Salil Chowdhury

Early influences – childhood and teenage Salil Chowdhury was born on 19 November 1922, in a village called Ghazipur in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Salil's childhood was spent in the Tea Gardens Region of Assam. His father was reputed to stage plays with coolies and other low-paid workers of the tea-gardens. He studied in Harinavi D.V.A.S High School and there after graduating from Bangabasi College, affiliated to the University of Calcutta in Kolkata, and during this period his political ideas were formulated along with a considerable maturity in his musical ideas. After working for about 20 years in Bengali and Hindi films, he entered the Malayalam film industry and, in 1964, composed music for the movie Chemmeen. Poet, Playwright, Short story writer, Salil also directed a film Pinjre Ke Panchhi starring Meena Kumari, Balraj Sahani and Mehmood based on his own story and screenplay in 1966. Salil Chowdhury was the Founder of Bombay Youth Choir, the first ever Secular Choir in India in 1958 as its composer and conductor - he inspired scores of secular choir groups to be formed throughout India formulating a new genre of music using vocal polyphony for Indian Folk and Contemporary Music. == Personal life ==

Salil Chowdhury married the painter Jyoti Chowdhury in July 1952. Jyoti Chowdhury was his first wife and she passed away at the age of 94 on January 7, 2023. Married in July 1952, the couple had three daughters named Aloka, Tulika, and Lipika. After his separation with Jyoti Chowdhury, he married renowned singer Sabita Chowdhury, with whom he had two sons, Sukanta and Sanjoy, and two daughters, Antara and Sanchari. Sanjoy Chowdhury is a music composer and has scored background music for over 100 feature films. Antara Chowdhury too is a well known musician and singer. Sabita Chowdhury passed away on 29 June 2017. == Legacy ==

• Salil's music was a blending of Eastern and the Western music traditions. He had once said: "I want to create a style which shall transcend borders – a genre which is emphatic and polished, but never predictable". He dabbled in a lot of things and it was his ambition to achieve greatness in everything he did. The guitarist eventually turned out to be maestro Ilaiyaraaja. A. R. Rahman's father, R. K. Shekhar used to conduct Salil Chowdhury's arrangements in South Indian film music. Rahman once said that his musical understanding was greatly influenced by the musical sessions conducted by Salil Chowdhury. == Filmography ==

Bengali Malayalam Others == Discography ==

List of some songs for which music or lyrics were composed by Salil Chowdhury (in alphabetical order) IPTA: Indian People's Theater Association == Awards and recognitions ==

;'1953 – Do Bigha Zamin''''' A Hindi film directed by Bimal Roy based on a story in Bengali "Rikshawalaa" written by Salil Chowdhury. 1st Filmfare Awards (1954) Winner – Best Film; Winner – Best Director – Bimal Roy; 1st National Film Awards (India) Winner – All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film 7th Cannes Film Festival (1954) Winner – Prix International (International Prize) Nominated – Grand Prize (Best Film) Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Winner – Prize for Social Progress ;'1965 – Chemmeen''''' A Malayalam film directed by Ramu Kariat, based on a novel of the same name written by the renowned writer Thakazhy Shivshankar Pillai, where Music Direction was done by Salil Chowdhury. Recipient of president's gold medal in 1965. ;1958 – Madhumati Received Filmfare Best Music Director Award along with eight other Filmfare awards Madhumati won the National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi The Uttar Pradesh Film Patrakar Sangh Puraskar in 1966 for his only Hindi directorial film 'Pinjre Ke Panchhi' The Bengal Films Journalist Award, Kolkata in 1973 The Allauddin Smriti Puraskar in 1985 from the Govt of West Bengal ;1988 – Salil Chowdhury received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award The Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar Award in 1990 Posthumously he was awarded the Mukti Judhho Maitreyi Samman Award by the Govt Bangladesh in 2012. Poet, Playwright, Short story writer, he also directed a film Pinjre Ke Panchhi starring Meena Kumari, Balraj Sahani and Mehmood b The 56th International Film Festival of India taking place from 20 to 28 November 2025, will celebrate centenary and pay tribute to Salil Chowdhury by screening his classic films. == References ==