Ravi (music director)
Ravi Shankar Sharma (3 March 1926 – 7 March 2012), often referred to mononymously as Ravi, was an Indian music director, who had composed music for several Hindi and Malayalam films. After a successful career in Hindi cinema, he took a break from 1970s to 1984, and made a successful comeback under the stage name Bombay Ravi. He died on 7 March 2012 in Mumbai at the age of 86.
Biography
Ravi was born in Delhi on 3 March 1926. He had no formal training in classical music; instead he learned music from listening to his father sing bhajans. He taught himself to play harmonium and other classical instruments and worked as an electrician to support his family. In 1950 he decided to shift to Bombay and become a professional singer. At first Ravi was homeless, living on the streets and sleeping in Malad railway station at night.
In 1952, Ravi was discovered by Hemant Kumar who hired him to sing backing vocals in Vande Mataram from the film Anand Math. Ravi gave several hit songs and received Filmfare nominations for these films: Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Do Badan (1966), Humraaz (1967), Ankhen (1968), and Nikaah (1982). He won Filmfare awards for Gharana (1961) and Khandan (1965). His other successful films include Waqt, Neel Kamal and Gumraah. His songs Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai, Babul ki duyaen leti ja, Doli chadh ke dulhan sasural chali and Mere Yaar Bana Ke Dulha became very popular in wedding celebrations.
