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SALIL CHOWDHURY: BIOGRAPHY, STREAMING VIDEO

Salil Chowdhury, fondly referred to as "Salil-da" was a music director, musician, writer, and poet, who worked in Hindi, Bengali, and the south Indian film industries. He was most active from the 1950's through the 1960's. His strength was in the fact that he mastered numerous different genre. He was accomplished on the flute, esraj, violin, and piano; he was also a master lyricist and writer. He is fondly remembered for some of the most famous songs to come out of Bollywood.

Salil Chowdhury was born on November 19, 1923 in the village of Sonarpur, in Bengal. He spent his early childhood in the Bengali village of Harinavi. However, his father was a doctor station in Assam, so he spent a lot of time there as well. Salil's father had a collection of Western classical music, to which the young Salil spent much of his childhood listening. This was a musical influence which would be present through much of his life.

It was impressed upon the young Salil that ones art should maintain a sense of social responsibility. The fusion of art and politics was first presented to him by his father. His father used to take villagers and labourers and stage plays; these plays reflected the plight and social conditions of the times.

He attended the Bangabhaashi College in Calcutta. There his political interests grew. He became interested in the "Quit India" movement, as well as the general plight of the underclass. After he graduated from college, he joined the Communist Party of India, and became active in the Peasant Movement of 1945.

Shortly after his involvement in the Peasant Movement, he joined the Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA). The purpose of this theatre was to raise the political consciousness of the common people. These theatres went from village to village and performed plays that revolved around the themes of British imperialism, various social iniquities, and the growing freedom struggle.

This forced Salil Chowdhury to go underground; for nearly four years he traveled around surreptitiously with the IPTA. Initially he joined as a flute player, but later he started to write songs. He lived among the peasants, and spent his time writing, composing, and performing. His works were by and large banned, so it was impossible to get any mainstream publisher to publish his plays or poetry. A large number of his works from this period have disappeared.

Life for the performers in the IPTA was very hard. Many were volunteers, but a few like Salil-da, received a small salary. They often traveled by foot, and sometimes went for days without food. If the police came to know that their troupe was performing, they would often arrive and start beating people indiscriminately. Many members died from torture, beating, and even starvation.

During his time with the IPTA, Salil Chowdhury distinguished himself by introducing a new approach to the music. The years of listening to his father's Western classical music collection, gave him a feeling for Western concepts of harmony which were very different from traditional Indian music.

Ultimately he had a falling out with the IPTA. The reasons for his departure are varied, but they involve such factors as the infighting that was going on within the Communist party, petty personal jealousies over his success, as well as the Communist Party's attempts to control the artistic content of his work.

A pivotal event occurred during this period of his life. He wrote a Bengali story called "Rikshawalla". This was made into a Bengali movie which became a big hit. It was the success of this film that was to forever change Salil-da's life.

Salil Chowdhury moved to Bombay in 1953 to adapt his Bengali "Rikshawalla" for Hindi; thus began his work in the Hindi film industry. This Hindi remake was entitled "Do Bigha Zameen". The success of this movie ushered in a slew of other Hindi films. One of the most notable was Madhumati (1958).

Scene from Do Bigha Zameen

During the 50s; and 60s, Salil Chowdhury was kept very busy. In 1957 he and Ruma Ganguly, established the Bombay Youth Choir. This drew heavily upon Western concepts of harmony. Often he was the music director for films. He also composed background music for the documentaries which were coming out of the Films Division. Other times, music directors would hire him to do the background music while they would do the song-and-dance numbers. One example where he wrote the background music for another music director was "Anokhi Raat" (1968).

One of the things which characterised his way of working was that it was backwards from the establish norms of film production. The normal way of doing things was to first contact the lyricist, then take the lyrics to the music director who would set it to music. Salil-da would first compose the music and then set words to it. This high priority given to the music is often considered one of the reasons for the extraordinary quality of his music.

The Bollywood film industry is known for an extensive amount of "borrowing" of musical ideas from other sources. Like most of the other music directors, Salil Chowdhury has been accused of plagiarism due to his "borrowing" material from Western classical and traditional music. He has lifted material from a variety of sources from Mozart, to Happy Birthday To You.

There are numerous anecdotes about Salil-da. On one occasion he disappeared on route from Calcutta to Bombay. He was gone for several months, but eventually he shows up. Apparently he had spent time in some remote village to reacquaint himself with village life and village music.

The film world is known for its ego clashes and conflicts; Salil Chowdhury was no exception. There was a much publicised falling out that he had with Hemant Kumar (a.k.a. Hemanta Mukherjee). There was a time when their professional collaboration was very close. It is said the Salil Chowdhury once said, "If God ever decided to sing, he would do so in the voice of Hemant Kumar." But things turned sour. According to a published obituary that Salil Chowdhury wrote on the death of Hemant Kumar:

"They went to Hemanta-da and complained 'Salil Chowdhury is saying - "Hemanta Mukherjee would not have been popular if he had not sung my songs"'. And the very same people came to me saying 'Hemanta-da says - "If I had not sung Salil's songs who would have know him today?"'

The result of such games was very predictable. For some years they refused to work with each other. Eventually there was a reconciliation, but it appears that by that time, both Hemant and Salil were past their productive prime.

The mid 60's saw Salil Chowdhuri in somewhat of a professional quagmire. It was not really going anywhere in Bombay and he was just not quite able to duplicate the success he had in Madhumati. He therefore started to work in the Malayali Cinema. He was very successful in this regard and over the next few years he scored what many believe are some of the finest songs that the Malayali cinema has ever heard. Some notable examples of this period are "Chemmeen" (1965).

In the 1970's Salil Chowdhury withdrew from the Hindi film world. Changing public tastes did not suite him. He returned to Calcutta. There he established the Centre for Music Research, and established a recording studio named "Sound on Sound". He was involved in a number of minor projects in his later years.

Salil Chowdhuri circa 1978

In his waning years, Salil Chowdhury never lost the sense of social responsibility. He railed both in the press and privately against commercialism in the mainstream media and the lack of social consciousness. He also expressed great regret at the fragmentation of leftist movements both in and outside of India.

Salil Chowdhury passed away on Sept 5th, 1995. Among his survivors were his wife Sabita, his daughter Antara and sons Sanjoy and Bobby.

Filmography

Year	Film	Language	Comments
1949	Poribartan	Bengali
1951	Barjaatri	Bengali
1952	Paasher Baari	Bengali
1953	Baansher Kella	Bengali
1953	Bhor Hoye Elo	Bengali
1953	Do Bigha Zamin	Hindi
1954	Aaj Sondhaay	Bengali
1954	Biraj Bahu	Hindi
1954	Mohila Mahal	Bengali
1954	Naukri	Hindi
1955	Amaanat	Hindi
1955	Rickshawaala	Bengali
1955	Taangewaali	Hindi
1956	Ak din Raatre	Bengali
1956	Awaaz	Hindi
1956	Jagte Raho	Hindi
1956	Parivaar	Hindi
1956	Raat Bhore	Bengali
1957	Aparadhi Kaun	Hindi
1957	Ek Gaaon ki Kahaani	Hindi
1957	Laal Batti	Hindi
1957	Musafir	Hindi
1957	Zamaana	Hindi
1958	Madhumati	Hindi
1959	Baadi Thekey Paaliye	Bengali
1960	Ganga	Bengali
1960	Honeymoon	Hindi
1960	Jawaahar	Hindi
1960	Parakh	Hindi
1960	Qaanoon	Hindi
1960	Usne Kaha Tha	Hindi
1961	Chaardeewaari	Hindi
1961	Chhayaa	Hindi
1961	Kaabuliwaala	Hindi
1961	Maaya	Hindi
1961	Memdidi	Hindi
1961	Rai Bahadur	Bengali
1961	Sapan Suhaane	Hindi
1962	Half Ticket	Hindi
1962	Jhoola	Hindi
1962	Prem Patra	Hindi
1962	Sunbai	Marathi
1964	Ayanaanto	Bengali
1964	Kinu Goaalaar Goli	Bengali
1964	Laal Paathor	Bengali
1965	Chand Aur Suraj	Hindi
1965	Chemmeen	Malayalam
1965	Poonam Ki Raat	Hindi
1966	Jawaab Aayega	Hindi
1966	Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose	Hindi
1966	Paari	Bengali
1966	Pinjre Ki Panchhi	Hindi
1968	Ezhuraathrikal	Malayalam
1969	Sara Akaash	Hindi
1970	Abhayam	Malayalam	Salil Chowdhury did the background music only.
1970	Aparajeyo	Assami
1971	Anand	Hindi
1971	Gehraa Raaz	Hindi
1971	Ghar Sansaar	Gujarati
1971	Mere Apne	Hindi
1971	Samsayaphala	Kannada
1971	Uyir	Tamil	Salil did the background music only
1972	Annadata	Hindi
1972	Anokha Daan	Hindi
1972	Anokha Milan	Hindi
1972	Marjina Aabdullah	Bengali
1972	Mere Bhaiyaa	Hindi
1972	Raktaakto Baangla	Bengali	This film was made in Bangladesh
1972	Sabse Bada Sukh	Hindi
1973	Karumbu	Tamil
1973	Swapnam	Malayalam
1974	Chairman Chalamayya	Telugu
1974	Nellu	Malayalam
1974	Rajnigandha	Hindi
1975	Chhoti Si Baat	Hindi
1975	Mausam	Hindi
1975	Neelaponman	Malayalam
1975	Onde Rupa Eradu Guna	Kannada
1975	Prateeksha	Malayalam
1975	Raagam	Malayalam
1975	Rasaleela	Malayalam
1975	Sangat	Hindi
1975	Thomasleeha	Malayalam
1976	Aparadhi	Malayalam
1976	Jeevan Jyoti	Hindi
1976	Mrigayaa	Hindi
1976	Thulavarsham	Malayalam
1976	Udan Choo	Hindi
1977	Anand Mahal	Hindi
1977	Chinna Ninna Muddaduve	Kannada
1977	Dweep	Malayalam
1977	Etho Oru Swapnam	Malayalam
1977	Kobita	Bengali
1977	Kokila	Kannada
1977	Madanolsavam	Malayalam
1977	Minoo	Hindi
1977	Samayamayilla Polum	Malayalam
1977	Sister	Bengali
1977	Vishukkanni	Malayalam
1978	Devdasi	Malayalam
1978	Parumavazhai	Tamil
1979	Azhiyatha Kolangal	Tamil
1979	Chuvanna Chirakkukal	Malayalam
1979	E Ganam Marakkumo	Malayalam
1979	Jeena Yehaan	Hindi
1979	Jibon Je Rakam	Bengali
1979	Puthiya Velicham	Malayalam
1979	Rupali Soikate	Bengali	This film was made in Bangladesh
1979	Srikaanter Will	Bengali
1980	Air Hostess	Malayalam
1980	Akaler Sandhaney	Bengali
1980	Antarghaat	Bengali
1980	Byapika Bidaay	Bengali
1980	Chehre Pe Chehra	Hindi
1980	Chemmeen Lahrein	Hindi
1980	Chirutha	Hindi
1980	Daisy	Hindi
1980	Kuhaasa	Hindi
1980	Naani Maa	Hindi
1980	Parabesh	Bengali
1980	Room no.203	Hindi
1980	Thooraththu Idimuzhakkam	Tamil
1981	Agni Pareeksha	Hindi
1981	Atmadaan	Hindi
1981	Batasi Jhada	Oriya
1981	Plot no. 5	Hindi
1982	Anthiveylile Ponnu	Malayalam
1982	Artap	Bengali
1982	Artap	Hindi
1982	Darpok ki Dosti	Hindi
1982	Dil Ka Saathi Dil	Hindi
1984	Kanoon Kya Karega	Hindi
1985	Debikaa	Bengali
1985	Manas Kanya	Assami
1985	Mowchor	Bengali
1985	Protiggya	Bengali
1986	Jibon	Bengali
1986	Zevar	Hindi
1988	Trishaagni	Hindi
1989	Kamla Ki Maut	Hindi
1989	Nehru the Jewel of India	Hindi
1989	Swarnatrishaa	Bengali
1990	Aashrita	Bengali	The music director for this film was Hridaynath Mangeskar, but Salil Chowdhury was engaged to do the backgrtound music.
1990	Vaasthuhaara	Malayalam	Salil did the background music only.
1991	Netraheen Saakshi	Hindi
1994	Mahabharoti	Bengali
1994	Swami Vivekananda	Hindi
1994	Thumboli Kadappuram	Malayalam
1995	Mera Damaad	Hindi
????	Hamaari Shaadi	Hindi
????	Maange Miley na Pyaar	Hindi
????	Mitti Ka Dev	Hindi
????	Raat Ki Uljhan	Hindi
19??	Aswamedher Ghoraa	Bengali
19??	Chalo Kolkataa	Bengali
19??	Ei Ritur Akdin	Bengali
19??	Haraaner Naatjamaai	Bengali
19??	Komol Gandhaar	Bengali
19??	Obhisake	Bengali
19??	Sei Samoy	Bengali
199?	Aakhiri Badlaa	Hindi
199?	Tiriacharittar (or Striyascharittram)	Hindi
19?4	Vellam	Malayalam	Salil did the background music only