Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006), known mononymously as Naushad, was an Indian film music composer widely regarded as one of the foremost music directors of Hindi cinema. Active primarily between the 1940s and 1960s, he is credited with bringing Hindustani classical music into the mainstream of Hindi film songs and shaping the sound of the golden age of Bollywood music.
| Full name | Naushad Ali |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 December 1919, Lucknow, United Provinces, British India |
| Died | 5 May 2006, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation | Film music composer (music director) |
| Years active | 1940–2006 |
| Notable works | Rattan (1944), Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961) |
| Major awards | Filmfare Award for Best Music (1954), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1981), Padma Bhushan (1992) |
Naushad was born in Lucknow, a city long associated with Hindustani classical music and Urdu literary culture, both of which strongly influenced his compositional style. As a young man he was drawn to music against the wishes of his family, learning the harmonium and frequenting local theatre groups. He moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) in the late 1930s in search of work in the film industry, initially struggling as an assistant to established composers such as Khemchand Prakash.
Naushad received his first independent assignment as a music director with the film Prem Nagar (1940), produced by the Ranjit Movietone studio. His early scores attracted modest attention, but his breakthrough came with Rattan (1944), whose songs, sung by Zohrabai Ambalewali and others, became enormously popular and established him as a leading composer.
During the late 1940s and the 1950s, Naushad scored several films that became landmarks of Hindi cinema. He worked closely with playback singers including Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Shamshad Begum and Suraiya, and with lyricists such as Shakeel Badayuni and Majrooh Sultanpuri. His long-standing collaboration with Shakeel Badayuni produced songs for films including Dard (1947), Dulari (1949), Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957) and Mughal-e-Azam (1960).
Baiju Bawra (1952), based on a fictionalised account of the legendary musician Baiju, featured ragas presented as full-fledged film songs and is often cited as a turning point in mainstream acceptance of classical-based film music. The score won Naushad the inaugural Filmfare Award for Best Music in 1954. Mughal-e-Azam, directed by K. Asif, included the celebrated qawwali "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" and a ghazal rendered by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, marking a rare instance of the classical maestro singing for cinema.
From the mid-1960s, as musical tastes in Hindi cinema shifted, Naushad worked less frequently. Later credits include Saathi (1968), Pakeezah (1972, completed by him after Ghulam Mohammed's death, alongside Ghulam Mohammed's original score), Aaina (1977) and Love and God (1986), a long-delayed K. Asif project. His final film as composer was Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005).
Naushad is credited with several innovations in Hindi film music:
Naushad lived in Mumbai for most of his adult life. He was known for his reserved demeanour, his interest in Urdu poetry and his association with the Lucknowi cultural milieu. He died in Mumbai on 5 May 2006 at the age of 86.
Naushad's work is seen as foundational to the classical-influenced strand of Hindi film music. By introducing audiences to ragas through accessible film songs, he influenced subsequent composers including Madan Mohan, S. D. Burman and later generations. Mughal-e-Azam and Mother India are routinely listed among the greatest Indian films, and their soundtracks remain integral to that reputation.