C. Ramchandra

Chitalkar Narhar Ramchandra was a composer during the golden era of Hindi films. He started out as an actor but was quickly recognized for his skills on the harmonium. This led to accompaniment work, and by 1939 he had composed his first film scores for the Tamil-language films Jayakodi and Vanmohini. His first Hindi soundtrack was for the 1942 film Sukhi Jeevan. Ramchandra's most remembered for his uninhibited use of American jazz and blues (and an assortment of western instruments) and for his clean, under-orchestrated arrangements. Some of his best-known soundtracks include Shenai, Shin Shinaki Bubla Bu and Albela. Ramchandra fell out with Lata Mangeshkar in the mid-1960s, which considerably hurt his career, though he continued to compose music for Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Bhojpuri films. He died in 1982 at age 72.