Music director Kalyanji Shah passes away
AUGUST24: NOTED Hindi film music director Kalyanji Veerji Shah of the famed Kalyanji-Anandji duo, died at the Breach Candy hospital, following a prolonged illness. He was 72 and is survived by his wife, five sons and brothers Anandji Shah and Babla.

Kalyanji was suffering from acute asthma and was hospitalised a fortnight ago. The music composer complained of breathlessness and passed away at 5 pm due to multiple complications. He was cremated at the Chandanwadi crematorium late this evening.

For ten long years Kalyanji devoted himself to stage shows for young singers called the Little Wonders. These shows gave a break to new singers. Kalyanji was awarded the Padmashree in 1990.

The last of the three great music duos that ruled Bollywood music for over three decades from the 1950s, ended today with the death of Kalyanji Veerji Shah. The two other duos were Shankar-Jaikishan and Laximikant-Pyarelal.

Kalyanji entered Hindi film music as an assistant of Hemant Kumar in the mega hit Nagin in 1952, playing the been for the evergreen man dole number.

He began as a solo music composer with Babubhai Mistry’s Samrat Chandragupt in 1954. Kalyanji then teamed up with his brother Anandji for the Balraj Sahni starrer Satta Bazaar. The duo created a history of hit music spanning three decades and over 250 Hindi and five Gujarati films in over 30 years.

Kalyanji, widely regarded as the driving force behind the duo, steered clear of the influence of Western music. Most of his tunes were original classical Indian melodies with a touch of folk music. His tunes in Saraswati Chandra like Chandan Ka badan were a rage and fetched him the national award.

Initially called the poor producer’s music director, the duo turned into the most sought after by top film makers. And for good reason. They imprinted every film with a signature hit tune— Khaike Paan Banaraswala sung by Amitabh Bachchan in Don, Mere Aangane Mein again sung by Bachchan in Laawaaris and the enormously popular Govinda Aala Re Aala. Among Kalyanji-Anandji’s other hits were MR Productions’ Bairaag, Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, the Dev Anand starrer Johny Mera Naam besides Feroz Khan’s Dharmaatma and Qurbani. They also provided the music for possibly a record number of directorial debutants— Manoj Kumar’s Upkar, Prakash Mehra’s Haseena Maan Jayegi, Anil Ganguly’s Kora Kagaz, Subhash Ghai’s Kalicharan, Feroz Khan’s Apradh and Manmohan Desai’s Chhalia. Their last film, which has since been shelved, was Dilip Kumar’s directorial debut Kalinga.

Paying rich tributes to the departed musician, Mahesh Bhatt remembers him as a practical and down to earth man unfazed by the highs and lows of filmdom. Bhatt, who first met Kalyanji while directing Shatruta in the mid-80s reveals the lighter side of his personality: ‘‘I found Kalyanji to be a fount of jokes. I got new jokes everytime i met him.’’

When Indian film music veered towards an emphasis on orchestra rather than melody a decade ago, the duo called it quits.

Their last released film, Rajiv Rai’s Tridev, with its racy synthesizer music and Oye Oye theme song was a huge hit in 1989. But the baton had already been passed to Kalyanji’s son Viju Shah who had in fact composed the music.

Music maestro Naushad adds: ‘‘Like me he too was unhappy with the kind of melodyless music being churned out these days. Even when he stopped giving music Kalyanji continued introducing new singers.’’

Busying themselves with shows in India and abroad, the duo established a school to train new singers and infuse a sense of music among the children. For ten long years Kalyanji devoted himself to stage shows for young singers called the Little Wonders. These shows gave a break to new singers including Sunidhi Chavan. Kalyanji was awarded the Padmashree in 1990. He later started ‘Kalaveer’ his own music school to train singers and gave breaks to several established singers like Sadhana Sargam, Sonali Bajpai, Alka Yagnik, Manhar Udhas and Hemalata. Laxmikant and Pyarelal worked as his assistants before their rise to fame in the 50s.

Kalyanji was the first music director to start the trend of film star shows held in India and abroad, many with Amitabh Bachchan. He collected millions of rupees for charity by hosting music concerts not only for national causes like floods and famines but also for schools and colleges.

Pranlal Mehta

Producer Pranlal Mehta passed away at Mumbai’s Leelavati Hospital following a prolonged illness, last week. He was 62 and is survived by his wife and two sons. Beginning his career as a distributor in Bangalore, Mehta shifted to Mumbai, to start his own banner, Prathima Films. In a span of about 23 years, Mehta made more than 25 films, notable among them being Marte Dam Tuk, Love 86, 100 Days, Betaj Badshah and the recent release, Tarkieb. His Govinda-Rani Mukerji-starrer, Chalo Ishq Ladaye is yet to be released.
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Renu Saluja

Renu Saluja, four-time national award winner for editing, passed away in Mumbai last week. She was 48, and had been undergoing treatment for cancer of the stomach for the last three words.

In a career spanning 20 years, she left an indelible mark on around 25 films. Turning her scissors on a number of art and commercial films, she shaped with skill, the visions of the industry’s best directors.
Among the films she edited were Jaanam, Papa Kehta Hain, Ardha Satya, Party, Godmother, Parinda, 1942 - A Love Story and Hey! Ram.