Did you know that ghazals such as Chalo ik baar phir se ajnabee bann jayein hum dono and Aap aaye to khayaal-e-dil-e-naashaad aaya are NOT composed by Madan Mohan?
Did you know that love ballad Yeh raatein, yeh mausam, nadi ka kinaara, yeh chanchal hawa and the naughty Hum to mohabbat karega are NOT composed by SD Burman?
Did you know that poetic Chaudveen ka chand ho and classical Laage na mora jiya are NOT composed by Naushad?
Did you know that the songs Baar baar dekho, hazaar baar dekho and Dekha hai zindagi ko, kuchh itna kareeb se are NOT composed by RD Burman?
Did you know the qawalli Ae meri zohrajabeen and the ghazal Gairon pe karam, apno pe sitam are NOT composed by Roshan?
Did you know that numbers like Jab chali thandi hawa and Aage bhi jaane na tu are NOT composed by O.P Nayyar?
Did you know that raga–based songs such as Tumhi mere mandir, tumhi meri pooja and Tumhari nazar kyoon khafa ho gayi are NOT composed by Shankar-Jaikishan?
Did you know that the mandatory songs for all Indian weddings- Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai and Baabul ki duaayein leti ja are NOT composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal?
Did you know that ballads such as Door rehkar na karo baat kareeb aa jao and Dil mein kisi ke pyaar ka jalta hua diya are NOT composed by Khaiyyaam?
Did you know that philosophical/devotional songs like Tora mann darpan kehlaaye, Jeewan jyot jale and Darshan do ghanshyam are neither composed by Jaidev, nor by Ravindra Jain?
All the above songs are, in fact, works of the great composer Ravi, who in spite of his rich and varied oeuvre, has largely gone unsung.
Born Ravi Shankar Sharmain a Punjabi family in Ambala, Ravi had musical leanings in the family and aspired to be a singer. In fact, he was one of the chorus singers for songs like Vande Maatram in Anandmath, whose composer Hemant Kumar inspired him to unearth his talent as a music director. Ravi assisted Hemant da for films like ‘Naagin’ and ‘Shart’, till a chance meeting with producer Devendra Goel culminated in him composing for ‘Vachan’.
Ravi had long and fruitful association with both Devendra Goel and B.R Chopra, the latter resulting in Ravi-Sahir combo regaling the music lovers in films like Waqt, Humraaz, Admi aur Insaan and Dhund.
The best children songs of all times(yes, there is more to this genre than RD Burman’s Lakdi ki kaathi) has Ravi as its patron-in-chief, what with songs like Tim Tim karte taare, Bachche mann ke sachche, Chanda maama door ke, Hum bhi agar bachche hote, Dadi amma dadi amma maan jao…the list is endless.
If Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Traffic Signal’ was to be a musical-Ravi would have the natural choice as composer, what with his numbers like Garibon ki suno and Tujhko rakhe raam tujhko allah rakhe which are still used by the begging brigade to evoke your sympathies.
One hallmark of Ravi's working style was that he preferred to compose the written word, i.e. the lyrics were finalized given to him and then he composed, unlike the rest who preferred to dumb-down raagas and then made lyricists do their bit. This way, not only did Ravi give greater creative freedom to the lyricists, but also ensured that he was never accused of plagiarism!
The most prominent of Ravi's works include Ek Saal(1957), Narsi Bhagat(1957), Dilli Ka Thug(1958), Chaudhvin Ka Chand(1960), Ghunghat(1960), Gharana(1961), Nazrana(1961), Pyaar Ka Saagar(1961), China Town(1962), Tower House(1962), Gumrah(1963), Nartaki(1963), Ustadon Ke Ustaad(1963), Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke(1963), Door Ki Awaaz(1964), Shehnai(1964), Kaajal(1965), Khandaan(1965), Waqt(1965), Do Badan(1966), Dus Lakh(1966), Phool Aur Patthar(1966), Aurat(1967}, Humraaz(1967), Aankhen(1968), Do Kaliyaan(1968), Man Ka Meet(1968), Neel Kamal(1968), Aadmi Aur Insaan(1969), Ek Phool Do Mali(1969), Dhund(1973), Nikaah(1982) and Tawaif(1984).
After the high of Nikaah and Tawaif(both BR Chopra films in 1980s), Ravi moved southwards and composed for numerous Malyalam films. He even composed under the name Bombay Ravi. Malyalam films like Nakakshathangal, Parinayam and Sukhrutham won him a National award. He won Filmfare awards for Gharana(1961) and Khandaan(1965). He was awarded a Padmashree way back in 1971, but this truly great composer has not got his due, the immense popularity of his works notwithstanding.
Simply because Ravi did not get to compose for big banners like Bimal Roy productions, Navketan and RK films should not result in this great composer not get his due. Let us get together in saluting this truly versatile genius of all times.
