Laxmikant–Pyarelal (also known as L-P) were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). In their career span, stretching from 1963 to 1998, they composed music for about 750 movies, working with several prominent film-makers.
Early life
Laxmikant Kudalkar
Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar was born on the day of Laxmi Pujan, Dipawali on 3 November 1937. Probably, because of the day of his birth, his parents named him Laxmikant, which is a name of Lord Vishnu, consort of Goddess Laxmi. His father died when he was a child. Because of the poor financial condition of the family he could not complete his academic education either. Laxmikant's father's friend, a musician himself, advised Laxmikant and his elder brother to learn music. Accordingly, Laxmikant learned to play the mandolin and his elder brother learned to play the tabla. He spent two years in the company of the well-known mandolin player Hussain Ali. He began organising and performing in Indian Classical instrumental music concerts to earn some money. Later, in the 1940s, he also learned mandolin from Bal Mukund Indorker and violin from Husnalal (of the Husanlal Bhagatram fame). Laxmikant began his film career as a child actor in the films Bhakt Pundalik (1949) and Aankhen (1950). He also acted in some Gujarati films.
Pyarelal Sharma
Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 3 September 1940) is the son of a renowned trumpeter Pandit Ramprasad Sharma (popularly known as Babaji), who taught him the basics of music. He started learning violin at the age of 8 and practised it 8 to 12 hours daily. He learnt to play violin from a Goan musician named Anthony Gonsalves. The song "My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves" from the movie Amar Akbar Anthony is regarded as a tribute to Mr. Gonsalves (the movie had music by Laxmikant–Pyarelal).
Music career
1960s: Rise to prominence
Laxmikant–Pyarelal begin their career in 1963 by composing music for Babubhai Mistri's Parasmani. It proved to be financially successful and two songs from the film, "Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra, Kali Zulfen, Rang Sunehra" and "Woh Jab Yaad Aaye, Bahut Yaad Aaye" were superhits and part of the year-end annual list of Binaca Geetmala. They established themselves the following year when they composed the soundtrack of Rajshri Productions's blockbuster musical drama film Dosti. Its songs, "Jaanewalon Zara Mudke Dekho Mujhe", "Chaahunga Main Tujhe Sanjh Savere", "Mera To Jo Bhi Kadam Hai", "Koi Jab Raah Na Paaye", all solos by Mohammed Rafi were chartbusters which made Dosti one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1960s and won Laxmikant–Pyarelal their maiden Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Apart from Dosti, their other musical hits during this period were Mr. X in Bombay (1964) and Aaye Din Bahar Ke (1966), both of which had chartbuster songs, such as "Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi", "Khoobsurat Haseena Jaan-E-Jaan Jaan-E-Man" in the former and "Mere Dushman Tu Meri Dosti", "Suno Sajna" in the latter.
In 1967, they scored music for Shagird, Patthar Ke Sanam, Night in London, Milan and Farz, all of which were among the top-earners of the year, which was attributed to their melodious soundtrack, especially the Jeetendra starrer spy thriller Farz whose songs, such as "Baar Baar Din Ye Aaye – Happy Birthday To You", "Hum To Tere Aashiq Hain", "Mast Baharon Ka Main Aashiq" and "Tumse O Haseena" were rage among the masses and made its soundtrack one of the best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s. For the Sunil Dutt fronted reincarnation drama Milan, they received their second Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Two songs from the film "Sawan Ka Mahina" and "Yug Yug Se", both duets by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar topped the year-end annual list of Binaca Geetmala.Reliving the Geetmala lore. S.K. Screen, Friday, 22 September 2000, transcript available online at , accessed online on 29 July 2006
Laxmikant–Pyarelal concluded the decade with Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Izzat (1968), Intaqam (1969), Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke (1969), Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke (1969), Anjaana (1969), Jeene Ki Raah (1969) and Do Raaste (1969). While, the first five albums were hits, the last two proved to be huge chartbusters. The music of Do Raaste was such a rage that it helped the film to become the first Indian film to gross £100,000 in the UK, equivalent to ₹900,000 (US$118,940.64). Notable songs from these films, included "Chhalka Yeh Jaam", "Yeh Dil Tum Bin Kahin Lagta Nahin", "Kya Miliye Aise Logon Se", "Aa Jaane Jaan", "Kaise Rahoon Chup Ki Meine Pee Hi Kya Hai", "Saathiya Nahin Jaana", "Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke", "Je Ham Tum Chori Se Bandhe Ek Dori Se", "Rim Jhim Ke Geet Sawan Gaye", "Aane Se Uske Aaye Bahar", "Bindiya Chamke Gi Chudi Khanke Gi" and "Yeh Reshmi Zulfen". At the 17th Filmfare Awards, they got nominated in the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director category for both Jeene Ki Raah and Do Raaste and they won it for the former. With continuous success in the late-1960s, Laxmikant–Pyarelal entered the big league and eventually overtook Shankar–Jaikishan, who had ruled the roost from 1949 onwards.
1970s: Competition from contemporaries
In the early-1970s, Laxmikant–Pyarelal faced competition from R. D. Burman whose electronic rock compositions revolutionized the Hindi film music and he emerged as top favorite of superstar Rajesh Khanna and various other filmmakers, such as Shakti Samanta, Nasir Hussain, Anand Brothers, Ravikant Nagaich and Gulzar, among others and composed for majority of their films.
Despite this, Laxmikant–Pyarelal continued to deliver musical hits, including Mohan Kumar's romantic drama Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee (1971), which had Rajendra Kumar in the lead role, Satyen Bose's crime drama Jeevan Mrityu (1970) and Raj Khosla's action drama Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), both starring Dharmendra, Mukul Dutt's romance Aan Milo Sajna (1970) and M. A. Thirumugam's comedy drama Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), both having Rajesh Khanna in the lead. The soundtracks of Aan Milo Sajna and Jeevan Mrityu were highly successful and two of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the year, respectively. On the other hand, the music of Haathi Mere Saathi was an even bigger chartbuster and among the best-selling Bollywood albums of the 1970s. In 1972, they composed for Manoj Kumar's third directional venture Shor. One of its song "Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai", a duet by Mangeshkar and Mukesh with lyrics written by Santosh Anand emerged a mass favorite and got Laxmikant–Pyarelal another nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director category. Apart from Shor, their other notable works that year were in Raja Jani, Gora Aur Kala, Piya Ka Ghar and Jeet, which had evergreen melodies "Aa Aaja Aaja", a solo by Mangeshkar, "Dheere Dheere Bol, Koi Sun Na Le", a duet by Mukesh and Mangeshkar, "Yeh Jeevan Hai", sung by Kishore Kumar and "Chal Prem Nagar", a duet by Mohammed Rafi and Mangeshkar, respectively.
The year 1973 proved to be milestone year in their career as they got the chance to compose for Raj Kapoor's romantic musical Bobby. The songs of the film like "Main Shayar To Nahin", "Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho", "Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai", "Na Mangun Sona Chandi" were huge chartbusters and remain popular till date. The popularity of its songs made Bobby an All Time Blockbuster at the box office and its soundtrack, the best-selling Hindi film album of the decade. Apart from Bobby, they also delivered blockbuster music for Yash Chopra's romantic drama Daag: A Poem of Love and A. Bhimsingh's actioner Loafer, both of which had memorable songs like "Ab Chahe Ma Roothe Yaa Baba" and "Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai" in the former, "Aaj Mausam Bada Be-Imaan Hai" and "Koi Shehri Babu" in the latter. For Bobby and Daag, Laxmikant–Pyarelal received two more nominations in the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director category. They continued their success streak in the mid-1970s by delivering notable songs in films, such as Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), Dost (1974), Amir Garib (1974), Imtihan (1974), Roti (1974), Dulhan (1974), Majboor (1974), Prem Kahani (1975), Pratiggya (1975), Jaaneman (1976), Nagin (1976), Charas (1976) and Dus Numbri (1976). For Roti Kapada Aur Makaan and Dulhan, they received two more nominations for Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Apart from critical appreciation and commercial success, the soundtrack of Roti Kapada Aur Makaan proved to be another feather in the cap of Laxmikant–Pyarelal as it emerged the fifth best-selling Hindi film album of the 1970s and its songs "Mehngai Mar Gayi" and "Hai Hai Yeh Majboori" took 1st and 2nd spot at the year-end annual list of Binaca Geetmala, respectively. Other memorable songs composed by the duo during this phase were "Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai" (Dost), "Ruk Jana Nahin" (Imtihan), "Yeh Public Hai" (Roti), "Aadmi Jo Kehta Hai" (Majboor), "Jaaneman Jaaneman" (Jaaneman), all solos by Kishore Kumar, "Baith Ja Khadi Ho Ja" (Amir Garib), "Gore Range Pe Na Itna" (Roti), "Prem Kahani Mein" (Prem Kahani), "Kal Ki Haseen Mulaqat Ke Liye" (Charas), all duets by Kumar and Mangeshkar, "Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana" (Pratiggya), a solo by Rafi and "Yeh Duniya Ek Numbri" (Dus Numbri), a solo by Mukesh.
The final years of the decade saw the trend change from romantic to action oriented multi-starrers with filmmakers like Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra leading the road. In 1977, Laxmikant–Pyarelal composed for four films of Manmohan Desai, which were - Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Dharam Veer and Chacha Bhatija. They made Mohammed Rafi sing majority of the songs as he was going through a rough patch owing to the meteoric rise of Kishore Kumar post-Aradhana (1969). At release, all the four films proved to be huge commercial successes, especially Amar Akbar Anthony and Dharam Veer, both of which were mega blockbusters. The songs of Amar Akbar Anthony like "Parda Hai Parda", "Taiyabali Pyar Ka Dushman" and "Shirdi Wale Sai Baba", all three solos by Rafi were huge hits among the masses and marked his comeback. The cherry on the top were the chartbuster songs of Dharam Veer - "O Meri Mehbooba" and "Main Galiyon Ka Raja", again both solos by Rafi. The soundtracks of Amar Akbar Anthony and Dharam Veer were the seventh and ninth best-selling Hindi film album of the 1970s, respectively. For the former, Laxmikant–Pyarelal won their fourth Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Their other hit songs of the year, include "Yaar Dildar Tujhe Kaisa Chahiye" (Chhailla Babu), "Aate Jate Khoobsurat Awara" (Anurodh), "Dream Girl" (Dream Girl), "Aadmi Musafir Hai" (Apnapan) and "Teri Meri Shadi Seedi Saadi" (Dildaar). In 1978, they reunited with Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla for Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, respectively. Music of both the films opened to acclaim from critics as well as the audience. For the former, Laxmikant–Pyarelal won their second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. In 1979, they composed for K. Vishwanath's Sargam, Mohan Sehgal's Kartavya, R. Krishnamurthy and K. Vijayan's Amar Deep, Rajkumar Kohli's Jaani Dushman and Manmohan Desai's Suhaag. All the five films had a number of hit songs, such as "Dafli Wale Dafli Baja" and "Hum To Chale Pardes, Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye" (both Sargam), "Teri Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" and "Ae Yaar Sun, Yaari Teri" (both Suhaag), "Chanda Mama Se Pyara Mera Mama" and "Doori Na Rahe Koi" (both Kartavya), "Chalo Re, Doli Uthao Kahaar" and "Tere Haathon Mein Pehnaake Chudiyan" (both Jaani Dushman), "Duniya Mein Sada" and "Koi Na Tere Pehle Thi" (both Amar Deep). The music of Sargam was one of the best-selling Bollywood album of the decade and won Laxmikant–Pyarelal their sixth Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.