Hindusthan Record's video: Tribute To Khemchand Prakash K L Saigal Diya Jalao Tansen

Khemchand Prakash, the Man who discovered Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar. A man of many firsts, Khemchand Prakash’s unparallel contribution to the music in Hindi Cinema, was far greater than just the songs he composed’. He pioneered a legacy that should never be forgotten. Khemchand Prakash, a forgotten legacy, was a celebrated music director of the 1940s and early 1950s. Besides launching the careers of Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, mentored artistes such as Manna Dey, Mukesh, Mohammad Rafi and Naushad sa’ab, among others. Working with the top stars of the time, including K.L. Saigal, Kamini Kaushal, Noorjehan, Shamshad Begum and Ashok Kumar, making them, literally, sing and dance to his tune. Remember, the echo effect of the iconic Mahal song, was brought out by him, getting Mangeshkar to slowly walk from the recording booth’s door towards the mic in the centre of the room. He used not just Hindustani classical music elements in films but also became ‘one of the first music directors, to use piano and clarinet in his song settings’. He was a trained classical vocalist and a kathak dancer too. Prakash was born in a culturally rich family in Jaipur. His father, Pandit Govardhan Prasad was also a well-known Dhrupad exponent and a kathak dancer. The days in Calcutta, despite Prakash’s musical prowess, were rife with challenges. It was only when Timir Baran, music director of Devdas (1935), starring K.L. Saigal, offered him a role as an assistant. After assisting composer Timir Baran in few films, Khemchand Prakash debuted as a music director for the film Meri Aankhen (1939). He joined Bombay’s Ranjit Studio in 1940 and found early success. But it was Jayant Desai’s ‘Tansen’ that established Khemchand as a master tunesmith. Sung by the unmatchable K.L. Saigal and Khursheed Begum, the film’s music remains a classic in Hindi cinema till today. In a short career spanning just about a decade, he left behind a legacy that exceeded his output as a music director and leaving us to imagine what else he could have accomplished had he lived longer. Connect with us on ********************* http://www.facebook.com/inreco.hindusthan https://www.youtube.com/user/janaganain http://www.youtube.com/user/TheVintageGlory https://www.youtube.com/user/ClassicalCarnatic https://www.youtube.com/user/GoldenHitSongs https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCle-gmQ7ZBHxprpHiVhKksg https://twitter.com/inrhind