Remembering the life and times of music composer Ravindra Jain

Veteran music composer-singer-lyricist Ravindra Jain died on Friday of multiple organ failure. He was 71.

Born in Aligarh in 1944 to a Sanskrit scholar, Ravindra Jain started singing bhajans at temples at a very young age. He later received training under Pandit GL Jain, Pandit Janardhan Sharma and Pandit Nathu Ram. 

Ravindra Jain was also felicitated with the Padma Shri in 2015.

The visually-challenged music composer began his career in 1972 as a composer, his first song sung by Mohd Rafi himself. Unfortunately, this song was never released.  Later, he went on to compose music for hit films such as Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978), Nadiya ke Paar (1982) and Vivah (2006).

Jain was really fond of Malayalam singer Yesudas, and gave the latter his big break in Hindi films. Jain even named Yesudas as 'Voice of India'. Jain has sung many songs in collaboration with Yesudas. The duo made some really popular songs like O Goriya Re from Naiyya (1979), Teri Bholi Muskaan from Babul (1986) and Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyaara from Chitchor (1976). From Chitchor, starring Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab, another song that was, and still is, hugely popular is 'Aaj Se Pehle Aaj Se Zyada'. These were the songs that made Yesudas successful in Bollywood.

Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyaara: 

Aaj Se Pehle Aaj Se Zyada:

Jain always prioritised his work over anything else. An anecdotal account says that Jain was at the recording studio when his father breathed his last. But, Jain did not leave until his work was done. It was Amitabh Bachchan-Nutan starrer Saudagar (1979) that he was working on at that time. And the most popular song from this film was 'Sajna Hai Mujhe Sajna Ke Liye'. 

Sajna Hai Mujhe Sajna Ke Liye: 

Another song that brought Jain fame was the title song of Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhe Se (1978) starring Sachin and Ranjeeta. The song even won him a Filmfare nomination that year. 

Ankhiyon Ke Jharoke Se:

The film that won him a Filmfare award for Best Music Director award in 1985 was Ram Teri Ganga Maili. The most popular songs from this film were Sun Sahiba Sun, Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ho Gayee, Main Hi Main Hoon and Ek Radha Ek Meera.

Sun Sahiba Sun, Pyar Ki Dhun:

Ek Radha Ek Meera:

Jain's association with Rajshri Productions started in the 80s and continued well into the 2000s. He composed music for Rajshri's 2006 venture Vivaah which was a blockbuster hit. The film starred Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao in lead roles. Songs like 'Mujhe Haq Hai', 'Milan Abhi Aadha Adhura' , 'Tere Dware Pe Aayi Baraat' were really popular ones.

Mujhe Haq Hai:

Jain also composed music for many TV serials for Sagar Films. The popular serial that he composed music for was Ramanand Sagar's epic Ramayan. He also composed several devotional songs. Check out a few here: