Husnlal Bhagatram

Husanlal Bhagatram were one of the legendary music directors in Bollywood. The team consisted of two brothers, the younger Husnlal (approx 1918 – 28 December 1968) and Bhagatram (probably 1914, though his year of birth is unrecorded – 29 November 1973). Husanlal was also an accomplished classical singer [1] and sang in conferences, but his prowess as singer is not commonly known. Bhagatram was considered an expert harmonium player.

Bhagatram composed music for a few films in 1930s alone under the name 'Bhagatram Batish'. [2] In 1944 he and Husnlal joined forces for the first time to compose music for a film under the name Husnlal - Bhagatram. The brothers were popular music composers in the 1940s and early 1950s, but their career waned after 1955.[3][4][5]

Their older cousin Pandit Amarnath was also a music composer of HMV and film music in the 1940s. These three musicians trained music directors Shankar (of Shankar–Jaikishan), Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar (of Laxmikant–Pyarelal), Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, the singer Mahendra Kapoor and the singer-composer Mohinderjit Singh. According to author Sonal Pandya of Cinestaan.com website, the older cousin Pandit Amarnath and both brothers were born in Punjab, British India.[3][5]