Naushad passes away

Bollywood's most famous composer Naushad Ali is no more. He breathed his last this morning in Mumbai. He was 86.

Suhani raat dhal chukee ...

Born on December 25th 1919, Naushad has wooed several generations of Bollywood music lovers since the 1940s, when he tasted his first success as a movie director. His music training was under Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali and Ustad Babban Saheb. Trained in Hindustani music Naushad tastefully adapted it to Hindi films. Many of his compositions were inspired by Ragas and he even used distinguished classical artistes like Amir Khan and D.V. Pulaskar in Baiju Bawra (1952) and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in Mughal-e-Azam (1960) to achieve his objective.

Jo kahi gayi na mujhse, woh zamana keh raha hai ...

Naushad has probably left very little unsaid with his beautiful compositions, and its true for generations to come he will remain immortalized in our hearts. He was awarded one of India's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, in 1992. In 1982 he also received the Dadasaheb Phalke award - named after the father of Indian cinema - for his "lifetime contribution to Indian cinema".

Naushad played a big role in the careers of Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd. Rafi. The combination of Shakeel Badayuni, Naushad, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd. Rafi spelt instant success and will remain unparalleled for a long time.

We will miss you dearly Naushad sahab.
Gaye jaa geet milan ke, tu apani lagan ke ...
Kahe chalke naino ki gagri ... kahe barse jal ...
Tujh bin sooni sajan ki nagri .... jaate hain deep gagan ke .. tere darshan ke...

Read more about Naushad on Upperstall [Link]. His filmography on IMDB [Link]