Honorable mentions: Roshan, Rajesh Roshan, Salil Chowdhary, Sajjad, Khayyam, Jaydeo, Chitragupt, Sardar Malik
-O. P. NAYYAR-
O.P. born in Punjab, most his songs had a Punjabi influence. He used the folk music to the perfection. He used Asha Bhosale, Shamshad Begam, Geeta Dutt & of course Rafi extensively. The most interesting fact that he never used Lata Mangeshkar & earns the respect due to this(not bcos he didn't use Lata but he got success without her which was impossible then. Many music directors couldn't survive due to differences with Lata who often times was highly political & insecure due to her past/childhood). The best part is even today O.P. is as cheerful & lively & isn't living in the past.
His best movies include: Aar Paar, Mr & Mrs 55, Baaz, C.I.D(all with Gurudutt?); Naya Daur, Phir Wahi Dil laya Hun, Ek Musaphir Ek Hasina, Kashmir ki Kali, Tumsa nahi Dekha, Mere Sanam(Pukarata).
-S.D. BURMAN-
He was really'baap' of R.D.:) Some of the most amazing use of ragas & music from Indian history was used by this great. He sung some songs that are evergreen: Wahan Kon he tera, Kahe ko Roye, Mere Sajan Hain Us-par, Chhote Choote Sapane Hamar(Sagina); Rama Megh De etc.
Some of the great hits: Taxi Driver, Pyasa, Baazi, Solva Saal, Chalti Ka Nam Gaadi, Munimji, Nau Do Gyarah, Teen Deviya, Guide, Jewel Theif, Bombai ka Baabu, Kaala Bazaar, Sagina, Kaala Paani, Aradhana, Paying Guest, Dilli ka Thug, Funtoosh, Sharmilee(Assist. RD). I think S.D gave his best for Dev Anand movies(or Navaketan Studio). It seems there were several groups/alignments then I people hardly cross-shoped!:)
I specially like Deewana Mastana huwa Dil, Hum BekhuDi main, Tu kaha ye bata, Sun le tu dil ki sada, Dil ka bhanwar & many more. Gazal: Kahi Bekhayal hokar, yunhi chhu liya kisise from Teen Deviyan. Phoolon Ke Rang se from Prem Pujari.
-SHANKAR-JAIKISHAN-
Within such a short span I do not think anybody has given so many hits! Lakshmikant-Pyarelal have more hits than anyone else but SJ's span was about 20 years? Starting with a hit like Barsaat they earned 9 filmfares(the most for any music duo). The ruled two decades without any doubt.
They gave songs based on both Indian classical & also then western music/instruments. They made the best use of composition of some of the greats like Mozart, Beethoven. The fact that when they arrived the greats like SD, Naushad, Madanmohan were at large & these two took surpassed everyone for the two decades with the sheer number of hits.Most of the sucess of Raaj Kapoor & Shammi Kapoor can be given to this pair.
hits given by SJ will give you an idea: Barsaat, Boot Polish, Asali Naqli, Anadi, Jis Desh main, Awaara, Chori Chori, Shree 420, Junglee, Aah, Aag, Mera Naam Jokar, Sangam, Tesri Kasam, An evening in Paris(aja re aa jara), Love in Tokyo(O mere shah-e-khuba), Ziddi(Raat ka sama, Janu kya mera dil), Aarzoo(Chhalake Teri Ankhon se, Aji Hum Se), Suraj, Dil Apana Preet Parayee, Basant Bahar, Patita(yaad kuiya dil ne), Jab Pyar Kisise hota hain, Professor(Ye Ankhe ufff yumma)
-C. RAMCHANDRA-
Ramchandra Chitalkar(Anna): One of the greatest music directors & Badshah of melodies. Alebla is his greatest/wildly popular movie. Azad with Dilip Kumar is also a khara Sona. He gave stupendous hits with Lata but I think misbehaved or something & ince then she stopped singing with him rather she stopped taking his name anymore! Mohabbat Aise Dhankan hain jo samazhai nahi jaati from Anarkali is a masterpiece from Lata & Anna. Ina Meena Dika from Asha is also a MEGA-Hit. Who can forget Adha hain Chandrama & other hist from Navrang. Ana Meri jaan Meri Jaan Sunday ke Sunday is one of the all time popular songs. Dheere se aaja ri akhiyan main is THE most popular lullaby of all times, period! How about Ye Zindagi usi ki hain, Jo kisi ka ho gaya.pyar hi main kho gaya Shirish Kanekar a very popular Marathi-writer has written a great article about his meeting with Lata M where he described several songs of dear Anna & Lata. I have not heard many C.R & Lata combo songs but from what I have read/heard it seems one can do a Ph.D in this subject: Lata Sings for C.R.
I feel terribly sorry for the new REMIX or for that matter Annu Malik(not that bad) generation! They are missing all the GOOD stuff & the worst part is that they don't know what they are missing!
-LAKSHMIKANT-PYARELAL-
If you plan to rank music directors based on the number of hits & also hits per category, say Indian classical, Bhajans, Gazalas, Folk Tunes, Western based then Lakshmi-Pyaare do not have a parallel. If you have to check the staying power or endurance over the changing test of the audience over last 4 decades then again Lakshmi-Pyaare hardly have a competitor. Simple but appealing tunes was their biggest characteristics. The'masses' of India have not liked any other music director so much. Many music directors created pockets of popularity but not with this pair. Their acceptance was universal. It is impossible for me to list down their hits movies here. Maybe a separate review. Here I would like to mention that somehow other musicians have appealed me more than Lakshmi-Pyaare but you have to accept the facts & the fact is Lakshmi-Pyaare rules & are still out there giving popular quality music.
-NAUSHAD-
The perfectionist. The traditionalist. The MASTER of the Indian music. Highly disciplined & very careful about the purity of his music. He used traditional Indian instruments to perfection. Kohinoor, Madhuban main Radhika is an example of this. He probed the limits of the singers. Used Rafi & Lata again to perfection. He advised Lata not to sing too many songs in the higher notes that she was doing with Shankar Jaikishan & sometimes with S.D. He thought this will ruin her voice.(It did!) You can hear songs from Arzoo(Aji roothkar ab) it is highly irritating at times & took the toll. Anyway, he was THE MASTER.
Hits: Mughal-E-Azam, Paakija, Baiju Bawara, Mere Mehboob, Ganga Jamuna, Kohinoor, Leader, Udan Khatola, Dulari(Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki). I think Nanha Munna Raahi Hun is also from Naushad?
-R.D. BURMAN-
Like father like son(& then much more). It took a lot of convincing of Shammi by Vijay Anand to at least consider someone else than Shankar-Jaykishan. They arranged a session at the house of R.D. He went over several tunes with Shammi & at the end of the meeting, RD was singing, Shammi was singing & dancing & Vijay Anand was trying to control them!:) Shammi accepted RD & you know the kind of hit they produced Tisri Manzhil RD never looked back after that. He along with Kishore virtually'made' Rajesh Khanna He was instrumental is giving the Kishore the first spot in the 70s. S.D gave first 3 recorded songs of Aradhana to Rafi but SD was caught by flue I guess & RD recorded remaining songs in Kishore's voice. This started RD-Kishore-Rajesh triplet.
Continued Hits by R.D.; MadanMohan; Iliya Raaja & A. R. Rehman in comments section
