Indian music composer Naushad dies at 86

Legendary Indian film music composer Naushad Ali, who ran away from home as a teenager to work in the Bollywood movie business, died Friday in a Bombay hospital following a heart attack, his son said. He was 86.

Photo: Indian music composer Naushad dies at 86

Naushad, as he was best known, composed music for some 68 Bollywood movies over the past six decades. He had been suffering from poor health and was admitted last month to a hospital in Bombay, where India's Hindi film industry is based, said his son Iqbal, who uses a single name.

The most recent film he worked on was last year, the epic romance "Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story."

His contribution to Indian cinema was recognized with several awards, the most prestigious was the national Dadasaheb Phalke Award lifetime award in 1981.

Among his best-known films were "Baiju Bawra (The Mad Baiju)," "Uran Khatola (The Flying Bed)," "Mughal-E-Azam (The Mughal Monarch)," "Mother India," "Dillagi (Amusement)" and "Aan (Honor)."

Well-known Indian lyricist Javed Akhtar said Naushad fused different strains of music.

"His numbers were either based on classical or folk music. He was also the pioneer in introducing Western musical instruments to Indian music. His contribution to music is simply awesome," Akhtar told IBN television channel on Friday.

Naushad described himself as a keen listener of live orchestras that played during the silent-film era.

In a 1997 interview to movie magazine Filmfare, Naushad recalled watching musicians sit in front of movie screens and play Indian instruments such as the tabla, harmonium and sitar along with the violin for certain scenes. He said he later learned the musicians would watch the movie first, take notes and decide the scales they required to play, reports the AP.

I.L.