Roshan Lal Nagrath (14 July 1917 – 16 November 1967), better known by his first name ''Roshan'', was an Indian

esraj The (from the pa, ਇਸਰਾਜ) is an Indian stringed instrument found in two forms throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is a relatively recent instrument, being only about 300 years old. It is found in North India, primarily Punjab, whe ...

player and music director. He was the father of the actor and film director

Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter, and actor who works in Hindi films. He is the son of Indian music director Roshan and Indian Bengali singer Ira Roshan. He had appeared in 84 films thr ...

and music director

Rajesh Roshan Rajesh Roshan Lal Nagrath (born 24 May 1955) is an Indian Hindi cinema music director and composer. He is the son of music director Roshan and singer Ira Roshan. Personal life Rajesh Roshan has a Punjabi Hindu father and Bengali Brahmin m ...

and paternal grandfather of

Hrithik Roshan Hrithik Roshan (; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He has portrayed a variety of characters and is known for his dancing skills. One of the highest-paid actors in India, he has won many awards, including six ...

Early life and education

Roshan was born on 14 July 1917 in Gujranwala, Punjab Province (now Punjab, Pakistan),

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He began music lessons at a young age and later attended Marris College in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...

under the training of Pandit

S N Ratanjankar Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar born 31 December 1899 and died 14 February 1974. He was a distinguished scholar and teacher of Hindustani classical music, from the Agra gharana. Foremost disciple of Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Faiyaz Khan of Ba ...

(principal of the institute). Roshan became an accomplished sarod player under the guidance of Allauddin Khan, the renowned sarod player from Maihar. In 1940, Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, programme producer/music,

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

Delhi, hired Roshan as staff artist for

, the instrument he used to play. He gave up this job in 1948 to seek fame and fortune in

Bombay 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-m ...

Career

In 1948, Roshan came to

to find work as a Hindi film music director and became assistant of music composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar in film ''

Singaar ''Singaar'' () is a 1949 Indian Hindi-language romantic film directed by J. K. Nanda. Produced by R. B. Haldia under his production company, the film stars Suraiya, Madhubala and Jairaj, with Durga Khote and K. N. Singh appearing in supportin ...

'' (1949). He somewhat struggled until he met the then famous producer-director

Kidar Sharma Kidar Nath Sharma, also Kedar Sharma (12 April 1910 – 29 April 1999), was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and Lyricist of Hindi films. While he had great success as a director of such movies as '' Neel Kamal'' (1947), ''Bawre N ...

, who gave him the job of composing for his film '' Neki aur Badi'' (1949). While it was a flop, Kidar Sharma gave him another chance in his next film. Roshan emerged as a player on the Hindi film music scene with ''Baawre Nain'' (1950) which became a big musical hit. In the early 1950s, Roshan worked with singers

Mohammad Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It also means god of 3 worlds, heaven, hell & earth, which in turn represents Hindu god Shiva. It is commonly used as a male given name in India. Peopl ...

and

Talat Mahmood Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) was an Indian playback singer who is considered one of the popular male Indian film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in act ...

. ''Malhar'' (1951), ''Shisham'', and Anhonee (1952 film) were some of the movies that he scored during the 1950s. During this time, he also composed the Meera bhajan which became a run-away hit, "Aeiri main to prem diwani mera dard na jane koyi" sung by

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 ...

for the movie ''Naubahar'' (1952). He was not always commercially successful. He gave Indeewar and Anand Bakshi their first breaks in the

Indian film industry The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

as lyricists. Later, they became two of the most sought-after songwriters in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

from the late 1960s onwards. Anand Bakshi was given his first break in 1956 by the music director

Nisar Bazmi Nisar Bazmi (1 December 1924 – 22 March 2007) was a composer and music director of Indian and Pakistan film industry.

in his film ''Bhala Aadmi'' (1956). Roshan gave Bakshi the film ''CID Girl'' (1959), after Anand Bakshi wrote the four songs of ''Bhala Aadmi'' in 1956. ''Bhala Aadmi'' was released in 1958 after some delay. Together, Anand Bakshi and Roshan made a super hit musical film ''

Devar ''Devar'' is a 1966 Hindi film directed by Mohan Sehgal. It stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Deven Verma and Shashikala. The music is by Roshan and the lyrics by Anand Bakshi; this is their only film together that met with success. The f ...

'' (1966). The 1960s proved to be the golden age for Roshan and his music. His ability to mould folk music with Hindustani classical music became his trademark and resulted in successful movie musicals. During this time, Roshan gave hits such as "Na to karavan ki talaash hai from Barsat Ki Raat" and "Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat" ('' Barsaat Ki Raat'', 1960). ''Barsaat Ki Raat'' also was a "super hit" film of 1960s. "Ab kya misaal doon" and "Kabhi to milegi, kahi to milegi" ( Aarti, 1962), "Jo vada kiya vo nibhana padega", "Paao chhoon lene do", "Jo baat tujhmein hai" and "Jurm-e-ulfat pe" (''

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

'', 1963), "Nigahen milane ko jee chahata hai" and "Laaga chunari mein daag" (''Dil Hi To Hai'', 1963), "Sansaar se bhaage phirte ho" and "Man re tu kaahe" ('' Chitralekha'', 1964), and "Oh re taal mile" and "Khushi khushi kar do vida" (''

Anokhi Raat ''Anokhi Raat'' () is a 1968 Hindi film produced by L. B. Lachman and L. B. Thakur and directed by Asit Sen. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Zaheeda Hussain, Aruna Irani, Keshto Mukherjee and Parikshit Sahni. It has music by Roshan. The film ...

'', 1968). He composed some melodies for the movie '' Mamta'' (1966) with lyrics by

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in India's Hindi language film industry. He wrote Hindustani lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was ...

, "Rehte the kabhi jinke dil mein" and "Rahen Na Rahen Hum" sung by

and her hit duet, "Chuppa Lo Yun Dil Mein Pyar Mera" with

Hemant Kumar Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemant Kumar and Hemanta Mukherjee, was a legendary Indian music composer and playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, as well as other Indian ...

. ''Devar'' (1966): "Aaya hai mujhe phir yaad woh zalim, guzara zamana bachpan ka"; "Baharon ne mera chaman loot kar"; "Duniya mein aisa kahan sab ka naseeb hai".

Filmography and popular songs

Popular film qawwalis

* ''Naa Tau Kaarvan Ki Talaash Hai'' film Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) * ''Yeh Hai Ishq Ishq'' film ''Barsaat Ki Raat'' (1960) * ''Nigahein Milane Ko Jee Chahta Hai'' film Dil Hi To Hai (1963 film) Roshan's marked speciality was the film

qawwali Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...

. He was widely hailed for their composition.

Death and legacy

Roshan had been suffering from chronic heart trouble for over 20 years. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, on 16 November 1967, age 50, leaving behind three sons and a daughter. He had a sudden heart attack while attending a social gathering.

Awards

Filmfare Best Music Director Award The Filmfare Best Music Album Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad Ali was the fir ...

for film ''Taj Mahal'' (1963)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roshan 1917 births 1967 deaths Filmfare Awards winners Punjabi people Hindi film score composers 20th-century composers 20th-century Indian musicians People from Gujranwala