Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation)
(We all know Ramlal as the music director of V Shantaram’s films ‘Sehra’ and ‘Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne’. We also generally know that he was an ace shehnai player having been associated with Ustad Bismillah Khan. But we hardly know that besides his these two acknowledged scores, he was also associated as a great flute and shehnai player in many songs. His instrumental pieces had an important role in making those songs great. It is telepathic that a few days ago, a regular reader, Ashok Kumar Tyagi, who had recently come across Ramlal’s talents with many instruments, requested for an article on him in this series. And as if in answer to his requests, our guest authors Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation), continuing the series on Arrangers and Musicians, now put the spotlight on the legendary musician, Ramlal. Thank you Piyush ji and Ashok ji for another excellent article in the series. – AK)
For most of the fans of Hindi film songs, the name Ramlal should instantly remind them of the songs of ‘Sehra’ or ‘Geet Gaya Paththoron Ne’. If such is the case, would mention of Ramlal in this series on Musicians and Arrangers not be incongruous?
Howsoever Ramlal’s music for these two films is applauded, the fact remains that such exceptional success did not bring him any more substantive work. In fact, it has effectively overshadowed his lifelong work as one of the most outstanding players of flute and shehnai in the Hindi film industry.
We will, therefore, focus on his work as an instrument player.READ THE FULL ARTICLE