Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar (12 January 1918 – 5 January 1982), also known as C. Ramchandra or Chitalkar or Anna Sahib, was an Indian music director and playback singer.C Ramchandra - Music Director
Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation website, Retrieved 12 January 2022 As a composer, he mostly used the name C. Ramchandra, though he also used the names Annasaheb (in the movies ''Bahadur Pratap'', ''Matwale'', and ''Madadgaar''), Ram Chitalkar (in the movies ''Sukhi Jeevan'', ''Badla'', ''Mr. Jhatpat'', ''Bahadur'', and ''Dosti''), and Shyamoo (in the movie ''Yeh hai duniya''). Further, he often sang and acted in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

movies under the name R. N. Chitalkar. For his career as an occasional playback singer he used only his surname Chitalkar. Chitalkar sang some renowned and unforgettable duets with

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

such as "Kitna Haseen Hai Mausam" in the film '' Azaad'' (1955) and "Shola Jo Bhadke" in '' Albela'' (1951).

Biography

Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar was born on 12 January 1918 in

Puntamba Puntamba is a market town situated on the banks of the Godavari River in Rahata taluka, Ahmednagar District in the state of Maharashtra in India. The village contains the 14th and the final resting place of the sage Changdev. The town is known ...

into a

Marathi Brahmin Marathi Brahmins (also known as Maharashtrian Brahmins), are communities native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are classified into mainly three sub-divisions based on their places of origin, " Desh", " Karad" and "Konkan". The Brahmi ...

family, a small town in

Ahmednagar district Ahmednagar district (Marathi pronunciation: �ɦ(ə)məd̪nəɡəɾ is the largest district of Maharashtra state in western India. The historical Ahmednagar city is the headquarters of the district. Ahmednagar and Sangamner are largest cities in ...

in Maharashtra,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He studied music under Vinayakbua Patwardhan at "Gandharva Mahavidyalaya" and also under Shankarrao Sapre of Nagpur where he studied music alongside

Vasantrao Deshpande Vasantrao Deshpande (2 May 1920 – 30 July 1983) was a Hindustani classical vocalist renowned for his contribution to Natya Sangeet (musical dramas). Early life Vasantrao Deshpande was born into a Deshastha Brahmin family in Murtizapur, Akol ...

. He joined the movie industry playing the lead role in Y. V. Rao's movie, ''Naganand''. He also had some small roles at Minerva Movietone in the movies '' Said-e-Havas'' (1936) and ''

Atma Tarang ''Atma Tarang'' is a 1937 Hindi social drama film directed by Sohrab Modi. This film and ''Khan Bahadur'', made the same year, were the first films produced under Modi's newly established banner, Minerva Movietone (1936). The music was composed b ...

'' (1937). Ramchandra provided harmonium accompaniment for Minerva composers Bundu Khan and Habib Khan. He debuted as music director in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

movies with Jayakkodi and '' Vana Mohini''. He received public notice as a good composer in Bhagwan Dada's ''Sukhi Jeevan'' (1942), and established a long association that culminated with the musical box office hit '' Albela'' (1951). Influenced by Benny Goodman, Ramchandra introduced in his compositions the alto sax in combination with guitar and harmonica. He also included whistling in one of his famous songs, ''Aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday'' in film ''

Shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.Albela''.woh toh hai albela
/ref> He sang the title song "Shin Shinaki Boobla Boo" with

, which included rock rhythms. He provided the musical score for the scat song "Ina mina dika" in '' Aasha'' (1957). Perhaps C. Ramchandra's biggest success as a music composer was the 1953 movie '' Anarkali'' starring Beena Roy in the title role and Pradeep Kumar. The songs that he composed for this movie are today legendary. Songs of this movie like "Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai", "Mujhse Mat Poochh Mere Ishq Main Kya Rakha Hai", "Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan Hai", "Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag" etc. went on to become huge hits and were highly acclaimed. ''Anarkali'' also perhaps saw the famed composer-singer combination of Ramchandra and

at their best ever together. A film critic in London who watched the movie is said to have remarked that the heroine sang like an angel without knowing that the angel was actually Lata giving playback for the actress. Similarly, C. Ramchandra's compositions in V. Shantaram's ''

Navrang Navrang is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film co-written and directed by V. Shantaram. The film is noted for its dance sequences with lead actress Sandhya and music by C. Ramchandra, while playback singer Mahendra Kapoor made his singing debut wi ...

'' (1959) and '' Stree'' (1961) were also quite popular and are still remembered. The highly popular patriotic song ''" Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon"'', which was sung by

and penned by poet Pradeep, was a composition of Ramchandra. It was later performed live, by

, in the presence of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

, in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

in 1963. It is said

became so sentimental that tears rolled down his cheeks.C. Ramchandra (profile)
MySwar.com website, Retrieved 12 January 2022 On 27 Jan 2014,

was felicitated by the then chief minister of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

at Mumbai to commemorate the 51st Anniversary of this song. Ramchandra similarly provided a memorable musical score accompanying a competition between two dancers whose roles were played by Padmini and

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...

for the song '' Kannum Kannum Kalanthu'' lyrics penned by Kothamangalam Subbu, sung by

P. Leela Porayathu Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, ...

and

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese langua ...

in the Tamil movie '' Vanjikottai Valiban'' (1958). He remade the song in Hindi as "Aaja Tu Raja Aaja" from '' Raj Tilak'' (1958) written by P. L. Santoshi where

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

and Sudha Malhotra rendered their voice. Ramchandra provided music compositions for a few

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, and Bhojpuri movies besides

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

movies. He also produced three Hindi movies with New Sai Productions namely ''Jhanjhar'' (1953), ''Lehren'' (1953), ''Duniya Gol Hai'' (1955). In the late 1960s, Ramchandra produced two Marathi movies, ''Dhananjay'' (1966) and ''Gharkul'' (1970). Apart from composing music, he also acted in them. Ramchandra wrote his autobiography ''The Symphony of My Life'' (''माझ्या जीवनाची सरगम'' in Marathi) in 1977.

Death

C. Ramchandra died on 5 January 1982, a week before his 64th birthday, in Mumbai, India.

Awards and recognition

His music fans were disappointed, when he was nominated for 'Best Music Director' twice for Filmfare Awards for the films Azaad (1955) and Aasha (1957) but ended up not actually winning them. It should also be mentioned here that one of his most successful films was Anarkali (1953) and it was released one year before the first Filmfare Award was given in 1954. Mumbai based troupe Musicolor, which is promoting vintage music, presented an exclusive tribute programmes featuring the gems of C Ramchandra at Dinanath Mangeshkar auditorium on 22 January 2010.

Popular songs

Though Ramchandra used a number of ragas in his compositions, his favourite remained raga "

Bageshri Raga Bageshri or Bageshree () is a Hindustani classical raga. It is a popular night raga, which is meant to depict the emotion of a woman waiting for reunion with her lover. It is said to have been first sung by Miyan Tansen, the celebrated ...

" ( Radha na bole - Azad, 1955). In a 1978 interview at BBC studios with Mahendra Kaul, he ascribed the reason to Bageshri's simplicity. However, he also composed songs in other ragas including

Malkauns Malkauns, known also as rag Malkosh, is a raga in Indian classical music. It is one of the oldest ragas of Indian classical music. The equivalent raga in Carnatic music is called Hindolam, not to be confused with the Hindustani Hindol. Accordi ...

('' Aadha hai chandrama- Navrang''). The following is a short list of some of Ramchandra's best compositions: * ''Yeh Zindagi Usi Ki Hai'' ('' Anarkali'') * ''Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo'' * ''Dheere Se Aaja Ri Ankhiyan Mein'' ('' Albela'') * ''Bholi soorat dilke khote, naam bade aur darshan chhote'' (''Albela'') * ''Mere dilki ghadi karen tiktiktik O baje raatke baaraa'' (''Albela'') * ''Katatay hain dukh mein yeh din'' (''Parchhaain'') * ''Tum kya jaano, tumhari yaad mein'' (''Shin Shinaki Bubala Boo'') * ''Aankhon mein sama jao is dil mein raha karana'' (''Yasmin'') * ''Kitna haseen hai mausam'' (''Azaad'') * ''Shola Jo Bhadke, Dil Mera Dhadke'' (''Albela'') (1951) * ''Mohabbat Hi Na Jo Samjhe, Woh Zalim Pyar Kya Jane'' {''Parchhain'') (1952) * '' Ina Meena Dika '' ('' Aasha'') * ''Qismat Ki Hawa Kabhi Naram'' ('' Albela'') * ''Koi kisi ka deewaana na bane'' (''Sargam'') * ''Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag'' (''Anarkali'') * ''Mehfil mein jal uthi shama'' (''Nirala'') * ''Aye pyar teri duniya se hum'' (''Jhanjar'') * ''Wafaaon ka majboor daman bichha kar dua kar gume dil khuda se dua kar'' (''Anarkali'') * ''Muhobbat aisi dhadkan hai jo samjhayi nahi jati'' (''Anarkali'') * ''Main jagu sari rain'' (''Bahu Rani'') * ''Ab woh raate kahan ab woh baate kahan'' (''Yasmin'') * '' Kannum Kannum Kalanthu'' ('' Vanjikottai Valiban'') (Tamil film) * ''Jo mujhe bhula ke chale gaye'' (''Sangeeta'') * ''Mujh se mat poochh mere ishq mein kya rakha hai'' (''Anarkali'') * ''Dekho ji bahar aayi'' (''Azad'') * ''Jo dil ko jalaye sataye dukhaye aisi muhobbat se hum baaz aaye'' (''Nirala'') * ''Mujh pe ilzaam-e-bewafaai hai'' (''Yasmin'') * ''Aye chand pyar mera tujh se ye kah raha hai'' (''Khazana'') * ''Muhobbat mein aise zamane bhi aaye'' (''Sagaai'') * ''Aa ja ab to aa ja'' ('' Anarkali'') * ''Tere dar se khushi mangi magar gum de diya tu ne'' (''Hungama'') * ''Tere phoolon se bhi pyar'' (''Nastik'') * ''Kali kali ratiyan yaad sataye'' (''Ghungaroo'') * ''O nirdayi pritam'' (''Stree'') * ''Balma bada nadan'' (''Albela'') * ''Dil se bhula do tum humen'' (''Patanga'') * Sipayee O Sipayee (

Akbar Salim Anarkali ''Akbar Salim Anarkali'' is a 1978 Indian Telugu-language historical romance film produced & directed by N. T. Rama Rao under his Ramakrishna Cine Studios banner. The film stars Rama Rao, Nandamuri Balakrishna and Deepa, with music composed by ...

) (Telugu film) * ''Kaghaz ki thi woh nao jis main ham jarahe the'' (''Zaban'') * ''Dil ki duniya basa ke sawariyan'' (''Amardeep'') * ''Jab Dil Ko Sataave Gham, Chhed Sakhi Sargam'' (Sargam) (1950) * ''Dekh Tere Sansaar Ki Haalat Kya Ho Gai Bhagwan'' (''Nastik'') (1954) * ''Naa Bole Naa Bole Naa Bole Re'' ( Azad) * ''Aplam chaplam chaplai re'' * '' Mere man ka baanvra panchhi kyon baar baar dole'' * ''Dekh hamen awaaz na dena'' (''Amardeep'') * ''Aapka chehra mashalla'' (''Rootha Na Karo'') * ''Bechain Nazar Betaab Jigar'' (Yasmin) * ''Kehte Hai pyar kisko panchi jara bata de(Baarish)'' C Ramchandra composed music for some Marathi songs, which are lovely as well. * ''Malamali Tarunya Maze'' – ''Gharkul'' (1970) Singer –

/ Lyrics –

Suresh Bhat Suresh Bhat ( mr, सुरेश भट; 15 April 1932 – 14 March 2003) was a Marathi poet from the state of Maharashtra, India. Life Suresh Bhat converted to Buddhism with the help of Bhante Surai Sasai. Because of Buddhism was the rel ...

* ''Pachole Amhi Ho Pachole'' – Singer Chitalkar / Lyrics – Anna Joshi {The tune was later reused in

Damini ''Damini'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed and co-written by Rajkumar Santoshi. It stars Meenakshi Seshadri in the titular role with Sunny Deol, Rishi Kapoor and Amrish Puri. Aamir Khan makes a special appearance. T ...

(1993) as ‘Gawah Hai Chand Taare’ by Nadeem Shravan} * ''Achandrasurya Nando Swatantrya Bharatache'' – ''Gharkul'' (1970) / Singer – Rani Verma & Chorus, Lyrics – Ga Di Madgulkar

Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar Gajānan Digambar Mādguḷkar (1 October 1919 – 14 December 1977) was a Marāthi poet, lyricist, writer and actor from India. He is popularly known in his home state of Mahārāshtra by just his initials as Ga Di Mā (गदिमा). He w ...

* House of Bamboo – ''Gharkul'' (1970) Singers –

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhe ...

, Pramila Datar and Chorus / Lyrics –

Shanta Shelke Shanta Janardan Shelke ( Marathi: शांता शेळके) (12 October 1922 – 6 June 2002) was a Marathi poet and writer in the Marathi language. She was also a noted journalist, and academic. Her work included song compositions, stor ...

* ''Aai Bagh Na Kasa Ha Dada'' – Balgeet/Song for kids (1972) / Singer – Sushma Shrestha, Lyrics – Shanta Shelke * ''Roop Pahta Lochani'' – ''Sant Nivrutti Dnyandev'' (1964) / Singer – Asha Bhosle, Lyrics –

Sant Dnyaneshwar Sant Dnyaneshwar (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ɲaːn̪eʃʋəɾ, also referred to as Jnaneshwar, Jnanadeva, Dnyandev or Mauli or Dnyaneshwar Vitthal Kulkarni (1275–1296), was a 13th-century Indian Marathi saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of ...

Filmography

Movies for which Ramchandra provided musical scores are listed below in alphabetical order: # Aanchal (1960) # Azaad (1955) # Ahinsa (1947) # Albela (1951) # Amar Rahe Yeh Pyar (1961) # Amar Deep (1958) # Anarkali (1953) # Aasha (1957) # ''

'' (1979) # Baarish (1957) # Bachchon Ka Khel (1946) # Badla (1943) # Bahadur (1944 film) # Bahadur Pratap (1947) # Bahurani (1963) # Balram Shri Krishna (1968) # Bhakt Raj (1943) # Chhatrapati Shivaji (1952) # Daal Me Kaala (1964) # Devta (1956) # Dil Ki Baat (1944) # Dosti (1946) # Duniya (1949) # Duniya Gol Hai (1955) # Ghungroo (1952) # Girls School (1949), with Anil Biswas # Hanso Hanso Ae Duniya Walo (1942) # Hum Diwane (1965) # Hungama (1952) # Insaniyat (1955) # Jhaanjhar (1953) #

Jhamela ''Jhamela'' (English: Problem) is a 1953 Hindi comedy thriller film produced and directed by Bhagwan, for his Bhagwan Art Productions. The film was a repeat formula Bhagwan had earlier used in his commercially successful film '' Albela'' (1951). ...

(1953) # Jitne Door Utne Paas (1960) (Unreleased) # Kaarigar (1965) # Kavi (1954) # Khazana (1951) # Khidki (1948) # Labelaa (1966) # Lahren (1953) # Lalkar (1944) # Leela (1947) # Lutera (1955) # Madadgaar (1947) # Madam Zapata (1962) # Manorama (1944) # Matwale (1947) # Meenar (1954) # Mera Munna (1948) # Mr. Jhatpat (1943) # Muskurahat (1943) # Nastik (1954) # Nadiya Ke Par (1948) # Naghma-e-Sehra (1945) # Namoona (1949) #

Nausherwan-E-Adil ''Nausherwan-E-Adil'' () also called ''Farz Aur Mohabbat'', is a 1957 Indian costume action drama Hindi/Urdu film directed by Sohrab Modi. Produced by Minerva Movietone, it had music composed by C. Ramchandra with lyrics by Parwaiz Shamshi. The ...

(1957) #

(1959) # Nazrana (1948) (Unreleased) # Nirala (1950) # Payal Ki Jhankar (1968) # Paigham (1959) #

Parchhain ''Parchhain'' (Shadow) is a 1952 Hindi romantic melodrama film directed by V. Shantaram. The production company was Rajkamal Kalamandir. The story and dialogue were by Shams Lakhnavi, with cinematography by G. Balakrishna. Music direction was by ...

(1952) # Patanga (1949) # Pehli Jhalak (1954) # Raj Tilak (1958) #

Raunaq ''Raunaq'' is a 1944 Bollywood film directed by Dwarka Khosla and starring Chandraprabha, Noor Mohammad Charlie (billed as Charlie), Chandra Mohan, Motilal and Subarnalata Subarnalata. It was released in 1944 Events Below, the events ...

1944 # Rootha Na Karo (1970) # Roshni (1949) # Sajan (1947) # Sanwaria (1949) # Saqi (1952) # Savdhan (1954) # Sawan (1945) # Safar (1946) # Sagaai (1951) #

Samadhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

(1950) # Samrat Chandragupt (1945) # Sangeeta (1950) # Sangram (1950) # Sargam (1950) # Sarhad (1960) # Saudagar (1951), with Hanuman Prasad # Shabistan (1951) # Shadi Se Pehle (1947) # Shagoofa (1953) # Sharda (1957) # Shatranj (1956) # Shehnai (1947) # Sher Dil (1965) # Shin Shinaki Bublaa Boo (1952) # Siphaiya (1949) # Stree (1961) # Subah Ka Tara (1954) # Sukhi Jivan (1942) #

Talaq Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some initiated by the husband and some initiated by the wife. The main traditional legal categories are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce or ransom divorce) Historically, the rules ...

(1958) # Talash (1957) # Tasveer (1966) # Teerandaaz (1955) # Toofani Takkar (1978) # Tulsi Vivah (1971) # Ustad Pedro (1951) # Vana Mohini (1941) # Veer Bhimsen (1964) # Wahan Ke Log (1967) # Yasmin (1955) # Zaban (1943) # Zindagi Aur Maut (1965)

References

External links

*
A Tribute To C. Ramchandra, Biography, The Greatest Music Composer Of Indian Cinema on YouTube

Commentary And Interview of C. Ramchandra with Ameen Sayani on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramchandra, C 1918 births 1982 deaths People from Maharashtra Indian film score composers Marathi people People from Ahmednagar district 20th-century composers 20th-century Indian musicians