Ismail Darbar

Tadap tadap, Silsila yeh chahat ka, Nimbooda, Maar dala, Dola re dola, Aankhon ki gustakhiyan, Bairi piya, More piya, Kaipoche, Chand chupa bada mein, Albela sajan, Dholi taro dhol baje, Woh kisna hai… these are some of the instantly recognisable, stunning melodies that music director Ismail Darbar has created in the course of his career. Winner of the National Film Award for Best Music Direction as well as the Filmfare R D Burman Award for New Music Talent for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), and the Screen Award for Best Music Director for Devdas (2002), he has also composed the music for films such as Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa (2000), Deewangee (2002), Shakti: The Power (2002), Baaz: A Bird in Danger (2003), the Telugu film Vishnu (2003), Kisna: The Warrior Poet (2005) composed with A R Rahman, Husn (2006), Debojit (2006), the private album Rasiya Saajan (2007), Mehbooba (2008), The Unforgettable (2009), teleserial Mahabharat (2013) on Star Plus, the Kannada film Santheyalli Nintha Kabira (2016), and Yeh Kaisa Tigdam (2018) co-composed with Badshah (Nanu) Khan. He is also a violinist. 

Born June 1, 1964 in Surat, Gujarat, he came to Bombay to learn the violin under Ram Prasadji who was the father of Pyarelal of Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame. After six years, he went on to further train under Ganesh, the brother of Pyarelal. He entered the industry as a musician, his first film being Qatl(1985), starring Sanjeev Kumar, Sarika and Marc Zuber, which had music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. He worked as a session violinist for many years with well-known music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin-Lalit and A. R. Rahman. His first project as a music director was the television serial, Ittefaaq, directed by Hanif Sheeba, followed by an album with Kamal Mukut; however, neither released. He got his break as a music director in 1999 with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Darbar won praise for his novel and creative music, with the songs becoming chart-toppers, going on to be dubbed a musical treasure. 

He was repeated again in 2002 by Bhansali for the latter’s Devdas. The music of this period film had a strong classical base with an air of tragedy. This time around too, the music was widely appreciated. Darbar won praise for bathing the film with resonant tunes, powerful vocals and dramatic orchestration. However, the Bhansali-Darbar pair has not worked together again since, apparently due to personal differences. 

Darbar has gone on to score music for films such as Shakti: The Power, Baaz: A Bird in Danger, Husn, Mehbooba, Ssimran, and Yeh Kaisa Tigdam. He was also engaged by Subhash Ghai for the latter’s Kisna: The Warrior Poet, after A R Rahman left the project midway to complete an international assignment. While the music of Kisna, for which Darbar composed seven out of 12 tracks was appreciated, Darbar has not been able to match the heights achieved with successes like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. 

In 2018, he made his directorial debut with Yeh Kaisa Tigdam, for which he also co-composed the music with Badshah (Nanu) Khan. Starring Sakshi Chaudhary, Ejaz Khan and Ashutosh Rana, the film touched upon the dark world of showbiz, depicting the grey shades of the lives of the rich and the powerful. He had also released his first private music album, Rasiya Saajan, directed by S Ramachandran, in 2007. 

Darbar has also been a judge on music reality shows on television. Along with Jatin-Lalit, Aadesh Shrivastava and Himesh Reshammiya, he co-judged Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. A judge for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, he was also a judge for Amul Star Voice of India 2 and Bharat Ki Shaan: Singing Star – Season 2 on DD National.  He also featured in season three of the reality series Bigg Boss which aired on Colors TV in 2009.

He had whipped up a storm of controversy when he accused A R Rahman of having bought the Academy Awards that the latter won for Slumdog Millionaire (2008). While Rahman denied the allegations, he decided not to file a lawsuit against Darbar.  

Wishing to serve the people of Gujarat, Ismail Darbar entered state-level politics and was formally inducted into the BJP in 2011. 

Darbar’s son Zaid is married to actress Gauahar Khan.