Anil Krishna Biswas (7 July 1914 – 31 May 2003), professionally known as Anil Biswas, was an Indian film

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

and

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

from 1935 to 1965, who apart from being one of pioneers of playback singing, is also credited for the first Indian orchestra of twelve pieces and introducing orchestral music and full-blooded

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

effects, into

Indian cinema 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, K ...

. A master in western symphonic music was known for the Indian classical or folk elements, especially Baul and Bhatiyali in his music. Out of his over 90 films, most memorable were, ''Roti'' (1942), '' Kismet'' (1943), '' Anokha Pyar'' (1948), '' Tarana'' (1951), ''Waaris'' (1954), '' Pardesi'' (1957) and '' Char Dil Char Rahen'' (1959). He was also the pioneer in using the counter melody in film scores, employing technique of western music, ‘cantala’, where one line overlaps the other in contra-melody, recitative prose songs as in ''

Roti Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trini ...

'' (1942), besides he was the first one to start extensively using the Ragmala. Another important element that he introduced was western orchestration, using indigenous instruments both in the songs as well as in their melodic interludes, a trend that soon caught on and paved way for the musicals of Indian cinema today. He was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognit ...

in 1986, given by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Biography

Early life

Anil Krishna Biswas was born on 7 July 1914, in a small village of

Barisal district Barisal District, officially spelled Barishal District from April 2018, is a district in south-central Bangladesh, formerly called Bakerganj district, established in 1797. Its headquarters are in the city of Barisal, which is also the headqua ...

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Eas ...

(now in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

) in the household of J C Biswas, where at a young age he acted in a local amateur theater as a child star. He was fond of listening to music since his childhood. As he grew up, he displayed considerable musical talent, by 14 he was already accomplished in playing tabla,A composer with a difference
''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ho ...

'', 8 June 2003. while singing and composing music at local music concerts; though soon he joined the

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

, while still doing his

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

, and was repeatedly jailed for his revolutionary activities, leading to repeated disruption of his studies. Eventually in 1930, after his father’s death he left for Calcutta in disguise to escape further arrest.

Career

Anil Biswas first made name in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in the early 1930s, composing music for plays, later he joined 'Rangmahal Theatre', Kolkata, as an actor, singer, and assistant music director, 1932–34, during this period he sang and acted in several commercial stage productions. By this time he had masters singing styles like,

khayal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfo ...

thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dr ...

and dadra, and had become an accomplished singer of devotional music, in Shyama Sangeet and

Kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

styles. He also worked as a singer, lyricist and composer, with the 'Hindustan Recording Company', where Kundan Lal Saigal and

Sachin Dev Burman Sachin may refer to: * Sachin (given name), an Indian given name, including a list of people with the name ** Sachin (actor) (born 1957), Indian actor and filmmaker ** Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an ...

, before migrating to Bombay themselves. He got assignments from renowned Bengali poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, all this got him into the notice of music director, Hiren Bose, and at whose behest he made his way to Bombay (

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 secon ...

) in 1934.Early Composers (1931-1947)
''Hindi Film Song: Music Beyond Boundaries: Music Beyond Boundaries'', by Ashok Da. Ranade. Published by Bibliophile South Asia. . ''Page 183-186''. This was the period when '' playback singing'' was making its debut in

, when Anil first joined Ram Daryani's, 'Eastern Art Syndicate', and was associated in composing music for 'Baal Hatya' and 'Bharat ki Beti', before making his debut as a film composer, with ''Dharam ki Devi'' (1935) for which he composed the

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

, and also acted and sang the song, ''Kuch Bhi Nahin Bharosa..'' In 1936 he joined 'Sagar Movietones' as a composer, first starting with assisting composers, Ashok Ghosh in films ''

Manmohan Manmohan means 'Winner of the heart'. It is another name of Krishna, the Hindu deity, one of the "avatars" (or "incarnation") of Lord Vishnu. Manmohan may also refer to: * Man Mohan Adhikari (1920–1999), former Prime Minister of Nepal * Manmoha ...

'' and '' Deccan Queen'' and also Pransukh Nayak, and continued with Sagar Movietones, even after it merged with the Yusuf Fazalbhoy of RCA’s newly established National Studios in 1939. In the coming two years he did eleven films, mostly stunt films, until

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan (born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan; 9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 ...

's '' Jagirdar'' (1937), a commercially hit, established him as a musical force in the film industry. Soon many more independent assignments came his way, most notably, ''300 Days and After'', ''Gramophone Singer'', '' Hum Tum Aur Woh'', '' Ek Hi Raasta'', and

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan (born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan; 9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 ...

's '' Watan ''(1938), ''Alibaba'' (1940), the classic, '' Aurat'' (1940), '' Bahen'' (1941), before working with him again, in ''Roti'' (1942), for which he also credited with the story and concept, and which featured many songs by film's actress, Akhtaribai Faizabadi ( Begum Akhtar), though they were deleted due to a contractual conflict (the music was recorded with HMV, while she was in contract with Megaphone Gramophone Company). In following years he gave scores for

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. After ...

films like '' Jwar Bhata'' (1944),

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from l ...

’s debut film, and ''

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

'' (1946) also starring Dilip Kumar and directed by Nitin Bose, who made it in Bengali, as ''Naukadubi''.Anil Biswas
''Upperstall.com''. He gave break to famed playback singer, Mukesh in ''Pehli Nazar'' (1945), singing 'Dil Jalta Hai to Jalne De', and to

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 ...

in '' Arzoo'' (1949), singing 'Aye Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah Ley Chal' his first song in Bombay; he was also behind the success of many singers such as Surendranath, Parul Ghosh, Amirbai Karnataki,

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 ...

and Roshan Ara Begum. It was during his period that he married Asha Lata, an actress with Sagar Movietones under her maiden name Mehrunnisa who continued to act under the name Ashalata Biswas, and had three sons and a daughter, the couple later divorced. Later it was the death of his son Pradeep in an airplane accident, in 1961, which catapulted his exit from the film industry.

has admitted that Anil Biswas gave her tips and trained her for breathing control during recording songs. In 1942, he joined

at an offer from Devika Rani, where he got his biggest hit, Gyan Mukherjee's '' Kismet'' (1943), starring

Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He ...

and Mumtaz Shanti, most remembered for the song, 'Papihaare', sung by his sister

Parul Ghosh Parul Ghosh (; 1915–13 August 1977) was an Indian playback singer. Career Ghosh sang in Hindi and Bengali movies from 1935 to 1951. Hailing from Barisal (now in Bangladesh), she was introduced to playback singing by her brother Anil Biswas ...

(wife of the renowned flautist,

Pannalal Ghosh Pandit Pannalal Ghosh ( bn, পান্নালাল ঘোষ; 24 July 1911 – 20 April 1960), also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was an Indian flute ( bansuri) player and composer. He was a disciple of Allauddin Khan, and is credited with pop ...

), the patriotic hit, 'Door hato ai duniyaa waalo', and 'Dheere dheere aare badal, mera bulbul so raha hai, shorgul na macha' sung by the actor,

. In 1946, he left

and set out as a freelancer, and later under the banner, ‘Variety Pictures’ owned by his wife, AshaLata Biswas, worked for four films, ''Laadli'' (1949), ''Laajawaab'' (1950), ''Badi Bahu'' (1951) and '' Humdard'' (1953), with

KA Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or (Golden ...

''Rahi'' (1952), songless ''Munna'' (1954), where he gave the background score, and Indo-Russian joint production,

Nargis Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) was an Indian actress and politician who worked in Hindi cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she made her screen debut in a minor role ...

starrer, '' Pardesi'' (1957) and '' Char Dil Char Rahen'' (1959). By now, the kind of music perfect by ''Anilda'', as he was now called in the industry as, was fast changing, and so he gradually grew disillusioned by the changing dynamics of the film industry. In early 1960s, he retired from the cinema, while still at the peak of his game, he shifted base to New Delhi, though he did one or two films in between like Mahesh Kaul's, ''Sautela Bhai'' (1962), his final film as a composer was, actor Motilal's directorial venture, ''

Chhoti Chhoti Baatein ''Chhoti Chhoti Baten'' is a 1965 Indian Hindi family drama film directed by actor Motilal. It was his only film as director, writer and producer under his home banner, Rajvanshi Productions. It starred Motilal, Nadira and Moti Sagar in lea ...

'' (1965), starring Nadira and with Mukesh's 'Zindagi Khwab Hai Tha Hamein Bhi'. Motilal died before its release, and the film flopped at the box office, though it did get a National Film Award. In Delhi, he became director of the National Orchestra at the

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 ...

(AIR) in March 1963, and remained Chief Producer -''Sugam Sangeet'' (light

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

) at AIR, Delhi till 1975. Though later, he composed music for

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest b ...

's pioneering TV series '' Hum Log'' (1984) and a number of documentaries for the Films Division as late as 1991, and remained the Advisor (Music) in the rank of a Professor at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

for 2 years. He won the

in 1986.

Personal life

Biswas was first married for love, and much against the wishes of his own family, a Muslim actress who was four years older than him. This was Mehrunnisa (born 17 October 1910, died 1992), who had adopted the screen-name 'Ashalata' for work purposes. Upon her marriage, Mehrunnisa assumed the name Ashalata as her one and only name. Ashalata worked as an actress during the 1930s and 1940s, a period during which acting in films was considered disreputable and few women entered the industry; she also owned Variety Pictures, a film-making company. The couple became the parents of three sons and a daughter, named Pradeep, Amit, Utpal and Shikha. Their son, Utpal Biswas, also worked as a music composer, as part of the Amar-Uptal duo team which composed the music for a few films including ''Shahenshah'' (1988), ''Main Azaad Hoon'' and ''Aaja Meri Jaan'' (1993). Biswas's daughter, Shikha Vohra, is the mother of the well-known documentary film maker,

Paromita Vohra Paromita Vohra is an Indian filmmaker and writer. She is known for her documentaries on subjects such as urban life, pop culture and gender. She has also written the screenplay of the award-winning feature film ''Khamosh Pani''. Her film product ...

. Biswas and Ashalata were divorced in 1954; Ashalata Biswas died in 1992. In 1959, five years after his divorce, Anil Biwas married the

, Meena Kapoor, daughter of actor Bikram Kapoor. Meena Kapoor did not have any children. Meena was most noted for singing hit 1950s songs like, "Rasiya re man basiya re" in Nargis starrer '' Pardesi'' (1957) and "Kachhi hai umariya" picturised on Meena Kumari in ''Char Dil Char Raahein''. Anil Biswas died in New Delhi on 31 May 2003. He was survived by his wife Meena Kapoor, sons Amit Biswas and Utpal Biswas, and daughter Shikha Vohra, his son Pradeep Biswas having predeceased him. Upon his death, the then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India ( IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of th ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

called him, “a doyen of film music who struck the rare balance between classical purity of music and popular pulse”, and credited him for leaving, “an enduring legacy as he introduced many talented singers and innovations to the Indian film music.”Press Release
''

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

's Office, 1 June 2003.

Filmography

*''Dharam Ki Devi'' (1935) *''Fida-e-Vatan'' (alias ''Tasveer-e-vafa'') (1935, co-composer with Jhande Khan) *''Piya Ki Jogan'' (alias ''Purchased Bride'') *''Pratima'' (alias ''Prem Murti'') *''Prem Bandhan'' (alias ''Victims of Love'') (1936, co-composer with Jhande Khan) *''Sangdil Samaj'' *''Sher Ka Panja'' *''Shokh Dilruba'' (1936, with Sunder Daas) *''Bulldog'' (1936) *''Dukhiari'' (alias ''A Tale of Selfless Love'') (1936, with Madhulal Damodar Master) *''Gentleman Daku'' (1937) *'' Jagirdar'' (1937) *'' Kokila'' (1937) *''Mahageet'' (1937) *'' Watan'' (1938) *''

Teen Sau Din Ke Baad ''Teen Sau Din Ke Baad'' () is a 1938 Hindi social comedy film directed by Sarvottam Badami. This was Badami's first comedy film and it was a success at the box-office; he went on to direct two more comedies after this, ''Aap Ki Marzi'' (1939) a ...

'' (1938) *'' Hum Tum Aur Woh'' (1938) *''Gramophone Singer'' (1938) *''Dynamite'' (1938) *''Abhilasha'' (1938) *''Jeevan Saathi'' (1939) *'' Ek Hi Raasta'' (1939) *'' Pooja'' (1940) *'' Aurat'' (1940) *'' Alibaba'' (1940/I) *'' Bahen'' (1941) *''Aasra'' (1941) *''Vijay'' (1942) *''Jawani'' (1942) *'' Kismet'' (1943) *''Hamari Baat'' (1943) *'' Jwar Bhata'' (1944) *''Pahali Nazar'' (1945) *'' Bhookh'' (1947) *'' Manjhdhar'' (1947) *''Veena'' (1948) *''Gajre'' (1948) *'' Anokha Pyar'' (1948) *''Ladli'' (1949) *''Jeet'' (1949) *''Girls' School'' (1949) *'' Beqasoor'' (1950) *'' Arzoo'' (1950) *Lajawab (1950) *'' Tarana'' (1951) *''Do Sitare'' (1951) *'' Aaram'' (1951) *''Do Raha'' (1952) *'' Rahi'' (1952) *''Mehmaan'' (1953) *''Jallianwalla Baag Ki Jyoti'' (1953) *''Fareb'' (1953) *''Dil-E-Nadan'' (1953) *''Akash'' (1953) *''Waris'' (1954) *''Naaz'' (1954) *''Mahatma Kabir'' (1954) *''Maan'' (1954) *''Jasoos'' (1957) *''Jalti Nishani'' (1955) *''Faraar'' (1955) *''Du-janay'' (1955) *''Paisa Hi Paisa'' (1956) *''Heer'' (1956) *''

Pardesi (1957 film) ''Pardesi'' ( hi, Pardesi, italic=yes; russian: Хождение за три моря (Khozhdenie za tri morya), italic=yes, 'Journey Beyond Three Seas') is a 1957 film jointly directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Vasili Pronin. It was made in t ...

'' (1957) *''Abhimaan'' (1957) *''Sanskar'' (1958) *'' Char Dil Char Raahein'' (1959) *''

Return of Mr. Superman ''Return of Mr. Superman'' is a 1960 Indian film directed by Manmohan Sabir. It is an unauthorized retelling of the origins of Superman. Plot Finding a young child in the wreckage of a strange aircraft, a farmer and his wife raise the boy as ...

'' (alias ''Mr. Superman ki Wapsi'') (1960) *'' Angulimaal'' (1960) *''Sautela Bhai'' (1962) * ''

'' (1965)

References

External links

*
anilbiswas.com A Tribute website

A List of Hindi Film Songs (with lyrics) composed by Anil Biswas

List of Songs composed by Anil Biswas
* Complete filmography including lists of songs based on Hindi Film Geet Kos

is her

(text format) and her

(PDF) ;Video link
Anil Biswas film songs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Anil 1914 births, Biswas (composer), Anil Biswas (composer), Anil Biswas (composer), Anil Biswas (composer), Anil Biswas (composer), Anil People from Barisal District Bengali singers Indian musical theatre composers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers