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Melodic Genius: Ravindra Jain’s Triple-Talent Legacy

February 28, 2025 | By NS Rajan

Ravindra Jain uniquely mastered three artistic roles—composer, lyricist, and singer—creating hundreds of Hindi film songs. NS Rajan explores the music of the unusual genius who came to be known for his soulful songs in middle-of-the-road realistic films. A Silhouette Special tribute on Ravindra Jain’s birth anniversary.

Ravindra Jain (Pic: Bollywood Hungama/Wikipedia)

Ravindra Jain, a musical virtuoso who crafted melodies that still resonate in the hearts of millions, remains one of Hindi cinema’s most underappreciated geniuses. Born without sight but blessed with extraordinary musical vision, Jain’s compositions transcended mere entertainment to become the soundtrack of an era. His remarkable ability to fuse classical traditions with contemporary sensibilities produced timeless works that captured the essence of Indian cultural aesthetics—pure, melodious, and deeply moving. Despite creating nearly 700 songs, and carving an inimitable niche in the highly competitive world of Hindi film music, this multifaceted composer, lyricist, and singer never received the industry recognition his immense talent deserved.

Ravindra Jain was born, visually handicapped, in Aligarh (UP) on 28 February 1944. His father, a Sanskrit Pundit, decided to give him training leading to a career in music rather than a routine school education. He thus began singing at an early age.

In those days, many talented musicians and singers from UP and Punjab seeking a career in film music would find their way to Bombay after a stint in Calcutta. Like Talat Mahmood, Ravindra Jain too took this route. His break in films came with the song Ghungroo ki tarah, bajta hi raha hoon main for a film with the unlikely title of Chor Machaye Shor (1974), which also included the smash hit duet Le jayenge, le jayenge, dilwale dulhaniya le jaayenge. The popularity of the song was such that 20 years later, it became the title of one of the biggest and longest running blockbusters of Hindi cinema – Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.

le jayenge le jayenge dilwale dulhania le jayenge

Shashi Kapoor and Mumtaz in Le jayenge, le jayenge, dilwale dulhaniya le jaayenge

Ravindra Jain was also a wordsmith and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics for most of his songs himself in the film he worked – an unusual feat for composers in the film industry. Besides film songs, he also wrote and composed bhajans, kirtans and geets.

The popularity of Chor Machaye Shor’s songs opened up the gates for him and Ravindra Jain came to be known for melodious music for simple, grounded, realistic movies that were middle-of-the-path cinema. The stories would be about ordinary people one could relate to, and thus, his music, too, was hummable. Rajshri Productions was known for making such films and Ravindra Jain’s music style suited these films perfectly. Being a lyricist himself and brought up in a very traditional household, his songs had lyrical, touching words that appealed to everyone.

As he went along, Ravindra Jain developed his own stamp – melodies that were soft and pleasant to the ears, words that were endowed with the sanskriti that he had acquired from his father and his family steeped in tradition and singers that were little known in Hindi film industry or talented newcomers.

Ravindra Jain became a regular with Rajshri Productions and we got a slew of well-made films known for their music. Let’s look at a few memorable films and songs –

* Saudagar (1973) – Tera mera saath rahe, and Sajna hai mujhe

* Geet Gata Chal (1975) – Shyam teri bansi, Mangal bhavan amangal haari, and title song

* Chitchor (1976) – all songs

* Tapasya (1976) – Jo raah chuni tune and Do panchhi do tinke

* Paheli (1977) – Sona, kare jhilmil Jhilmil

* Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye (1977) – Le toh aaye ho humein sapno ki gaon mein

* Ankhiyon ke Jharokhon Se (1978) – all songs

* Sunayna (1979) – title song

* Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979) – title song

* Gopal Krishna (1979) – Nirbharan ka karke bahaana

* Naiyya (1979) – O goriya re

* Nadiya Ke Paar (1982) – Kaun disaa mein le ke chalaa re batohiyaa

Shyam teri bansi (Geet Gata Chal, 1975) Ravindra Jain / Ravindra Jain / Arati Mukherji and Jaspal Singh

Ravindra Jain had a very close association with KJ Yesudas and they held each other in high regard. A giant in the music world, Yesudas’s first popular Hindi playback was the duet Janeman janeman with Salil Chowdhury in Choti Si Baat (1970). But it was with Ravindra Jain that Yesudas scored his biggest Hindi hits, beginning with Chitchor. With its sylvan setting and a simple story interestingly told, Chitchor’s songs (two solos, and two duets with Hemlata) were so tuneful and rendered so beautifully that every song depicted a part of the story itself. All the lyrics were written by Jain and thus the musical fusion was flawlessly complete and riveting.

Each song of Chitchor was a heart stealer – be it the romantic duet Jab deep jale aana, the teasing Gori tera gaon bada pyara, the carefree Aaj se pehle (with an undertone of sadness) or the semi-classical duet Tu jo mere sur mein.

Jab deep jale aana (Chitchor, 1976) Ravindra Jain / Ravindra Jain / KJ Yesudas and Hemlata

Jain continued his association with Yesudas even after Chitchor creating a range of memorable songs in different genres. Can we forget the buoyant O goriya re in Naiyya (1979), the affectionate lullaby Teri bholi muskaanon ne mujhe babul bana diya in Babul (1986), the melancholic Ae mere udaas mann in Maan Abhimaan, the exuberant Sunayna, aaj in bahaaron ko tum dekho in Sunayna, 1979, or the fun song Khushiyan hi khushiyan ho daman mein jiske in Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye (1977)? It is said that Jain was so fascinated by the way Yesudas sang that Yesudas’ face was the first he wanted to see if he ever received his vision. It is no surprise that the composer described his favourite voice as the ‘Voice of India’.

Besides Yesudas, Jain is credited with introducing Suresh Wadkar, Jaspal Singh and Hemlata to playback singing in Hindi films. Bengal’s renowned singer Arati Mukherjee has sung only a handful of songs in Hindi films and among them, Shyam teri bansi and Do panchhi do tinke are particularly well-known. Same goes for Banashree Sengupta with Khushiyan hi khushiyan ho.

Ae mere udaas mann (Maan Abhimaan, 1980) Ravindra Jain / Ravindra Jain / KJ Yesudas

Though Ravindra Jain preferred Yesudas, Jaspal Singh, Suresh Wadkar and Mohd Rafi for the male voice in his songs, the Kishore Kumar ditty in Tapasya (1976) stands in a place of its own for the sheer inspiring power of lyrics and music.

Jo raah chuni tune
Us raah pe rahi chalte jana re
Ho kitni hi lambi raat
Diya ban jalte jana re

Jo raah chuni tuney (Tapasya, 1976) Ravindra Jain / M.G Hashmat / Kishore Kumar

For all the success that came his way, Ravindra Jain was ever so humble a person. Behind the immense popularity of the songs of Chor Machaye Shor, particularly Le jayenge, le jayenge, dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge, lies a small story of frustration when tune after tune proposed by him was rejected by either NN Sippy or Shashi Kapoor. It was only when he gave them a final ultimatum that the hugely popular songs were given the Green Signal.

In an interview, Ravindra Jain had recalled: “Finally I was tired and wanted to give up. I told Sippy Saab that this is my final tune and if you don’t like it, I am leaving the film. When I sang to him the tune with dummy lyrics, he immediately said, ‘This is what we are looking for’. Till today marriage-bands are playing that song. For what reasons, one particular song would click, no one knows! I used to love songs of Madan Mohan, Roshan and SD Burman. Lataji’s voice was another big influence and I always used to wonder whether I would ever get a chance to compose for her. Finally Radheshyamji provided me that first opportunity in a film called Lori where she sang for me the song – Jo dard diyaa tumne aankhon mein piro lenaa. Unfortunately that film was shelved and its songs never got released.”

Composers believe that all their compositions are superhits or hits. But, Jain honestly declared: “For what reasons, one particular song would click, no one knows!” That is the real truth about the success of Hindi film songs but not many would have admitted it.

He was totally devoted and committed to music and creation of music. A popular story about Ravindra Jain describes how he didn’t leave the recording studio without finishing a song even when he was given the news of his father’s death. (Source: Ravindra Jain: The man who introduced Yesudas to us. Hindustan Times).

Ankhiyon ke jharokhon se (Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, 1978) Ravindra Jain / Ravindra Jain / Hemlata, Ravindra Jain and Shailendra Singh

Following his work in Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), an impressed Raj Kapoor retained Jain for his highly successful film Henna (1991). Jain also wrote the lyrics for 8 of the 10 songs in it. Reportedly, this film’s soundtrack was the year’s sixth highest-selling album. The film was a superhit for the excellent musical score by Ravindra Jain with hits such as Main hoon khush rang Henna, Naar daana anar daana and Der na ho jaye kahin. Ravindra Jain was nominated for the Best Lyricist award for his Main hoon khush rang Henna. The song Marhaba Sayyedi is a tribute to Prophet Muhammad with lyrics that express admiration and devotion. The song achieved high popularity for its devotion, admiration, and respect for Prophet Muhammad and his teachings. This testifies to the principled, devotion oriented and secular outlook that Jain had imbibed with which he stamped his creations.

Raj Kapoor broke from tradition of getting Laxmikant-Pyarelal to score the music in his directorial ventures when he signed Ravindra Jain for Ram Teri Ganga Maili. The film’s songs were a runaway success. Later, when Ravindra Jain was asked if the highly popular song Sun saiba sun pyar ki dhun was suggested by its writer-producer-director and editor Raj Kapoor, he said, “Raj-ji did suggest to me the tune and words of the first line of the song. He had that mukhda in mind for many years. But the moment he sang to me Sun saaiba sun pyaar kee dhun, I sang to him the next line, Maine tujhe chun liyaa, too bhee mujhe chun! Hasratji later completed the song. Barring that first line, the entire song was my composition. Raj-ji used to compliment me: ‘In you I have found Shankar-Jaikishan and Shailendra together!” (Source: Meeting Ravindra Jain. By Dr Mandar v. Bichu)

Ravindra_Jain lyricist music composer singer

Ravindra Jain at the launch of his album Atma Ajar Amar Hai (Pic Bollywood Hungama/Wikipedia)

Ravindra Jain composed several songs for Malayalam movies. Besides films, he also composed music for TV Serials; the most prominent among them was Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, a serial that used to bring the entire nation to a halt whenever it was telecast. And if you thought, he was best known for soulful songs, just listen to the side-splitting Thande thande paani se nahaana chahiye in Pati, Patni aur Woh – a song that became the shower anthem.😀

Touching upon the handicap that he was born with, Ravindra Jain had said, “Personally, I obviously face some difficulties. But I have always tried to count my blessings and not focus on my minus points. Being blind, I have been able to concentrate better, get involved in my work better. You should never let these problems get the better of you. You should never give up in life.” (Source: Meeting Ravindra Jain. By Dr Mandar v. Bichu)

Advice that all of us could adopt and follow. Ravindra Jain not only gave out that advice; He lived by that tenet.

Jaate huye yeh palchhin (Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, 1978) Written, composed and sung by Ravindra Jain

More Must Read in Silhouette

Madan Mohan: The Composer of the Classes

The Super Hits and the Forgotten Gems: 50 Years of Bappi Lahiri

Khayyam: The Gentle Giant

Vasant Desai: When Classical Music, Dance Themes and Bhajans Gained Mass Popularity

Whether you are new or veteran, you are important. Please contribute with your articles on cinema, we are looking forward for an association. Send your writings to amitava@silhouette-magazine.com

About the Author

NS Rajan (10 Posts)

NS Rajan is a retired senior IRS Officer. He is an avid reader and a sports lover, particularly cricket, having watched many greats in action from the late 1940s (he has played cricket at a fairly competitive level). He loves listening to music of all genres, is fascinated by Hindi film music of the ‘golden era’ and has written many essays on composers, lyricists and singers. Rajan loves to sing and spends some of his time singing on his karaoke system. He likes to write and has contributed articles, short stories and letters to newspapers and magazines, some of which have been published in Silhouette Magazine and LnC. Rajan is very fond of travelling and learning about new and fascinating places and is a keen observer of all that he sees, hears and observes during his travels. Travel and photography usually always go together and Rajan has been interested in photography from his teens, weaned on a German Zeiss Ikon. His abiding love for travel and photography inspired him to write an illustrated book on his trip to the USA, Go West Odyssey: How I Saw America in 19 Days, including in it a number of pictures taken by him during the trip. He works actively to keep himself engaged in some mental pursuit or the other and to keep himself mentally and physically fit at the ripe old age of 89.
All Posts of NS Rajan

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One thought on “Melodic Genius: Ravindra Jain’s Triple-Talent Legacy”

rachna rajesh March 13, 2025 at 1:10 pm

Really enjoyed this marvellous piece on a marvellous but underrated composer. I did a double take seeing his repertoire in a nutshell , here . For the sheer number of hits he gave , he should gave been labelled a genius , no less ! Most of our favourite numbers from the 70s and 80s were by him.
Had not registered that he wrote lyrics as well. Thanks for showcasing a humble legend who is not talked of enough . Wonderful and fascinating read as usual.

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