INFORMATION
| Artist Birtday : | 12/01/1918 (Age 63) |
| Born In : | Puntamba, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation(s) : | Film music composer, Producer |
Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar, who was born on 12 Jan 1918, was also known by other names as Annasaheb, Shyamoo, and Ram Chitalkar. He was popular for being a renowned music composer, singer, and actor who worked, using his prominent skills of music, in the Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu film Industries. He also worked as a singer and actor in Marathi films.
When it comes to musical instruments, Ramchandra was very creative and is still remembered for his innovative use of guitar, bongo, trumpet, and harmonica. He also used rock rhythms in his songs creatively. The success of films such as Anarkali (1953) and Navrang (1959), helped him achieve the peak of his fruitful career.
Ramchandra learned formal music under the guidance of Vinayakbua Patwardhan and Shankarrao Sapre of Nagpur.
He got his first opportunity to act in Hindi films when was signed by YV Rao for his film Naganand (1937) and he kept working as an actor with small roles in movies such as Saeed-e-Havas (1936) and Atma Tarang (1937).
But later, he started pursuing his real passion for music composing and attained the greatest popularity of his life. He scored the music for the movie Aasha(1957), including the popular song ‘Ina Mina Dika’, His creative and distinctive work always continued to garner praise from the masses.
Ramchandra’s collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar had been magnificent throughout his career. With Lata ji, he worked on many famous film projects.
The patriotic song “Ae mere Watan ke logon” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Penned by Kavi Pradeep is one of the greatest compositions of C. Ramchandra in Indian history. The song was first performed live on the occasion of India’s Republic Day celebrations (1963) at the National Stadium in New Delhi. And it deeply moved the then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This song holds a special place in the history of Indian Patriotic songs.
Apart from making music compositions, Ramchandra was also a film producer and produced several films including Jhanjhar (1953), Lehren (1953), and Duniya Gol Hai (1955).
He also produced 2 Marathi films Dhananjay (1966) and Gharkul (1970). Besides composing music for them, he also acted in these movies. In 1977, Ramchandra penned his autobiography titled “The Symphony of My Life”.
C. Ramchandra passed away on 5 January 1982, in Mumbai.
