Cinemaazi remembers Pankaj Mullick on his death anniversary

One of the most influential music composers in Indian cinema, Pankaj Mullick passed away on this day in 1978. Born in 1905 in Calcutta, Mullick was immersed in music from a very early age. A virtuoso in Hindustani classical, he was a student of Durgadas Bannerjee. When he was only 17 yeas old, he had put to tune Rabindranath Tagore's Shesh Kheya poem and even performed it for him. He was deeply involved in radio as well, conducting music lessons on Sangeet Shikkhar Ashar every Sunday on Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd, which was the predecessor to All India Radio. His first brush with cinema came when he conducted the orchestra for Chashar Meye (1931) in which he also played a small role. His collaborations with R C Boral for New Theatres' films are legendary, although in some of them his name did not appear in credits. Though he expressed some dissatisfaction with his pay at New Theatres, he stayed loyal to them till the end. He faced some resistance from traditionalists when putting Tagore's works to music, but his tunes have endured the test of time. One of his most fruitful creative partnerships was with K L Saigal, even guiding him to sing Rabindrasangeet in Bengali. Some of his notable films were Yahudi Ki Ladki (1933), Devdas (1935), Dhoop Chhaon (1935), Mukti (1937), President (1937), Adhikar (1938), Jiban Maran (1938), Dushman (1939), Doctor (1940), Kashinath (1943), Dui Purush (1945), Yatrik (1952), Amar Saigal (1955), Louha Kapat (1957) among others. Among these Mukti proved to be his major breakthrough. He also conducted the annual Mahishashurmardini broadcast on radio. Also dabbling in playback singing, he sang for films like Anjangarh (1948). His memoirs were published in Desh magazine in 1973 and his autobiography Amar Jug Amar Gaan in 1980. In 1972 he became the first music composer to be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Cinemaazi salutes the legend on his death anniversary.