Sardul Singh Kwatra (1928 2005) was an Indian film producer, director and music composer. He is widely considered to have the skill of simplifying classical ragas to portray romantic nuances in his music. He composed music for

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and Punjabi films.

Early life

Kwatra was born in 1928 to a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

British Punjab The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Khyber Pass to Delhi; and from th ...

. He was very fond of music since his childhood. During his school days, he got his initial training in classical music from Avtar Singh of Lahore. Later joined popular music director Hansraj Behl as an assistant.

Career

After partition of India in 1947, Kwatra's family moved to

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

and then to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. The first film of ''Kwatra Production'' was a Punjabi film, Posti (1950). The entire cast were refugees from

. Kwatra picked Shyama for the female lead. The music of the film was a hit and critically acclaimed. Kwatra modified the folk tunes of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and introduced

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

and

Jagjit Kaur Jagjit Kaur (May 1930 – 15 August 2021) was an Indian Hindi/Urdu singer and was married to the music director, Mohammed Zahur Khayyam. Personal life and death Kaur belonged to an aristocratic family from Punjab. She married composer Moham ...

, who was married to Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, as playback singers for Punjabi films, with

making her debut. In 1953, another Kwatra Production, Kaude Shah with Shyama as heroine, became a success at the box office. Kwatra also composed the music of another Punjabi film Vanjara (1954 film), in which

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

sang majority of the songs. He also introduced Shaminder as a playback singer. After Hansraj Behl, Sardul Singh Kwatra is widely considered to be the prominent music director of Punjabi films in India. In the mid 1970s, Kwatra moved to

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

and established the ''Chandigarh Film Institute''. His last assignment was a Punjabi film, ''Unkhilli Muttiar'' in 1983. Kwatra lived in

after 1975 with his eldest son. He was great friends with actor

Pradeep Kumar Pradeep Kumar (4 January 1925 – 27 October 2001) was an Indian actor who is recognized for his work in Hindi, Punjabi and English-language films. (Dinesh RahejaEver the royalRediff.com website, Published 2 June 2003, Retrieved 16 February 2 ...

Death

Kwatra left for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1978 where he died on 6 July 2005.

Personal life

Kwatra was in love with a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

woman and composed some music celebrating her femininity and charm. He left

in 1947 but his partner's appearance was constantly on his mind and once admitted that he "can't create good music without being in love."

Filmography

* Ek Teri Nishani (1949) combine with Pandit Amarnath * Jalte Deep (1950) * Man ka Meet (1950) * Posti (1950) Punjabi movie * Shagan (1951) along with

Husnlal Bhagatram Husn Lal and Bhagat Ram were the first legendary music director duo in Bollywood. They are two brothers, Husn Lal (8 April 1920 – 28 December 1968) and Bhagat Ram (1914 – 29 November 1973). Husn Lal was also a renowned violinist, vocalist ...

(Sardul Kwatra initially worked as his assistant) * Goonj (1952) - A movie under ''Kwatra Productions'' banner * '' Bewafa'' (1952) * Mirza Sahiban (1953) * Koday Shah (1953) Punjabi movie under Kwatra Productions * Pilpili Saheb (1954) - Kwatra Productions * Vanjara (1954) Punjabi movie * Tees Maar Khan (1955) * Son of Ali Baba (1955) * Kala Chor (1956) * Char Minar (1956) * Mirza Sahiban (1957) Music and Produced also act in the song “Nahin Ris Punjab Di” * ''Adalat'' (1958 film) act only (as a in the college classroom) * Lady Robinhood (1959) * Heer Sayal (1960) - Punjabi movie directed by his brother H.S Kwatra under Kwatra Productions * Air Mail (1960) * Dekha Jayega (1960) * Gypsy Girl (1961) * Khilari (1961) * Billo (1961) Punjabi movie * Deccan Queen (1962) * Kala Chashma (1962) * Chandrashekhar Azad (1963) * Satluj De Kande (1964) Punjabi movie * Accident (1965) * Raj Karega Khalsa (1971) - Shabad Gurbani with

Mahendra Kapoor Mahendra Kapoor (9 January 1934 – 27 September 2008) was an Indian playback singer. In a long career spanning decades, his repertoire included popular songs such as ''Chalo ekbaar phir se Ajnabi ban jayen hum dono'' ( Gumrah) and ''Neele Gagan ...

, lyrics by H.S. Kohli * Daku Mansingh (1971) * Yamla Jatt (1977) Punjabi movie * Lambardarni (1980) Punjabi movie * Do Posti (1981) Punjabi movie * Bagga Daku (1983) Punjabi Movie * Patwari (1983) Punjabi movie * Unkhilli Muttiar (1983) Punjabi movie

References

External links

Sardul Singh Kwatra on IMDb websiteSardul Singh Kwatra music on Apple Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwatra, Sardul Singh Indian male composers Punjabi Sikhs Musicians from Lahore People from Chandigarh 1928 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian male musicians Indian expatriates in the United States