatram they had to put great efforts to make this song an instant hit. ‘Ek Dil Ke..’ was written by Qamar Jalalabadi, but according to him he did not wrote this song for ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’. He wrote it for ‘Sindoor’ in 1941 but Shashidhar Mukherji, director of ‘Sindoor’ rejected the song and declared it ‘useless’. Later, O P Dutta, director of ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’ heard it and was so excited that he changed the picturisation according to the demand of the song, and Husnlal Bhagatram proved him right, as the song became an instant hit soon after the release of the film.

Husnlal Bhagatram gave first break to Panjabi folk singer Surinder Kaur in ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’. Surinder Kaur sang four songs in ’Pyar Ki Jeet’. Before ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’ Surinder Kaur used to sing Panjabi non-film songs, and with ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’ she came to Bombay. It was a major break for her.

Their songs became a big rage. They composed the famous song “Suno Suno Ai Duniya Walo, Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani”, sung by Mohd. Rafi. This song became very popular all over the nation. Husnlal Bhagatram mostly used voices of Rafi, Lata, and Suraiya, who sang her own playback. They used songs written by Qamar Jalalabadi for most of their films.

They parted ways by the late sixties. Husnlal left for Delhi and Bhagatram stayed on in Bombay. Husnlal died in December 1968, and Bhagatram expired in November 1973. Husnlal’s family resides in Delhi, and Bhagatram’s son Ashok Sharma is a noted sitarist with Doordarshan, and lives in Mumbai with family.

Filmography

Films to their credits include:

Chand (in 1944, their first movie as a pair)

Meean Bazaar

Afsana

Aansoo

Amar Kahani

Apsara

Badi Behan

Balam

Farmaaish

Nargis