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Vedpal Varma

Lyricist
  • Died: 19 December, 1996 (Bombay)
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A story writer and lyricist before he turned music director, Vedpal Varma composed for films such as Hum Junglee Hain (1973), Mittar Pyare Nu (1975), and Sacha Mera Roop Hai (1976). He also wrote the lyrics for the songs of Man from Africa and Girl from India (1982), Sunehri Nagin (1963), Bachhe Mere Saathi (1972), Maa, Behan Aur Biwi (1973), and Hum Junglee Hain (1973). 

Hailing from Rajasthan, a Sindhi by birth, Varma faced considerable struggle to get into the music industry. He got his first break composing the music for Parichay (1954) along with Sailesh Dave. Over the course of his career, he went on to give music for Aai Phirse Bahar (1960), Bhootnath (1963), Sant Tukaram (1965), Maya Sundari (1967), Gunehgar (1967), The Right And The Wrong (1970), an ‘anti-colonial’ film about how people of colour revolt against a cruel, white owner of a Caribbean island plantation, Bheema Mera Haathi (1973), Kora Badan (1974), Wafadar (1976) for which he also penned the story, Oh Bewafa (1980) and Mera Pati Meri Zindagi (1993).

Vedpal Varma had also composed the musical score for the trilingual which was made in Malayalam as Kaadu (1973) directed by P.  Subramaniam, in Tamil as Malai Naattu Mangai, as well as in Hindi as Hum Junglee Hai. The songs of all three versions were super hits.

Varma also composed unforgettable music for Nanubhai Bhatt's Bhootnath (1963), starring Ranjan and Vijaya Chaudhary, as seen in songs such as Dur dur se baat karo tum, a duet by Usha Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor; Dil ka qarar le gayaekl adka rendered by Suman Kalyanpur; and Mere mehboob sun and Bhulese kar liya pyar both sung by Usha Mangeshkar.

Vedpal Varma passed away on 19 December, 1996.
 

References

Image courtesy:  https://mehfilmeinmeri.wordpress.com/2019/10/20/lata-with-lesser-known-composers-iii/

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