A Tribute To Ravindra Jain

Ravindra Jain was born blind to well-known Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedacharya, Pandit Indramani Jain and mother Kiran Jain on 28 February 1944. Jain and his family hail from Aligarh. He is the third child among seven brothers and a sister.

Ravindra Jain met his mother-in-law, Mrs. Nirmala Jain, in Delhi while attending a promotion event for the film Saudagar. Soon after, Nirmala Jain's daughter, Divya Jain, insisted upon only marrying Ravindra Jain or nobody else. Her wish later got fulfilled and they have a son named Aayushman Jain.

He won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1985. He was a well respected figure, and considered a rolemodel for many people, as he overcame his disability of blindness.

Ravindra Jain is one of the most notable of the Hindi music directors who started his career in the early 1970s, composing for hit films such as Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978). Along with composing music, he also wrote the lyrics for many of his famous songs. Ravindra Jain's father died during the recording sessions of the film Saudagar, however, Jain did not leave the studio until the recordings were finalised giving utmost importance to his work.

One of his most famous songs is Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se). He was also given a big break by Raj Kapoor, for whom, he composed many super hit songs in movies such as Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Do Jasoos, and Heena,Jain also rendered beautiful music to many of Rajshri Productions' features starting in the 1980s and continuing well into the 2000s (decade).

Jain is credited for bringing south Indian singing sensation Dr. K. J. Yesudas to Hindi movies, in singing in many of his movies in the 1970s and 1980s. Together they sung some memorable songs like 'Oo goriya re' (Naiyya), 'Beeti hui raat ki' (Ayyash), and 'Gori tera gaon' (Chitchor). It is said that Jain was so fascinated by the way Yesudas sang his songs that Yesudas' face was the first he wanted to see if he ever received his vision. Jain has worked on songs after his liaison with Yesudas, but he has failed to attain the pinnacle of glory he achieved with the master singer during the 1970s. Jain has described Yesudas as the 'Voice of India'

During the 1980s and 1990s, Ravindra Jain widely composed for most mythological movies including Navaratri, Gopal Krishna, Jai Karoli Maa, Har Har Gange, Durgaa Maa, Badrinath Dham, Solah Shukrawar, Raja Harishchandra, Bolo he Chakradhari, Brahmarishi Vishwamitra in Telugu, Shanivrat Mahima and Jai Shakumbhari Maa. In 2006, he composed music for the Hindi film Vivah directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya and its spin-off sequel Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi directed by Kaushik Ghatak, both of which were produced by Rajshri Productions. In 2008, Ravindra Jain composed music for director Gufi Paintal's debut film Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with upcoming composer Surya RajKamal. He was chosen to compose for Rajshri Productions's Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se sequel Jaana Pehchana (2011) and upcoming Satish Kaushik-directed biopic Tansen. Upcoming 2012 projects include Baromas and Barbareek- Sheesh Danee Mahayoddha based on Barbarika.

Jain composed for Asha Bhosle's private album Om Namo Shivay featuring eight bhajans based on Lord Shiva. In 1990s, an album called Guru Vandana was released featuring songs on gurus (teachers) and saints and disciples. Album Timeless Mahatma based on Gandhi's teachings was released in 2011 and was featured in an Indian exhibit in South Africa. In 2014, Jain launched albums Kashi Pushpanjali and Mission BodhGaya. In 2014, Jain released Sampoorna Ramayan-- a musical version of the story with simple Hindi lyrics sung by famous Bollywood singers. 

Ravindra Jain also composed music for many television serials, mainly under the banner of Sagar Films, throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s (decade). Ravindra Jain provided bhajans and songs for many of Ramanand Sagar's popular TV serials, beginning with Dada Dadi ki Kahaniyaan, then moving on to one of the two Indian epics Ramayan and its follow up Luv Kush. Along with two South Indian composers, K.V. Mahadevan and K. Pukazhenti, Ravindra Jain composed 2 to 3 semi-classical songs for later episodes of Bollywood actress Hema Malini's TV Serial Noopur and the complete soundtrack for the show Women of India- Urvashi. Hema Malini continued collaborating with Ravindra Jain as composer for her dance ballets--Mahalakshmi, Durga, Nritya Malika, Ramayan, Krishna Balram, and Radha Krishna.

For his collection of shayaris titled Ujaalon Ka Silsila in Urdu, Jain was presented with the Sahitya Award (Uttar Pradesh Hindi-Urdu Sahitya Award Committee) in Lucknow on 6 June 1997 by Romesh Bhandari, Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Ravindra Jain has also received many other prestigious awards such as Raaseshwar, Sur Singer, Filmfare Award, Swami Haridas Award, Youth National Award, Ashirwad, Adhar Shila, Uptron, Priyadarshini Award, Jaycees, Lions, Indigo '90, Rotary, Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, Uttar Pradesh Film Patrakar Sangh Award, Sangeet Gyaneshwar Award, Almost Faqir, Sangeet Samrat, and other honours by many national, international, socio-cultural and film institutions.

He died on 9th October 2015 in Mumbai's Lilawati hospital after prolonged illnesses.

Source - Wikipedia