Shanti Kumar Desai (3 March 1908 – 6 January 1986) also credited as Shanti Kumar, was an Indian music director who gave music to

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

s between 1934 -1964.

Personal life

He was born to a

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

i family in

Amreli Amreli is a city and a municipality in Amreli district in Indian state of Gujarat. History It is believed that during 534 AD Amreli existed was formerly known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is named in ancient Gujrati as ''Am ...

in Saurashtra,

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. His mother is Kunwarben and father is Shri Pritamlal Desai. He married Shantagauri Kanakiya. He died on 6 January 1986, survived by five children, 2 sons and 3 daughters and grandchildren.

Career

He learned music early and gave concerts to the royal families of that time. During the 3rd decade of the 20th century, he came to Mumbai and took a job of a broadcaster in HMV. He was exposed to composition and music arrangement for Indian Cinema. He became a disciple of Shri Aman Ali Khan. Initially he gave music to a theater group in Bhangwadi area of Mumbai. He got his first break in the movie ''Navbharat'' from Victory Pictures in 1934. He worked with veteran singers of that time including Johrabai Ambawali, Rajkumari, Ameerbai Karnataki, Sardar Akhtar and Pinakin Shah. He composed for around 40 movies. He was also known as a

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

player. In that era, music used harmonium and

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

only.

Filmography

External links

* * * * * Newspaper - Divya Bhaskar : 22 August 2008, 5 March 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Shanti Kumar 1908 births 1986 deaths Gujarati people People from Amreli district Hindi film score composers 20th-century composers 20th-century Indian musicians