27 Facts About Salil Chowdhury

Salil Chowdhury was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films.

Salil Chowdhury was an accomplished composer and arranger who was proficient in several musical instruments, including flute, the piano, and the esraj.

Salil Chowdhury was widely acclaimed and admired for his inspirational and original poetry in Bengali.

The first Bengali film for which Chowdhury composed music was Paribortan, released in 1949.

Salil Chowdhury mentored famous music directors like R D Burman and Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

Salil Chowdhury was born on 19 November 1925, in a village called Ghazipur in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal.

Salil Chowdhury's childhood was spent in the Tea Gardens Region of Assam.

Salil Chowdhury's father was reputed to stage plays with coolies and other low-paid workers of the tea-gardens.

Salil Chowdhury learnt to play the piano from his elder brother at the age of 6.

Salil Chowdhury composed it in 1945 during the Indian National Army trials when the freedom fighters had returned from Andaman jail.

Salil Chowdhury shifted to a village in 24 Parganas to live with his maternal uncles, when he was witness to a big peasant uprising there in 1943.

Salil Chowdhury got involved with them and began writing songs for the peasant movement.

In 1944, while studying for his MA, Salil Chowdhury witnessed people dying on the streets of Calcutta, as 50 lakh Bengalis died during the famine.

In 1944, a young Salil Chowdhury came to Calcutta for his graduate studies.

Salil Chowdhury joined the IPTA the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India.

Salil Chowdhury started writing songs and setting tunes for them.

The first Bengali film in which Salil Chowdhury composed music was Paribortan, released in 1949.

Salil Chowdhury was writing the script for a Bengali film about a peasant who was disowned of his land and had gone to Calcutta to earn money as a Rickshaw puller.

However, when Salil Chowdhury went to meet him the next day, he learnt that Roy had rushed to Bombay on an urgent call.

Salil Chowdhury went on to compose music for films in 13 languages.

Later, when Salil Chowdhury visited Bangladesh in 1990, he was given the welcome of a mass leader in Dhaka.

Salil Chowdhury was posthumously awarded the Muktijoddha Maitreye Samman in 2012.

Poet, Playwright, Short story writer, Salil Chowdhury 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.

Salil Chowdhury married the painter Jyoti Chowdhury in July 1952 in a temple.

Sanjoy Salil Chowdhury is a successful music composer and has scored music for over 100 feature films.

Sabita Salil Chowdhury was a legendary singer and their daughter Antara Salil Chowdhury too a known singer.