{"id":9841,"date":"2025-07-07T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T01:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=9841"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T06:12:00","slug":"anil-biswas-blueprint-for-hindi-film-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/anil-biswas-blueprint-for-hindi-film-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Anil Biswas: Creating the Blueprint for Hindi Film Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anil

Anil Biswas<\/p><\/div>\n

When not yet 20, Anil Krishna Biswas was proficient in singing such Hindustani classical genres as khayals, thumris and dadra, and was also an accomplished singer in Shyama Sangeet* and Kirtans. Who could have thought that this young man would go on to become a doyen among the pioneers of Hindi film music?<\/p>\n

Early years<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anil Biswas was born\u00a0on the 7th of July 1914, in Barisal, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh),\u00a0 a fertile land that has produced many eminent musicians. His mother Yamini was a trained classical singer, who wrote, composed and sang bhajans and his father Jogesh Chandra Biswas was fond of music as well. The young Anil thus got initiated into music early in life, learning to play the tabla and the harmonium and sing.<\/p>\n

An energetic and committed boy, Anil Biswas participated in India’s freedom struggle at age 14 and was even incarcerated by the British administration for it. Upon his release, he escaped to Calcutta. He stayed for a while with his close friend Pannalal Ghosh (who went on to become one of the best-known flautists of India and married Biswas’s sister, the singer Parul Ghosh) doing odd jobs such as picking up and washing dishes at a restaurant. His spontaneous singing-while-working habit caught the attention of a magician, Manoranjan Das, and fetched him jobs as a music teacher. But his revolutionary past caught up with him and he was put back in jail.<\/p>\n

\"Kazi

Kazi Nazrul Islam<\/p><\/div>\n

Like many budding and talented musicians, Biswas too was helped by the legendary poet-composer-writer Kazi Nazrul Islam, who not only gave him songs to compose tunes for but also introduced him to leading music directors. Kazi Nazrul Islam helped him to record some of his ghazals and this training helped Biswas learn the techniques of ghazal composition and rendition.<\/p>\n

Along with Pannalal Ghosh, Biswas created music by alternating between playing the flute, the sitar and singing. \u00a0He wrote songs for Pannalal Ghosh\u2019s first record of flute.<\/p>\n

—xxx—<\/p>\n

The 1930s Calcutta<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the Calcutta of the 1930s, when studios such as New Theatres were the leading movie-producing centres, and the cultural scene was alive with pathbreaking work in the fields of music, theatre, and the arts. Anil Biswas spent three years at the Rang Mahal theatre, where he composed, acted, and sang in musical plays. This opportunity helped him experiment with various music forms, from classical to folk \u2013 an experience that equipped him to try out a wide range of genres in film music compositions.<\/p>\n

\"Anil

Anil Biswas and SD Burman<\/p><\/div>\n

Recalled Anil Biswas in the programme ‘Rasikeshu’, in conversation with music composer Tushar Bhatia, for Vividh Bharati, \u201cHum, Sachinda aur Saigal, hum teenon ek company ke artists thhe \u2013 Hindustan Musical Products and Varieties Syndicate Ltd., Calcutta mein. Main 1932 ki baat kar raha hoon. Hum log teenon bahut dost thhe. Aur hum teenon aakhir mein nikalte thhe aur ek saath mein chalke apne apne ghar jaate thhe. Unhone (SD Burman) teen khaas kism ke chheezon ko Hindi film mein laaye. Haalanke, Barisal ke taraf ke folk jo hum leke aaye thhe. Aur uske baad yeh Tripura ke jo khaas folk ka rang hai, woh leke aaye. Unke apne jo khud ke hain, woh ek rang thha. Hum ne aur unhone dono ne \u2013 dono ka baap hai Rabindranath Tagore, unse kaafi liya hai. Aur kirtan ke ang, jo unhone bhi liya hai aur humne bhi liya hai. Dono pagal thhe usmein.\u201d <\/em>1<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rahi matwale, tu ched ek baar mann ka sitar <\/strong><\/em> (Waris<\/em>, 1954) Qamar Jalalabadi \/ Talat Mahmood and Suraiya\u00a0(this tune is inspired from the Rabindra Sangeet Ore grihabashi<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n