Ghulam Mohammed (1903 – 17 March 1968) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

film score composer, who is notable for

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 de ...

musicals such as '' Pardes'' (1950), '' Mirza Ghalib'' (1954), ''Shama'' (1961) and '' Pakeezah'' (1972). He received National Film Award for Best Music Direction (then called State Awards for Films) for ''Mirza Ghalib'' (1954). The shooting of his last film, ''Pakeezah'', was held up for many years due to marital and personal problems between the film producer Kamal Amrohi and the lead actress Meena Kumari, and was finally released only after Ghulam Mohammed's death.

Early life and career

Ghulam Mohammed was born in

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, into a family of musicians. His father, Nabi Baksh, was an accomplished tabla player. He started his career as a child actor at age six with the Punjab-based New Albert Theatrical Company and worked at the local Albert Theatre in Bikaner. He eventually signed on as a contract artiste for 25 rupees a month, but before he could take up the appointment, the theatre closed due to financial difficulties. In 1924, he came to Bombay, where after a struggle of eight years, in 1932 he got the chance of playing tabla in Saroj Movietone's Productions' "Raja Bharthari". In music composition, he first became an assistant, to music director, Naushad in Kardar Productions, and worked with him and the veteran film composer Anil Biswas, for over 12 years, before composing independently, in the film 'Tiger Queen' (1947). He continued working independently and composed for several more films, and eventually won the 1955 National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his Mirza Ghalib (1954). He died on March 17, 1968, years before Pakeezah (1972) was released. In fact, his mentor and close friend veteran film composer Naushad stepped in, after his death, to finish the film composing work in film Pakeezah. "The music by the late Ghulam Mohammed was also a benchmark score. Arriving bang in the midst of the peak era of R. D. Burman and

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

, it brought back classic melody of the timeless kind and won a Gold Disc from

Saregama Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...

, which was then called

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

, for outstanding sales." He was also nominated for Best Music Director for film Pakeezah (1972) at the

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

.(Rajiv Vijayakar
Film 'Pakeezah' one of a kind
The Indian Express newspaper, Published 9 March 2012, Retrieved 1 November 2020 "In 1972,

Pran Pran most often refers to , the concept of a "life force" in Hindu philosophy. Pran may also refer to: People *Pran Kishore Kaul, Kashmiri actor *Pran Nath Lekhi (1924/1925–2010), Indian lawyer *Pran Nath (musician) (1918–1996), Hindustani cl ...

refused to accept his Filmfare award for the Best Supporting Actor in ''Be-Imaan'' because he felt music composer Ghulam Mohammed deserved a Filmfare award for his songs in ''Pakeezah''."Actor Pran's refusal to accept his Filmfare Award because he felt Ghulam Mohammed deserved a Filmfare Award for film Pakeezah in 1972 on rediff.com website
Retrieved 2 November 2020 Many consider his score to be one of the greatest in Indian Cinema. In 1997, he was honoured, in the 'Keep Alive' music show series in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, that honours all-time film music composers of India.(V. Gangadhar)
Haunting melody
The Hindu BusinessLine newspaper, Published 7 January 2005, Retrieved 1 November 2020 An extensive audio - visual programme on Ghulam Mohammed was presented by Mumbai- based music troupe MUSICOLOR in 2010 where music lovers cherished the composer's gems. "One commonly-heard story is that when Shankar–Jaikishan were composing their maiden venture Barsaat (1949), they insisted on having Ghulam Mohammed play the

dholak The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in ''qawwali'', '' kirtan'', '' lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differ ...

for the film song 'Barsaat Mein Ham Se Mile Tum Sajjan'".

Filmography

* Baanke Sipahi (1937) * Mera Khwab (1943) * Doli (1947) * Tiger Queen (1947) * Grihasthi (1948) * Kaajal (1948) * Pagdi (1948) * Parayee Aag (1948) * Dil Ki Basti (1949) * Paras (1949) * Shaayar (1949) * Hanste Aansoo (1950) * Maang (1950) * Pardes (1950) * Bikhre Moti (1951) * Naazneen (1951) * Ajeeb Ladki (1952) *

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

(1952) * Sheesha (1952) *

Dil-E-Nadaan ''Dil-e-Nadaan'' () is a 1982 Indian Hindi-language romance film directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Prada and Smita Patil. It is a remake of Sridhar's 1978 Tamil film ''Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirath ...

(1953) * Gauhar (1953) * Hazaar Raaten (1953) * Laila Majnu (1953) *

Rail Ka Dibba ''Rail Ka Dibba'' () is a 1953 romantic drama Indian film directed by Prem Narayan Arora and starring Shammi Kapoor, Madhubala in lead roles. The film was Shammi Kapoor's second release after '' Jeewan Jyoti'' (1953). Plot Sundar (Shammi Kap ...

(1953) * Guzaara (1954) * Mirza Ghalib (1954) * Hoor-e-Arab (1955) *

Kundan Kundan, meaning pure gold, is a traditional form of Indian gemstone jewellery involving a gem set with a gold foil between the stones and its mount, usually for elaborate necklaces and other jewellery. History Origins of Kundan jewelleries in ...

(1955) * Sitara (1955) * Pak Daaman (1957) * Maalik (1958) * Do Ghunde (1959) * Shama (1961) * Pakeezah (1972)

Awards and recognition

* 1955: National Film Award for Best Music Direction: Mirza Ghalib (1954) *

Gold Disc Award in 1972

References

External links

*
Songs of Ghulam Mohammed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, Ghulam 1903 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Indian Muslims People from Bikaner Hindi film score composers 20th-century Indian composers Musicians from Rajasthan