Ravindra Jain – Remembering the Music Legend

A man may die but his music stays forever. And that holds befittingly true for the legendary Music Composer Ravindra Jain whose music will always occupy a special place in Indian cinema and in our hearts.

Ravindra Jain

The Indian music director and composer spent thirty-seven glorious years in the Indian film industry and his music has traveled across generations. The third amongst seven brothers and two sisters, Ravindra was born to a Sanskrit Scholar. While all his siblings pursued conventional and more ‘stable’ careers, Ravindrawas always musically inclined. When he expressed his love for music and desire to make a career out of it, his father was shocked and said, “Log Kya Khenge?” But despite his over achieving siblings and his physical disability – Ravindra Jain was born blind but that never stood in the way of his brilliance – he composed music for over a hundred and twenty films.

His tryst with music started at a young age while his entry into films happened in 1960. It was a decade later that he made his foray into Hindi cinema. The stalwart worked in close association with Rajshri Productions from 1975 to 2011. His music enhanced the story line of films like Geet Gata Chala, and more recent ones like Vivah, Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi amongst many others. Some of his other famous associations were with veterans like K.J.Yesudas and Kishore Kumar. In fact, Ravindra was the reason that Yesudas, a music legend from the South Indian industry lent his voice to several famous Hindi songs including ‘Oo goriya re’ (Naiyya) and ‘Gori tera gaon’ (Chitchor). And who can forget Kishore Kumar and Ravindra Jain who were a dream team in the ’70s and ’80s. They have to their credit super hit films like Pati Patni Aur Woh, Deewangee, Chor Machaye Shor and several others.

One of Ravindra Jain’s most famous works was in the film Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se a movie based on Erich Segal’s famous novel ‘Love Story’. The melodious music instantly struck a chord with the audiences. The maestro also had the pleasure of working with India’s showman, Raj Kapoor and they worked together on several films including Ram Teri Ganga Maili, which also got Ravindra the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.

Versatility was second nature to the Late music composer. He has composed music not only in Hindi but also lent his musical prowess to albums in Malayalam, Haryanvi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Bengali etc. He has also composed music for a number of mythological films like Durga Maa, Jai Karoli Maa and others. From ghazals to super-hit film songs, mythological numbers and even television serials, Ravindra Jain spread the roots of his music far and wide. His contribution to Indian music has been immense and was recognized with the title of Padma Shri conferred upon him in 2015.

Receiving the Padma Shri

Ravindra Jain was not just a successful musician; he was an inspiration. He made a name for himself without any connections in the film industry. A self – made man who has left his imprint on Indian music as we know it. He may have left us but his melodies continue to live on forever.

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