Ajit Merchant

Ajit Merchant was an Indian music composer and director.

Early life

Ajit Merchant was born to lawyer of Mumbai. His family was natively belonged to Bet Dwarka. He was introduced to music by his father who used to take him to concerts of various musicians like Abdul Karim Khan. He was trained in music by Shivkumar Shukla.[1]

He was married to Nilamben.[1]

Career

Merchant was a stage actor before venturing into music. He received the best actors award in Mumbai State Drama Festival for his role in Pragji Dosa's play Anahat Naad.

He was invited by Chandravadan Mehta for his radio programme Ek Daayro in 1945. He presented some songs like ‘Ekvar Ghogha Jajo Re Gheriya’ and ‘Pandadi Shi Hodi'. He impressed radio station director and started performing on radio. After leaving All India Radio, he was involved with Navi Rangbhoomi. He composed music of more than 250 Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi stage plays.[1]

He reached his popularity with his film Divadandi (1950). He produced the film with story written by Chandravadan Mehta and screenplay by Barkat Virani 'Befam'. Though the film was moderately successful, a song Taro Aankhno Afeeni was huge hit. The music was composed by Ajit himself and was sung by Dilip Dholakia. The song is still popular across Gujarat.[1][2]

He was neighbor of Hindi playback singer, Mukesh and he agreed him to sing for his compositions in some Gujarati films like Kariyavar and Lagna Mandap. He composed a gazal, Raat Khamosh Hai which was later sung by Jagjit Singh and included in his album, Muntazir.

He died on 18 March 2011.[1]

Filmography

He composed and directed music of several Hindi films like Sapera (1961), Refugee (1948), Indra Leela (1956), Challenge (1964), Chandi Pooja (1957), Lady Killer (1968), Ram Bhakta Vibhishan (1958), Raj Kumari (1955); and Gujarati films like Divadandi (1950), Kariyavar (1948), Lagna Mandap, Bahurooi.[1][3][4][5][6]

Awards

He was awarded Lifetime Achievement award by Maharashtra Rajya Gujarati Sahitya Akademi in 2007.[7]

References
  1. DeshGujarat (18 March 2011). "Veteran Gujarati Music Composer Ajit Merchant passes away". DeshGujarat. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  2. "Gujarat Samachar : World's Leading Gujarati Newspaper, Gujarati News,Gujarat News,News from Ahmedabad,Baroda,Bhuj,Bhavnagar,Rajkot,Surat". Gujarat Samachar (in Gujarati). 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  3. Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Taylor & Francis. p. 1994. ISBN 978-1-135-94325-7.
  4. "કાલે દુરદર્શનમાં ભવાઇ કલા આધારીત શ્રેષ્‍ઠ એવોર્ડ વિજેતા ગુજરાતી ફિલ્‍મ 'બહુરૂપી'નું પ્રસારણ". Akilanews.com (in Gujarati). 27 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  5. Rajendra Ojha (1988). Screen World Publication's 75 Glorious Years of Indian Cinema: Complete Filmography of All Films (silent & Hindi) Produced Between 1913-1988. Screen World Publication. pp. 170, 217.
  6. Jerry Pinto (2006). Helen: The Life and Times of an H-bomb. Penguin Books India. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-14-303124-6.
  7. "મહારાષ્ટ્ર રાજ્ય ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય અકાદમીના વર્ષ ૨૦૧૧નાં 'જીવન ગૌરવ' પુરસ્કાર જાહેર". Mumbai Samachar (in Gujarati). Retrieved 19 June 2015.
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