A gifted composer (1944-2015)
Indian cinema lost one of its most prolific music composers in the demise of Ravindra Jain, who died recently of multiple organ failure at the age of 71. Jain who was born visually impaired, developed a liking for music at a very young age. His keen interest in reciting Jain bhajans prodded his father to send him for basic training under reputed music teachers, who put him through his paces. Ravindra Jain entered films in 1960 after shifting base from Aligarh to Bombay (now Mumbai). He entered Hindi cinema with films like Kranti and Balidaan and soon found his footing in the industry. In a career spanning over four decades, Ravindra Jain composed music for several block busters including Saudagar, Chor Machaye Chor, Geet Gaata Chal, Chitchor, Paheli, and Nadiya Ke Paar. Jain who was also a talented lyricist wrote many of the songs himself and what was really creditable was that almost all the numbers in the aforesaid films turned out to be chartbusters. His lyrics for the film Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, especially the title song by the same name took him to the heights of fame. Ravindra Jain had a keen ear for spotting talent and it was he who brought the famous singer K.J.Yesudas from South Indian films into Bollywood. Yesudas’s numbers in Basu Chatterjee’s Chitchor including Gori Tera Gaon became a rage and some of the numbers like Oh Goriya Re (Nayya) remained on the top of the charts for a very long time. The composer and the singer shared a great rapport and Jain even eulogised the singer as the ‘Voice of India’.
Ravindra Jain also used the voices of celebrated singers like Mohamed Rafi and Kishore Kumar, and composed the music for many of their popular numbers. He also composed the music for an album brought out by versatile singer Asha Bhonsle titled Om Namo Shivaya. His association with Raj Kapoor too earned him many admirers and the thespian’s film Ram Teri Ganga Maili got a distinct fillip due to the very popular songs for which Jain had composed the music. He was later to also wield the baton in another Raj Kapoor film Do Jasoos and for the Randhir Kapoor directed Henna where again music by Jain was to the fore.
Other top directors with whom Jain collaborated, which catapulted his career to dizzy heights were the legendary filmmaker B.R. Chopra for whom he scored the music in films like Pati Patni Aur Woh and Insaaf KaTarazu, and with Rajshri Productions’s Sooraj Barjatya in films like Geet Gaata Chal,Tapasya,Chitchor, Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, Abodh and Vivah and its sequel Vivaah Aisi Bhi. Jain was also in demand in other languages as well and his filmography included compositions in Malayalam, Telugu, Haryanvi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Oriya and Rajasthani. Mythological films were his forte and he excelled in scoring music for Navaratri, Gopal Krishna, Raja Harishchandra, Brahmashri Viswamitra (Telugu) etc. His score in the Malayalam film Aakashathinte Niram too, was critically acclaimed.
The famous composer also had a long stint with the small screen and his music compositions for mythological serials like Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan and Lav Kush too swelled the ranks of his admirers. He also collaborated with Ramanand Sagar in serials like Sri Krishna and Alif Laila. The famous actor Sanjay Khan who later carved a niche on TV too, had Jain composing music for his popular serial Jai Hanuman. Famous Bollywood heroine and dancer Hema Malini had a long association with Jain and commissioned him to compose the music for her dance ballets.
He won a number of awards culminating in the Padma Shri bestowed on him by the Government of India. Musicians like him might shed their mortal coils but their creations far outlive them and in the case of someone like Ravindra Jain, who left his indelible imprint in the hundreds of films that he worked in, this belief certainly rings true.