Raichand Boral

Rai Chand (R.C.) Boral (1903–1981) was a famous Indian composer, considered by music conoisseurs to be the father of Bollywood film music.

Life and career

Boral was born in Calcutta. His father, Lal Chand Boral was a classical musician (expert of "Dhrupad"). He had three sons, and Rai Chand was the youngest. Musicians from Rampur and Gwalior were invited for lessons. These include Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Masit Khan (tabla player), and Ustad Hafeez Ali Khan (sarod player). Rai Chand learnt "Sath Sangat" on the tabla and attended music conferences in Lucknow, Allahabad, and Benares.

Rai Chand joined the Indian Broadcasting Company in the year of its inception, 1927. In 1931, he shifted to the New Theatres in the silent era for supporting the stage with live music. He dissolved the Ghazal style of singing from Northern India into the 19th Century Bengali tunes with string instrument medium. In 1935, he introduced playback singing forthe first time in the Hindi feature film "Dhoop Chhaon" (1935). The song, "Main Khush Hona Chahun", had an all women chorus led by Parul Ghosh with Suprova Sarkar and Harimati picturised in a dance sequence. R.C. Boral came to Bombay in 1953. After coming to Bombay, he composed music for "Dard-e-Dil" (1953) with Lata's songs. Music for some basic records were composed by him. "Anjangarh" (1948) was his last famous film with New Theatres. He is correctly complemented by late Anil Biswas as the Father of Indian Cinema Music. He had directed music of 150 films including Hindi and Bengali films. He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1978 at the age of 75. He died in 1981 at the age of 78.

Hindi Filmography

*"Mohabbat Ke Aansoo" (1932)
*"Zinda Laash" (1932)
*"Subah Ka Sitaara, Pooran Bhagat" (1933)
*"Rajrani Meera" (1933)
*"Chandidas" (1934)
*"Dakoo Mansoor" (1934)
*"Rooplekha" (1934)
*"After the Earthquake" (1935)
*"Karwan-e-Hayaat" (1935) (with Mihirkiron Bhattacharya)
*"Dhoop Chhaon" (1935) (with Pankaj Mullick)
*"Manzil" (1936) (with Pankaj Mullick)
*"Millionaire (Krorepati)" (1936) (with Pankaj Mullick)
*Maya 1936
*Anath Aashram 1937
*Vidyapati 1937
*President 1937 (with Pankaj Mullick)
*Abhagin 1938
*Street Singer 1938
*Jawani Ki Reet 1939
*Sapera 1939
*Haar Jeet 1940
*Lagan 1941
*Sugand 1942
*Waapas 1943
*Humrahi 1945
*Wasiatnaama 1945
*Anjangarh 1948
*Pahela Admi 1950
*Dard-e-Dil 1953
*Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 1953
*Swami Vivekanand 1955
*Amar Saigal 1955 (with Pankaj Mullick and Timir Baran)

Bengali Filmography

*Dena Prona 1931
*Punarjanma 1932
*Chirakumar Sabha 1932
*Palli Samaj 1932
*Chandidas 1932
*Mastuto Bhai 1933
*Kapalkundala 1933
*Meerabai 1933
*Ruplekha 1934
*Excuse Me Sir 1934
*Debdas 1935 (with Pankaj Mullick)
*Bhagyachakra 1935
*Grihadaha 1936 (with Pankaj Mullick)
*Maya 1936 (with Pankaj Mullick)
*Didi 1937 (with Pankaj Mullick)
*Bidypati 1938
*Abhijnan 1938
*Sathi 1938
*Sapudey 1939
*Rajat Jayani 1939
*Parajay 1940
*Abhinetri 1940
*Parichay 1941
*Prastisruti 1941
*Udayer Pathey 1944
*Biraj Bou 1946
*Anjangarh 1948
*Mantramugda 1949
*Vishnupriya 1949
*Paritran 1951
*Sparshamani 1951

External links

* [http://members.tripod.com/oldies_club/new_theatres_calcutta.htm Musicians]
* [http://www.calcuttaweb.com/cinema/cinema.shtml A short history] of Bengali cinema