Jawahar Wattal is an Indian cultural entrepreneur, music director and producer, best known for being a pioneer in the Indian non-
filmi music
Filmi ("of films") music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Indian cinema. In cinema, music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playba ...
field and for shifting the focus of the industry to Delhi. He has worked with singers
Baba Sehgal
Harjeet Singh "Baba" Sehgal, is an Indian rapper. He was widely acclaimed to be the first Indian rapper. He is also involved in various other areas of the entertainment industry, and works in several different languages' media. He was a contesta ...
and
Daler Mehndi in the 1990s.
[ Over the years he has composed 3,000 jingles, given music for television series like, ''The World This Week'', ''Himalaya Darshan'' and ''Ru Ba Ru'', besides he has composed 73 music albums out of which 19 have gone multi-platinum.
He was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the ]Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
in 2008.
Early life and background
Wattal grew up in Delhi, where his passion for music led him to train in classical and instrumental Western music as a teenager and to play the guitar. By the age of 21, he had already composed and sung numerous advertising jingles and performed for leading professional record labels like EMI India. The dream culminated in his setting up a multi-track digitalised production house and an accredited advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
by the time he was 21. This Production House was the first of its kind in India's capital.
Major projects
Advertisements: Wattal has directed and produced more than 3,000 commercials. They include: Ponds, Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi wa ...
, Hero Honda
Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it has ...
, KLM, Usha Fans, Boost, Horlicks, Lufthansa, Maggi, Nescafé
Nescafé is a brand of coffee made by Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee brand in Switzerland on 1 April 1938.
History
Nestlà ...
and Mirinda.
Brand Promotion: He has been actively engaged in brand promotions and execution of various product launches, with experience in the field of software production for multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
applications. Additionally, he has been involved in the export of entertainment software to various countries across the world including the USA. Instrumental in corporate image
A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...
building and promotions for public and private sector companies, his clients include: public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...
organisations, BHEL, MMTC and STC to name a few.
Public Service Announcements: Producer of public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
s (PSAs) on social issues – ranging from primary health care
Primary health care, or PHC, refers to "essential health care" that is based on scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology. This makes universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community. PHC in ...
, education to sanitation and more for UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
. Producer, First Earth Run event, a joint production for the United Nations.
Theater: For many years, he has been actively involved in theatre productions for private and government entities. One of his hit productions – 'Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan' premiered in the UK
Tele-Serials: Wattal has scored musical compositions for tele-serials such as: 'Tol Mol Ke Bol,' 'Himalaya Darshan,' 'Newsline, ' S'anjha Choolah,' 'Ruba Ru,' 'Saas Pe Sawa Saas,' 'Quiz Time.' He has also scored for musicals like 'Mira' and telefilms such as 'Kanjoos Makhichoos.'
In-flight Music: He was an early pioneer in creating in-flight music with compositions for Indian Airlines.
Live Recordings: Known for his high quality live recordings, he has recorded a veritable Who's Who of artists including: Pt Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
and his orchestra for the Festival of France in India, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
Early life
Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the I ...
, Pt Bhim Sen Joshi, Pt Birju Maharaj
Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant o ...
, Pt Kelucharan Mahapatra, Ut Amjad Ali Khan and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Har ...
among others.
Original Albums: Wattal has composed, directed and produced 73 albums in a span of six years out of which, fifteen went platinum. These have included everything from Punjabi Bhangra, Rajasthani folk, Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...
s, Sufiana repertoire and ghazals, to a pop album in Tamil. As a result, some of today's best-known Indi-pop superstars like Baba Sehgal
Harjeet Singh "Baba" Sehgal, is an Indian rapper. He was widely acclaimed to be the first Indian rapper. He is also involved in various other areas of the entertainment industry, and works in several different languages' media. He was a contesta ...
, Daler Mehndi, Shweta Shetty
Shweta Shetty (also known as Shwetaa in nickname) is an Indian pop singer known for her albums and for her contributions to Bollywood film soundtracks. Her most remix hit song is "Q-Funk" from the album ''Oorja'' in 1995.
Life and career
Shett ...
, Hans Raj Hans and Shubha Mudgal, to name a few, were launched.
Top-selling albums
* "Dilruba"
* "Bolo Tara Ra Ra"
* "Dardi Rab Rab"
* "Ho Jayegi Balle Balle"
* "Ali More Angana"
* "Deewane To Deewane Hain"
* "Jogiya Khalli Balli"
* "Mahi O Mahi"
* "Jhanjhar"
* "Piya Se Milke Aaye Nain"
* "Punjabi Munda"
* "Mera Dil Bole Piya Piya"
* "Wallah Wallah"
* "Yaari Yaari"
* "Haule Haule"
* "Naag Ishq Da Laddya"
* "Sajnaa"
* "Jalsa (Re-Mix)"
* "Paaro"
* "Deadly Dance Mix" – P. K. Srivastav
* "Hari Om" – Alok Sehdev
* "Majajane" – BabuChalla Lakhwinder Lucky
* "Ankhiya"n – Susheel Baba
* "Jat Luteya Gaya" – Ravinder Ravi
''Indian Idol'' is the Indian music competition television franchise based on the ''Pop Idol
''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show w ...
* "Chane Ke Khet Mein" – Gauri Saksena
* "Rang Dey" – Arjun
* "Shri Amarnath Ji Ki Yatra" – Suresh Wadekar
* "Sharana" – S.P.Balasubramaniam, K K, Suresh Wadekar, Vinod Rathod
Vinod Rathod (born 12 September 1962) is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings in Bollywood films. Rathod is the son of late classical musician, Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod.
Music career
His career started when Usha Khanna after listeni ...
Film music
* "Silence Please… The Dressing Room"
Business development
*1984 Created Adcamp : Advertising Agency
*1985 Established A State-Of-The-Art Music Production Facility
*1989 Established A Music Software Export Division
*1995–1998 Consultant: Marketing, Artistes & Repertoire, Magnasound / Warner Brothers
*1998–1999 Consultant: Marketing, Artistes & Repertoire, Archies Greetings & Gifts Ltd.
*1999–2001 Consultant: Marketing, Artistes & Repertoire, Tips Ltd.
*2001–2003 Consultant: Marketing, Artistes & Repertoire, Lucky Star Entertainment Ltd
*Jan 2002 Partnered With Dainik Jagran For A Half Page Editorial On Music Entitled ‘Jalsa Ghar’
*Mar 2002 Partnered With Sunday Tribune For An Exclusive Column Entitled ‘Half Note’
*August 2005 Established Blessings Media Pvt Ltd
*August 2007 Partnered With Zeyba Rahman – President, World Music Institute and Harmonia Mundi, New York for an international production entitled ‘Divine Inspiration’.
*August 2008 Global Adviser-Advertising, Content Entertainment- SPICE GLOBAL.
*December 2009– Consultant Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt Of India.
*2011– Member working group on Information and Broadcasring Sector for 12th-five year plan-2012-2017.
*2011-Member steering committee for International Film Festival
*2012– Director- board of directors National Film Development Corporation Ltd.
International releases
* "Divine Inspiration" – Aruna Sairam
Major awards
* 2008 National Award: Padmashri
* 2000 Sangeet Samrat Award: the Press Club of Punjab
* 2000 Multi-platinum Award: Mera Dil Bole Piya Piya
* 1999 Multi-platinum Award: Mahi O Mahi
* 1999 Multi-platinum Award: Punjabi Munda
* 1999 Multi-platinum Award: Piya Se Milke Aaye Nain
* 1999 Multi-platinum Award: Jhanjhar
* 1998 Channel V Award: Best Music Composer
* 1998 Multi-platinum Award: Ho Jayegi Balle Balle
* 1997 Multi-platinum Award: Deewane to Deewane Hain
* 1996 Multi-platinum Award: Ali More Angana
* 1996 Multi-platinum Award: Dardi Rab Rab
* 1995 Multi-platinum Award: Bolo Ta Ra Ra
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wattal, Jawahar
Indian pop composers
Indian record producers
Jingle composers
Living people
Male television composers
Musicians from Delhi
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Television composers
Year of birth missing (living people)