It is strange that a music director whose songs are sung by so many people has remained unsung. People even donot know, while singing his melodies, about the name of the music director. Ravi Saab is the only Indian music director who has given music for the big Hollywood production house, twentieth century fox films. No other Indian music director has attained this status so far. Even percentage wise, he has given the maximum hits and his success rate is much more than any other music director of India. I find that he is really an unsung hero and it pains me when I find that people write so much about the music directors who were simply mediocre before him.
Who can forget his music in movies like Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Pyaar Ka Sagar,Gharana, Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke, Gumrah, Bharosa, Aaj Aur Kal, Door Ki Awaaz, Waqt, Khandaan, Kaajal, Phool Aur Patthar, Dus Lakh, Hamraaz, Neel Kamal, Aankhen, Do Kaliyaan, Do badan, Ek Phool Do Mali, Nai Roshni, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Dhund, Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka, Amaanat, Nikaah and many more.
The following is a brief write up on him taken from Music India Online site. Thanks that the music company has a high regard for him.
RAVI
Ravi Shankar Sharma was born into a family of music lovers. Having little formal training he started singing Hindi film songs as a child. He astounded his father with a near perfect rendition of a popular film bhajan and became a regular at bhajan mandlis. But his yen went beyond simply bhajan singing, and he started learning the harmonium.
Being from a family that valued education, Ravi put his ambition of singing on the backburner and concentrated on getting a ‘real’ job. But life obviously had other plans. Between ’45 and ’50, he worked in the Post &Telegraph department and got married. He signed up as an amateur artiste with AIR. As luck would have it, he soon got posted to a remote town on the Punjab border and decided that he had had enough. He came to Bombay for twenty days and stayed on for good.
Numerous futile visits to the music directors of the time followed. One day, Ravi got an offer to sing in a chorus for the song ‘Vande Mataram’ from Anandmath for the legendary Hemant Kumar. This association with Kumar lasted many years in films like Shart and Nagin.
Life however, was still a struggle. Things however changed forever with Devendra Goel's Vachan. Hits like 'Chandamama Door Ke' and 'Ek Paisa Dede Babu' saw Ravi coming into his own. Films like Mehendi, Ghar Sansar and Dilli Ka Thug then came his way.
The second turning point came with ‘Chaudvin Ka Chand’. From the sublime title track to 'Mili Khaak Mein Mohabbat', this album was Ravi at his refined best. With this film came unrivalled success. Then like his guide Hemant Kumar, he too worked with films from Madras, including Gemini films' Ghunghat, Gharana and Aurat.
By 1961, life became much easier. He continued working with studios of the south, scoring Vassan films' Bharosa ('Is Bhari Duniya Mein') and Khandan ('Tumhi Mere Mandir') for which he won the Filmfare award in '65. He also worked with AVM and Shivaji Ganeshan, earning the title of King of Madras. And with 'Jab Chali Thandi Hawa' and other gems from Do Badan and the very entertaining China Town soundtrack, Ravi was on a high.
The seventies and eighties, the latter especially saw a slump in Ravi's career. He took to composing for Malayalam films like Nakakshathangal, which won a National award. As recently as 1994, he scored National Award winning tunes for Parinayam and Sukhrutham. In fact, this year, this prolific and grossly underrated composer will complete fifty years in the film industry. No mean feat that in a world where survival let alone longevity is a challenge.
It is often seen that some directors enjoy a special rapport with their composers. With B.R.Chopra, it was Ravi. There alliance started with Gumrah, which featured some truly memorable tracks like 'Tujhko Mera Pyar Pukare' and Sahir's poignantly worded 'Chalo Ek Baar'. Films like Waqt ('Aye Meri Zohra Jabeen'), Humraaz and Nikaah followed.
As for vocalists, Ravi has worked with the best. His favourite remains Mohammed Rafi. This was because he believed Rafi could do justice to any tune, however complex. Another singer he considers highly is Kishore Kumar, for his sheer instinct, which more than made up for his lack of formal training.
Working with Chopra meant employing Mahendra Kapoor and adjusting to his vocal limitations. The result was songs like 'In Hawaon Mein' and 'Neele Gagan Ke Tale'. A reflection perhaps of Ravi's belief that it is the lyrics and melody that truly makes a song, not merely the singer.
As for the ladies, Ravi worked more with Asha. Lata did however do some noteworthy tracks like 'Milti Hai Zindagi Mein Mohabbat' from Ankhen. Asha, on the other hand, rendered beauties like 'Jab Chali Thandi Hawa' and 'Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu'.
Though not as flamboyant as some of his contemporaries, Ravi was no doubt a versatile composer. He worked well with traditional forms like bhajans, ghazals and qawalis but he could just as easily compose 'Baar Baar Dekho' a distinctly westernised tune. Interestingly, western musicians paid him royalties on two of his tunes.
Ravi's only grouse was that he was never really acknowledged by the film industry. Thrice his films have won awards for best singer and lyricist but he has been ignored in Chaudvin Ka Chand, Gumrah and Nikaah. A measure of his contribution is the Padmashri he won in '71 for his outstanding work in the field.
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I before this great music director Ravi Saab.