There have been some composers in the history of Hindi cinema, whose tunes and music are still in the hearts of people. Vasant Desai is one such great musician. His compositions were not limited to songs only, but he also made a wonderful contribution to the background music of films. His musical journey is remembered for the sweetness of the songs as well as for adding emotion to the films.
Vasant Desai was born on 9 June 1912. His real name was Atmaram Desai, but everyone knew him as Vasant Desai. He was associated with music since childhood. His maternal grandfather Bhaskar Parulekar was a famous kirtankar, from whom he learned the basics of music. There was an atmosphere of music and bhajan-kirtan in the temples and Dashavatari plays around his house. It was from here that he developed a deep interest in music.
This is how Vasant Desai’s career started
In his adolescence, he came to Kolhapur and joined ‘Prabhat Film Company’. He also acted and worked in some silent and talkie films, such as ‘Khooni Khanjar’ and ‘Ayodhyacha Raja’.
He sang the first song ‘Jai Jai Rajadhiraj’ in ‘Ayodhyacha Raja’, which proved to be an important turning point in his musical journey. Later he decided to pursue his career mainly in music and took deep music lessons from Ustad Alam Khan and Ustad Inayat Khan.
Gave amazing music in many big films
Vasant Desai’s name is most known in Hindi films because of V. Shantaram’s films. He gave amazing music for films like ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje’, ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’, ‘Aashirvaad’, and ‘Guddi’.
His songs were always based on classical ragas and a wonderful balance of emotion and sweetness was seen in them. He never compromised with the purity of music and rarely worked in Western style songs or ghazals.
Vasant Desai had a special contribution in background music. This was an aspect that is not visible to the general public, but makes the entire experience of the film deep and effective. For example, the film ‘Yaadein’ (1964) had only one actor and much of the story was based on his loneliness. In such a situation, the background music of Vasant Desai completely expresses the emotions of the film and pulls the viewer into the story.
Similarly, there were no songs in the film ‘Achanak’ (1974), but the background music kept the thrill and suspense of the film alive. He also made beautiful use of natural sounds like the sound of water, rustling of leaves and tinkling of bells in his compositions.
Vasant Desai showed the magic of his art in Marathi films and musical plays also. His music is still remembered for Marathi films and plays like ‘Amar Bhupali’, ‘Chhota Jawan’, ‘Preeti Sangam’, and ‘Ramya Hi Swargahuni Swayamvar Jale Sitche’. His musical compositions were not limited to songs only, but he also composed music for children’s plays.
Vasant Desai also won many awards in his career and his contribution was honored. But, his biggest identity remained in his classical and soulful music. He died in a lift accident on 22 December 1975, which was a big blow to the film and music world. His tunes and music are still alive in the hearts of people.
