MUSIC BY LAXMIKANT PYARELAL: THE INCREDIBLY MELODIOUS JOURNEY

Category Biographies & Memoirs
Format Hardcover
Imprint Rupa
Price 595

ISBN: 978-93-5520-136-2
Pages: 344 pages
Date: 10th November 2021

ABOUT THIS BOOK

A saga without parallel in the music industry
Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s music is played, every hour if not more frequently, in every nook and cranny of the country, over two decades after they stopped composing together. It also finds due place globally, wherever Indian music is loved. Today, Pyarelal has his own global standing, and is the only Indian composer to have a symphony registered in his name. This book encapsulates what can only be called the ‘Musical Universe’ of Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Here is a duo known as much for incomparable range and quality as for unmatched popularity and quantity; as much for intimate associations with lyricists, singers, filmmakers and stars as for giving career breaks and breakthroughs to so many; as much for chartbusters from the 1960s to 1990s as for leading in the list of re-created songs today. From teenage musicians to being the composers of over 500 films, their journey is truly incredible in every aspect. They are admired by international as well as Indian classical maestros.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Rajiv Vijayakar has been an entertainment journalist for over 30 years now. A dental surgeon by qualification, he has been Mumbai correspondent for the American weekly India–West since 1993, and has had long associations with prestigious Indian publications like Screen, Deccan Herald, Mid-Day, Stardust, Showtime, Movie Mag International, Star & Style, G Magazine, AV Max, Bollywoodhungama.com, Shaadi Times, Worldspace.com and others.
Author of Dharmendra: Not Just a He-Man (2018), Rajiv has also published two other books—
The History of Indian Film Music: A Showcase of the Very Best in Hindi Cinema (2010)—which is now on the teaching course at Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA—and Main Shayar Toh Nahin (2019).
Rajiv has been on the 62nd and 58th National Film Awards jury. His research paper, The Role of a Song in a Hindi Film, is now on the syllabus of South Asian cinema studies at the University of Edinburgh.
He is also the sole Content Team Member for Hindi Film Music at the Indian Music Experience, India’s first and digitally interactive museum on music, which opened in 2019 in Bangalore.
Rajiv has also been awarded the Hindi Seva Samman in 2013 on Hindi Diwas by the Vishwa Hindi Academy, Mumbai, for his contribution to Hindi cinema and music.