Ghulam Mohammed (1903 – 17 March 1968) was an Indian film score composer, who is notable 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 ...

musical films such as '' Shair'' (1949), '' Pardes'' (1950), ''

Mirza Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 179715 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, he also produced a significant body of work in Persian. Ghali ...

'' (1954), ''Shama'' (1961) and '' Pakeezah'' (1972). He received National Film Award for Best Music Direction (then called State Awards for Films) for ''Mirza Ghalib'' (1954). The shooting of his last film, ''Pakeezah'', was held up for many years due to marital and personal problems between the film producer Kamal Amrohi and the lead actress Meena Kumari, and was finally released only after Ghulam Mohammed's death.

Early life and career

Ghulam Mohammed was born in

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, into a family of musicians. His father, Nabi Baksh, was an accomplished tabla player. He started his career as a child actor at age six with the Punjab-based New Albert Theatrical Company and worked at the local Albert Theatre in Bikaner. He eventually signed on as a contract artiste for 25 rupees a month, but before he could take up the appointment, the theatre closed due to financial difficulties. In 1924, he came to Bombay, where after a struggle of eight years, in 1932 he got the chance of playing tabla in Saroj Movietone's Productions' "Raja Bharthari". In music composition, he first became an assistant, to music director,

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

in Kardar Productions, and worked with him and the veteran film composer Anil Biswas, for over 12 years, before composing independently, in the film 'Tiger Queen' (1947). He continued working independently and composed for several more films, and eventually won the 1955 National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his Mirza Ghalib (1954). He died on March 17, 1968, years before Pakeezah (1972) was released. In fact, his mentor and close friend veteran film composer

stepped in, after his death, to finish the film composing work in film Pakeezah. "The music by the late Ghulam Mohammed was also a benchmark score. Arriving bang in the midst of the peak era of R. D. Burman and

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

, it brought back classic melody of the timeless kind and won a Gold Disc from

Saregama Saregama India Ltd is an Indian music record label and content company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the oldest music label in India, established in 1901 as the Indian branch of the British Gramophone Company. It later became ...

, which was then called

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

, for outstanding sales." He was also nominated for Best Music Director for film Pakeezah (1972) at the

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

.(Rajiv Vijayakar
Film 'Pakeezah' one of a kind
The Indian Express newspaper, Published 9 March 2012, Retrieved 20 September 2023 "In 1972, Pran refused to accept his Filmfare award for the Best Supporting Actor in ''Be-Imaan'' because he felt music composer Ghulam Mohammed deserved a Filmfare award for his songs in ''Pakeezah''."Actor Pran's refusal to accept his Filmfare Award because he felt Ghulam Mohammed deserved a Filmfare Award for film Pakeezah in 1972 on rediff.com website
Retrieved 2 November 2020 Many consider his score to be one of the greatest in Indian Cinema. In 1997, he was honoured, in the 'Keep Alive' music show series in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, that honours all-time film music composers of India. An extensive audio - visual programme on Ghulam Mohammed was presented by Mumbai- based music troupe MUSICOLOR in 2010 where music lovers cherished the composer's composed film songs. "One commonly-heard story is that when Shankar–Jaikishan were composing their maiden venture Barsaat (1949), they insisted on having Ghulam Mohammed play the

dholak The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries s ...

for the film song 'Barsaat Mein Ham Se Mile Tum Sajjan'".

Filmography

* Baanke Sipahi (1937) * '' Sanjog'' as a music Asstist with

* Mera Khwab (1943) * Doli (1947) * Tiger Queen (1947) * '' Elaan'' as a music Assistant with Naushad * Grihasthi (1948) * Kaajal (1948) * Pagdi (1948) * Parayee Aag (1948) * Dil Ki Basti (1949) * Paras (1949) * Shair (1949) * Hanste Aansoo (1950) * Maang (1950) * Pardes (1950) * Bikhre Moti (1951) * Naazneen (1951) * Ajeeb Ladki (1952) *

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

(1952) * Sheesha (1952) * Dil-E-Nadaan (1953) * Gauhar (1953) * Hazaar Raaten (1953) * Laila Majnu (1953) * Rail Ka Dibba (1953) * Guzaara (1954) *

(1954) * Hoor-e-Arab (1955) * Kundan (1955) * Sitara (1955) * Pak Daaman (1957) * Maalik (1958) * Do Gunde (1959) * Shama (1961) * Pakeezah (1972)

Awards and recognition

* 1955: National Film Award for Best Music Direction:

(1954) *

Gold Disc Award in 1972

References

External links

*
Songs of Ghulam Mohammed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, Ghulam 1903 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Indian Muslims People from Bikaner Hindi film score composers 20th-century Indian composers Musicians from Rajasthan National Film Award (India) winners