Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s music is played, every hour if not more frequently, in every nook and cranny of the country, over two decades after they stopped composing together. It also finds due place globally, wherever Indian music is loved. Today, Pyarelal has his own global standing, and is the only Indian composer to have a symphony registered in his name.
This book encapsulates what can only be called the ‘Musical Universe’ of Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Here is a duo known as much for incomparable range and quality as for unmatched popularity and quantity; as much for intimate associations with lyricists, singers, filmmakers and stars as for giving career breaks and breakthroughs to so many; as much for chartbusters from the 1960s to 1990s as for leading in the list of re-created songs today.
From teenage musicians to being the composers of over 500 films, their journey is truly incredible in every aspect. They are admired by international as well as Indian classical maestros.
Rajiv Vijayakar has been an entertainment journalist for over 30 years now. A dental surgeon by qualification, he has been Mumbai correspondent for the American weekly India-West since 1993, and has had long associations with prestigious Indian publications like Screen, Deccan Herald, Mid-Day, Stardust, Showtime, Movie Mag International, Star & Style, G Magazine, AV Max, Bollywoodhungama.com, Shaadi Times, Worldspace.com and others.
Author of Dharmendra: Not Just a He-Man (2018), Rajiv has also published two other books- The History of Indian Film Music: A Showcase of the Very Best in Hindi Cinema (2010)-which is now on the teaching course at Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA-and Main Shayar Toh Nahin (2019).
Rajiv has been on the 62nd and 58th National Film Awards jury. His research paper, The Role of a Song in a Hindi Film, is now on the syllabus of South Asian cinema studies at the University of Edinburgh.
He is also the sole Content Team Member for Hindi Film Music at the Indian Music Experience, India’s first and digitally interactive museum on music, which opened in 2019 in Bangalore.
Rajiv has also been awarded the Hindi Seva Samman in 2013 on Hindi Diwas by the Vishwa Hindi Academy, Mumbai, for his contribution to Hindi cinema and music.
To me, for a multitude of reasons, they will always remain the music directors. For the film industry and for millions of fans, Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma will also be the most complete composers showbiz has seen, and perhaps will ever see. They were a heady combination of unique synergy and unmatched individual brilliance.
As a child, it was their music which resonated best amidst the songs from the plethora of legends that existed then. Today, when I look back, I realize that Laxmikant-Pyarelal were doing so many films and were delivering outstanding music, even though the quantum of songs was much larger than what their seniors were composing.
I was to realize only much later that the quantity, as conventionally believed, did not affect quality in their case. The reason for this will be clear before this book ends.
Sant Gyaneshwar, Harishchandra Taramati, Dosti, Mr X in Bombay, Pyar Kiye Jaa, Aaye Din Bahaar Ke, Aasra, Anita, Milan, Farz-these were the first L-P (as the duo is known) films I was exposed to on radio. The songs were accorded rave remarks by my parents, friends and relatives, who, of course, were not particularly familiar with either L-P or any other film composers.
As a pre-teen, I was exposed to everything, from Radio Ceylon's Binaca Geetmala and Vividh Bharati's Manchahe Geet, to the records my father bought and everything we watched on our movie outings. My parents were hardcore film buffs and as the only child, I went with them to the movies. I was also an ardent reader of the film magazines that were brought home-Screen, Star & Style, Filmfare and Picturpost.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist