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Dear Editor,

With regards to your news item `Bollywood pays final tribute to Joy Mukherjee’ (SN Mar 11), I write to inform readers that another Bollywood icon passed on and was cremated on Friday. Music icon Padmashree Ravi Shankar Sharma passed away in Mumbai. New York based Guyanese heaped tributes on the Bollywood legend.

 

He worked closely with well known Guyanese artistes and music promoters. Ramesh Kalicharran, a music promoter, Lake Persaud and Terry Gajraj, both currently touring India, among other prominent Guyanese singers, describe Ravi as a music legend, whose absence from the Bollywood music industry will be greatly felt.  Lake Persaud and Terry Gajraj plan to personally offer condolences to the bereaved family when they visit Mumbai today on the final leg of a tour to India.

 

Ravi worked with several Guyanese singers composing music for them and those I spoke with all express their gratitude for his contributions to the music industry. Ravi had a close connection and appreciation for Guyanese artistes and promoters of Indian music in New York. He directed  music for a song in tribute to Guyanese indentured labourers.

 

The music was  produced  by Essequibian Ramesh Kalicharran  and sung by Asha Bhosle who performed in Guyana some years ago.   It was completed in 1985. The song and music were to be included in the movie “1838”, produced and directed by Berbician Rohit Jagessar which was filmed in Guyana. The movie described the indentured period in Guyana.

 

Ravi spent time among Guyanese in Queens staying at the home of Ramesh Kalicharran and got to know a lot of Guyanese performers. He was very impressed with Indo-Guyanese holding on to their culture after their ancestors had left India for such a long period.

 

Ravi also performed for Kali’s tours visiting Mumbai.  He was a regular guest at the Kali Bhatra Yatra farewell reception in Mumbai for almost 30 years.  In 2001, Ravi was in New York when an earthquake shook Gujarat killing thousands.   Overnight the music genius composed a song that was performed at the Guyanese fundraiser for the victims in Richmond Hill.  The fundraiser, organized by Dr. Tara Singh and others, netted US$40K among Guyanese and was sent to NGOs in Gujarat.  Before his death, Ravi was looking forward to meeting with Guyanese during Kali’s current tour of India.

Yours faithfully, Vishnu Bisram

 

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...rma-has-passed-away/ 

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Renowned music director of yesteryear, Ravi Shankar Sharma, popular called as 'Ravi' passed away here late Wednesday night, according to family sources.






His top compositions include movies like: Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Nazrana, Humraaz, Waqt, Neelkamal, Gumraah, Do Badan, Aurat, China Town, Khandaan, Gharana, Dhund, Aankhen, Kaajal, Ek Phool Do Mali, Nikaah among scores others.


Some of his memorable songs include: "Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho," "Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai," "Neele Gaganke Tale, "Baabulki Duaaen Leti Ja," "Doli Chadhke Dulhan Sasural Chali," "O Meri Zohra Jabin, Tujhe Malum Nahin," "Uljhan Suljhe Na," "Tujhe Suraj Kahoo Ya Chanda," and "Chhu Lenedo Nazuk Hothon Ko," to cite a few of his 200 top hits.


A favourite with the Chopras, both Yash Chopra and B. R. Chopra, Ravi directed music for many of their earlier films, and much later for B. R. Chopra's blockbuster 'Nikaah'.
Ravi, by his meticulous compositions and selection of suitable singers, is credited of moulding voices like Asha Bhosle and Mahendra Kapoor, catapulting them among the top singers of the era, and giving them an independent singing identity.
Often described as the 'King of Soft Melodies,' Ravi was born in Delhi March 3, 1926, and shifted to Mumbai in 1950 to achieve his dream of becoming a playback singer in the then fledgling film industry.


However, after years of initial struggle, with little or no resources, including sleeping on Malad railway station or on footpaths, he was finally 'discovered' by the late music director Husnalal Bhagatram and singer-music director Hemant Kumar to get a toehold in the slippery film industry.
Seeing his early days of struggle, Ravi's father, a bhajan singer sent him Rs.40 per month, and arranged a small accommodation for him in the congested Kalbadevi in south Mumbai.


Ravi made the best of it to survive there on just half-a rupee per day in the early 1950s and vigorously pursued of making it big in Bollywood as a singer.
Later, it was the legendary Guru Dutt who gave the first big break to Ravi to compose music for "Chaudhvin Ka Chand", since then there was no looking back for him.
Ravi continued to move from strength to strength with powerful compositions and great music and ultimately became a legend in his own right.

 

http://www.mid-day.com/enterta...nkar-Sharma-dead.htm

Sunil

Grew up listening to Ravi then ,  met him for the second time in NY when he and Andre Previn were promoting their epic collaborative album Sitar Concertos with Zubin Mehta and the London Symphony Orchestra. My dad who was a self taught Sitar player introduced me to Ravi and world renowned tablawalla Allah Rakha in NY back in the early 1970's . Both very gracious men. Like Nusrat Ali Fateh Khan , these musicians and singers were so sure and confident of their art forms that they did many cross overs with other great artists of many countries and cultures.

 

 

FM

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