Anil Biswas

 

Anil Biswas

 

Early Life: Anil Krishna Biswas was born on 7 July 1914, in a small village of Barisal district in East Bengal (now in Bangladesh) in the household of J C Biswas, where at a young age he acted in a local amateur theater as a child star. He was fond of listening to music since his childhood. As he grew up, he displayed considerable musical talent, by 14 he was already accomplished in playing tabla,^[3] while singing and composing music at local music concerts; though soon he joined the Indian Independence Movement, while still doing his matriculation, and was repeatedly jailed for his revolutionary activities, leading to repeated disruption of his studies. Eventually in 1930, after his father’s death he left for Calcutta in disguise to escape further arrest.

He was advised by the film director Hiren Bose who knew him from Kolkata (earlier Calcutta) days to move to Mumbai (earlier Bombay). In Mumbai initially he struggled but later could find his feet in the film industry.

Anil Biswas was one of the pioneers of Hindi film music and credited with popularizing playback singing and orchestral music in films. Amongst his many strengths as a music director was his ability to pick and groom singers. It is on this aspect that I will focus on in this post. Anil Biswas introduced singers like Zohrabai Ambalewali (Gramophone Singer, 1938), Begum Akhtar (Roti, 1942) and mentored Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh and of course, Meena Kapoor, whom he would go on to marry.

Mukesh: Dil Jalta Hai To Jalne De (Pehli Nazar, 1945)

Mukesh’s first hit in Hindi films can be directly attributed to Anil Biswas. Mukesh made his debut in 1941 and was lost in Bollywood wilderness till this song came along. When Mukesh reported late for recording, he got an earful from Anil Biwas. When, in his youthful arrogance, Mukesh retorted that he would not sing the song, Anil Biswas slapped him hard and asked him to bring that pain into the recording room! Mukesh went on to sing the song in the style of KL Saigal but his troubles were not over yet. The film’s producer wanted to remove the song since the distributors’ felt that Mukesh’s voice did not suit actor Motilal. A tearful Mukesh eventually convinced the producer to keep the song. The song became very popular and Mukesh had his first hit. Mukesh went on to become a successful singer with a flair for the melancholy.

Talat Mahmood: Ae Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah Le Chal (Arzoo, 1950)

While other music directors considered the quiver in Talat Mahmood’s voice a weakness, Anil Biswas was enamored of it. It was Anil Biswas, who mentored and encouraged Talat who was beginning to despair after having failed to make an impact after five years in Hindi films. It was Talat Mahmood’s perseverance and Anil Biswas’ eye for talent that led to this hugely successful song. The popularity of “Ae Dil..” resulted in other music directors making a beeline to sign up Talat. The song also cemented Talat’s place as the voice of Dilip Kumar, who made it a point to recommend Talat for his films.

Lata Mangeshkar: Tumhare Bulane Ko Jee Chahta Hai (Ladli, 1949)

Anil Biswas, along with Ghulam Haider and Khemchand Prakash, stood by Lata Mangeshkar at a time when her future in the film industry was uncertain. She had been criticised for her “thin” voice and for her poor Urdu diction but with help from these maestros, she worked on her singing and went on to become the leading female singer in Hindi films for decades to come. This is what she had to say about what she learned from Anil Biswas in the book Lata Mangeshkar In Her Own Voice (by Nasreen Munni Kabir):

“Anil Biswas taught me many things – perhaps he didn’t mean to teach me, but I remember his advice. He taught me when to inhale and exhale. So when I sing, people can’t tell when I take a breath. Another thing Anil da told me was – if I am stressing on a particular note – how much to fade in and out of the note. I learned these techniques from him.”

In 1942, he joined Bombay Talkies at an offer from Devika Rani, where he got his biggest hit, Gyan Mukherjee's Kismet (1943), starring Ashok Kumar and Mumtaz Shanti, most remembered for the song, 'Papihaare’, sung by his sister Parul Ghosh (wife of the renowned flautist, Pannalal Ghosh), the patriotic hit, 'Door hato ai duniyaa waalo', and 'Dheere dheere aare badal, mera bulbul so raha hai, shorgul na macha' sung by the actor, Ashok Kumar. In 1946, he left Bombay Talkies and set out as a freelancer, and later under the banner, ‘Variety Pictures’ owned by his wife, Asha Lata Biswas, worked for four films, Laadli (1949), Laajawaab (1950), Badi Bahu (1951) and Humdard (1953), with KA Abbas Rahi (1952), songless Munna (1954), where he gave the background score and Indo-Russian joint production Nargis starrer, Pardesi (1957) and Char Dil Char Rahen (1959). By now, the kind of music perfect by Anilda was fast changing and so he gradually grew disillusioned by the changing dynamics of the film industry. In early 1960s, he retired from the cinema, while still at the peak of his game and shifted his base to New Delhi, though he did one or two films in between like Mahesh Kaul's, Sautela Bhai (1962), his final film as a composer was, actor Motilal's directorial venture, Chotti Chotti Battein (1965), starring Nadira and with Mukesh's 'Zindagi Khwab Hai Tha Hamein Bhi'. Motilal died before its release, and the film flopped at the box office, though it did get a National Film Award.

In Delhi, he became director of the National Orchestra at the All India Radio (AIR) in March 1963  and remained Chief Producer -Sugam Sangeet (light Hindustani classical music) at AIR, Delhi till 1975. Though later, he composed music for Doordarshan's pioneering TV series Hum Log (1984) and a number of documentaries for the Films Division as late as 1991 and remained the Advisor (Music) in the rank of a Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University for 2 years.

Award and Honours:

• He won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986.
• Anil Biswas breathed his last on 31 May 2003 at the age of 88.