Usha Khanna
Encyclopedia
Usha Khanna is an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n music director. Regarded as the first established female music director in the Indian film industry, she remained active for more than 3 decades from 1960s to 1980s. She is still active making some music for some movies and television-serials, more than 40 years after her debut as music director in Dil Deke Dekho
Dil Deke Dekho
Dil Deke Dekho, a 1959 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film, was Nasir Hussain's second film as director. His first directorial venture was Tumsa Nahin Dekha , which became a big hit and which gave star Shammi Kapoor a new image as a comedic, dancing hero. Husain and Kapoor reteamed here. Asha...

 (1959). She received a Filmfare
Filmfare
Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...

 nomination for composing the songs for the huge hit film Souten
Souten
Souten is a 1983 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by Sawan Kumar Tak, starring Rajesh Khanna, Tina Munim, Padmini Kolhapure, Prem Chopra and Pran. The film is a family drama. It was written by Kamleshwar, with music by Usha Khanna...

 (1983).

Biography

Usha Khanna's father, Manohar Khanna, was a lyricist and singer, working as Assistant Superintendent in the Water Works Department in then Gwalior State. When he came to Bombay (now Mumbai) for some work in 1946 he met Jaddanbai who was mother of Hindi film actress Nargis Dutt.On her request he started writing Gazals for Hindi films by the name, Jaaved Anwar .He was getting a monthly salary of Rs.250 in Gwalior State and Jaddanabi offered him Rs.800 for 3 gazals which he wrote for Jaddanbai,s Nargis Art Productions film Romeo Juliet . Usha Khanna did often take inspiration from Arabic music, which she liked and she claims that she has never lifted any song directly, but that she has composed something along the lines.

The popular music director O. P. Nayyar
O. P. Nayyar
Omkar Prasad Nayyar was an Indian film music director and composer born in Lahore, India, now in modern day Pakistan. He was particularly acclaimed for his peppy numbers.-Career:...

 introduced Usha Khanna to Sashadhar Mukherjee
Sashadhar Mukherjee
Sashadhar Mukherjee was a producer in Hindi films. He is part of the distinguished Mukherjee clan of Bollywood.Main article: Mukherjee-Samarth family...

, a powerful man in the Indian film industry at that time. She sang a song for Mukherjee, and when he realised that she had composed the song on her own, he told her to compose two songs per day for one year. After a few months, Mukherjee signed her as the composer for his movie Dil Deke Dekho
Dil Deke Dekho
Dil Deke Dekho, a 1959 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film, was Nasir Hussain's second film as director. His first directorial venture was Tumsa Nahin Dekha , which became a big hit and which gave star Shammi Kapoor a new image as a comedic, dancing hero. Husain and Kapoor reteamed here. Asha...

(1959) as a music composer. The film, which also introduced the actress Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh is a Bollywood actress, director, and producer. She was one of the top stars in Hindi films from 1959 to 1973.-Early life:...

, became a big hit, and Mukherjee hired her again for another Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh is a Bollywood actress, director, and producer. She was one of the top stars in Hindi films from 1959 to 1973.-Early life:...

 starrer Hum Hindustani
Hum Hindustani
Hum Hindustani Hum Hindustani Hum Hindustani (Hindi: (हम हिन्दुस्तानी) (Translation We Hindustani people ) is a 1960 Hindi movie produced by S Mukherjee and directed by Ram Mukherjee. The film stars Sunil Dutt, Joy Mukherjee, Asha Parekh, Jagirdar, Helen, Leela Chitnis, Agha and Sanjeev Kumar in...

 (1961).

After she started composing music for Hindi movies, Usha Khanna struggled to establish herself as a music director, despite producing many hit songs. She often collaborated with Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, who referred to Usha Khanna as her daughter, and Mohammed Rafi
Mohammed Rafi
Mohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....

. This trio produced many hit songs.

Saawan Kumar was often the lyricist for Usha Khanna, and wrote most of his lyrics for her songs. He directed and produced the lyrics for eleven movies she scored the music for. In 1979 K J Yesudas received Filmfare award for her song Dil ke tukde tukde in the film Dada.
Usha Khanna was married to Sawankumar Tak but later they separarted and she lives alone in Bombay(present name Mumbai) now.

The effort she had put in to establish herself in the industry, made her realise how difficult it was to break through, and made her often give the chance to new singers. She gave the chance to the singers who were little known at that time – Anupama Deshpande
Anupama Deshpande
Anupama Deshapande is a Bollywood playback singer who has won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her folk song "Sohni Chinab Di" in the film Sohni Mahiwal .-Notable songs:*"Sohni Chinab Di" from Sohni Mahiwal...

, Pankaj Udhas
Pankaj Udhas
Pankaj Udhas is an Indian singer, credited in the Indian music industry, along with other musicians like Jagjit Singh and Talat Aziz, with bringing the style to the realm of popular music. Udhas rose to fame for singing in the film Naam , in which his song Chitthi Aayee Hai became an instant hit....

, Hemlata
Hemlata
Hemlata has been one of the most famous and successful leading playback singer in Bollywood since the late 1970s. She is classically trained and has a unique style of singing which makes her stand apart from other playback singers of her era...

, Mohammed Aziz
Mohammed Aziz
-Biography:Mohammed Aziz, is a singer of the Indian film industry. He was born on the 2nd of July 1954 in a spiritual family. His nickname is Munna and his real name is Syed Mohammed Azizunnabi. Being an ardent lover of music and Mohammed Rafi, he started singing from the very childhood and gained...

, Roop Kumar Rathod
Roop Kumar Rathod
-Personal life:Roopkumar is the son of the late Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod, the classical luminary – an exponent of the rare and arguably the oldest style of singing i.e. Dhrupad. He belonged to the “Aditya Gharana of Jamnagar”. Pandit Rathod has trained and groomed many well known names like...

, Shabbir Kumar
Shabbir Kumar
Shabbir Kumar is an Indian Playback Singer. He was a leading Hindi Cinema playback singer in 1980s.-Biography:Shabbir Kumar whose real name is Shabbir Shaikh was born in Vadodara, Gujarat. He started his music career with the stage show Ek Shaam Rafi Ke Naam, a tribute to Mohammed Rafi...

, and Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films...

. Many of these went on to become notable singers. Usha Khanna herself also sang a few songs as a playback singer.

Many of Usha Khanna's songs are still very popular.

Usha Khanna was quite active as a composer until the mid-nineties. Until now the last movie she has given music to was in 2003. The movie was Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya, produced and directed by her ex-husband Saawan Kumar who she was briefly married to.

Usha Khanna had given music to non-Hindi movies too. The Malayalam movie Moodal Manju (1969) is still remembered for some of the finest songs in Malayalam including 'Nee Madu Pakaroo' by K. J. Yesudas and 'Manasa Mani veenayil' by S.Janaki. Agni nilavu and Puthooram Puthri Unniyarcha are the other malayalam movies done by her. Why she did not get many chances remains a mystery for many music lovers even now.

External links

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