Bollywood Retrospect: Top ten songs composed by Ravi Shankar Sharma

Composer Ravi Shankar Sharma enjoyed a long and fruitful career of over three decades but for some reason, he did not capture the public’s imagination as much as his songs did. It’s not unusual for music lovers to hum a song for years before  finding out that it was composed by Ravi. Ravi came to Bombay to become a singer in films. Noticing his talent, Hemant Kumar took him under his wings as an assistant. 

Although he had no formal training in music, Ravi blossomed as a composer under Hemant Kumar. A testament to his music making skills was the hugely popular Been Music he created for Hemant Kumar’s Nagin (1954).  While Kalyanji Virji Shah (of Kalyanji – Anandji) played the tune on a keyboard-like instrument called clavioline, it was Ravi who composed the tune. Impressed by his assistant, Hemant Kumar encouraged Ravi to strike out on his own.

The very next year, Ravi debuted as an independent music director for Vachan (1955). Ravi composed for Vachan what is amongst Bollywood’s most popular loris (lullabies) – “Chanda Mama Door Ke” and launched a successful career as a music director. Over the years, Ravi also showed a knack for writing lyrics, and although not as prolific as Ravindra Jain, he wrote lyrics for as many as fifty Hindi film songs. In the 1980s and 1990s, Ravi made a foray as music director in Malayalam films. Although brief, his work for Malayalam films was appreciated. In fact, it was for his work in two Malayalam films – Pranayam (1994) and Sukrutham (1994), that Ravi won his only National Film Award for Best Music Direction.

To commemorate his 90th birth anniversary on March 3 and his death anniversary on March 7, I pick 10 of Ravi’s best film albums.

Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

After getting noticed first in Nagin (1954) and then in Vachan (1955), Ravi produced a crackling score for Dilli Ka Thug. Ravi leveraged the lead actor and singer, Kishore Kumar’s penchant for the slapstick and produced rollicking numbers like “CAT Cat Cat Maane Billi” and “Hum To Mohabbat Karega”. But the song that truly revealed his potential was the supremely melodious and evergreen duet, “Yeh Raaten Yeh Mausam Nadi Ka Kinara”, sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle and written by Shailendra.

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Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960)

Ravi’s evolution as a composer continued and in the Muslim social, “Chaudhvin Ka Chand”, he showed considerable skill in another genre of music – ghazals. Paired with Naushad’s favourite lyricist Shakeel Badayuni, Ravi produced a score that played a big part in the film’s success. The film’s success was a much-needed respite for the film’s producer Guru Dutt, who had been dealt a big blow by the failure of Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). My pick from the film is the beautiful title song. While the song deservedly fetched Filmfare Awards for Rafi’s soulful rendition and Shakeel Badayuni’s expression of sublime beauty, Ravi’s score for “Chaudhvin Ka Chan” lost out to Shankar – Jaikishan’s “Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai”.

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Gharana (1961)

Gharana was a moderately interesting score with two songs that stood out. The first was the playful “Dadi Amma Dadi Amma Maan Jao” which was heard often on Doordarshan and the second was romantic ghazal “Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin”. After losing out a Filmfare award for a deserving album the previous year, Ravi managed to clinch the award for the less accomplished Gharana. He would win another Filmfare Award for Khandan (1965). His 1965 Filmfare Award was perplexing given that even his own score for Waqt that year was far superior to Khandan. However, listening to the lovely “Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin” and considering his contribution over years, the Filmfare Award for Gharana seems fair.

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Bharosa (1963)

In an album that was dominated by Mohammed Rafi’s solo, “Is Bhari Duniya Mein”, there were two other gems by Lata Mangeshkar – the peppy duet with Mahendra Kapoor, “Aaj Ki Mulaqat Bas Itni”, and the heart-rending solo, “Woh Dil Kahan Se Laoon”. Ravi had earlier composed the tune for the latter for Ek Saal (1957) but had modified it to accommodate producer/director Devendra Goel. “Woh Dil Kahan Se Laoon” was the original and in my opinion, better tune. As good as the Lata songs were, they simply could not match the intensity of Rafi’s “Is Bhari Duniya Mein”, which is my pick from the album.

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Gumrah (1963)

Gumrah was Ravi’s first film with BR Chopra and his only sustained association with a major banner. His partnership with the Chopras was fortuitous because he wasn’t their first choice for Gumrah. Ravi landed the film only after SD Burman had declined. The film was also the first time Ravi used Mahendra Kapoor exclusively for male vocals. This was the beginning of another long partnership, although I would argue it was more fruitful for Mahendra Kapoor than it was for Ravi. Another significant first was his collaboration with Sahir Ludhianvi. No lyricist did as much for Ravi’s songs as Sahir did. Indeed, in my pick from the film, “Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se Ajnabi Ban Jaayen”, Sahir’s lyrics outshone Ravi’s music and a poem, “Khoobsoorat Mod”, from the 1943-1944 compilation “Talkhiyan” found a new lease of life. It is said that Mahendra Kapoor had to work hard, doing several takes to perfect the song, and was rewarded with his first Filmfare Award for it.

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Kaajal (1965)

Ravi got together with Sahir once again for “Kaajal” to produce a solid score. Ravi’s sweet spot for ghazals came through again in songs like “Chhoo Lene Do Nazuk Hothon Ko” and “Yeh Zulf  Agar Khul Ke Bikhar Jaye To Achha”. However, there was another genre of music Ravi was quite adept at – bhajans – and “Kaajal” had a gem – “Tora Man Darpan Kahlaye”. Ravi’s raga-based compositions – Raag Darbari – for this bhajan, gave no indication of the fact that he had received no formal training.

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Waqt (1965)

Waqt was easily the best collaboration between BR Films, Ravi and Sahir Ludhianvi. Once again, Ravi had another music director (and Sahir Ludhianvi) to thank for the opportunity. Shankar – Jaikishan were originally offered the film but they backed out because they wanted to work only with their regular lyricists – Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri – and not Sahir Ludhianvi who BR Chopra insisted on. Waqt was Ravi’s magnum opus and represented the pinnacle of his career. Backed by a big banner, a scintillating cast and Bollywood’s pre-eminent lyricist at the top of his game, Ravi produced a memorable score that has remained an evergreen favourite for Hindi film buffs. Two songs from the film have already featured in this series before – “Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu” and “Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen”. This time around, my pick from the film is “Kaun Aaya Ki Nigahon Mein Chamak Jaag Uthi”.

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Do Badan (1966)

After several films with Mahendra Kapoor, Ravi went back to Mohammed Rafi for  Do Badan. Do Badan was a superb compilation of ghazals. In this one album Ravi’s compositions for Rafi rivalled Madan Mohan’s best for Lata Mangeshkar. Interestingly, arguably the best song of the album, “Raha Gardison Mein Hardam”, was not composed for Do Badan but for Gemini Studios’ Ghunghat (1960). The song was originally recorded in Mukesh’s voice but not used in the film. Ravi took permission from Gemini Studios’ SS Vasan to use the discarded song from Ghunghat and re-recorded it Rafi’s voice for Do Badan. And what a song that turned out to be!

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Hamraaz (1967)

Ravi went back to Mahendra Kapoor in this BR Chopra – Sahir Ludhianvi film, their last truly great collaboration.  They worked together again for Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969) and Dhund (1973) but failed to re-create their past magic. The simplicity of Ravi’s score for Hamraaz underlined the reason for his success with Sahir Ludhianvi – Ravi gave utmost importance to Sahir’s lyrics and didn’t let his composition overwhelm Sahir’s words. One of the highlights of Hamraaz was actress Vimi in her debut role. Vimi was spotted by BR Chopra at a party at Ravi’s house and cast in the film, with her husband’s permission, for her demure appearance. Vimi became a star overnight with the success of Hamraaz. What followed, however, was a tragic spiral down as Vimi’s personal life and career disintegrated. Her liver failed and she died a lonely death at only 34 years of age. 

Vimi’s lasting memory will probably be her statuesque beauty captured brilliantly in the song “Kisi Patthar Ki Moorat Se Mohabbat Ka Irada Hai”.

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Ek Phool Do Mali (1969)

By the late 1960s, Ravi’s hit-making skills seemed to have declined and he seemed to be producing more of the same. Not considering a comeback of sorts years later with Nikaah. (1982), “Ek Phool Do Mali” was his last hit score. The album had a number of crowd pleasers including the parody medley “Chal Chal Re Naujawan”. My pick from the film is the playful exchange between Rafi and Asha, “Yeh Parda Hata Do”.

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A longer list of Ravi’s best songs can be found here.