Ajit Merchant Biography 
Ajit Merchant was a veteran music director associated with Gujarati films. Disciple of Pandit Shivkumar Shukla, he was originally a theatre artist who later forayed to films. He gave music to more than 250 plays belonging to Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi languages. He was also a stage actor, who has received best actor award for Pragji Dosa’s play ‘Anahat Nad’. He was also associated with All India Radio. Legendary Hindi film singer Mukesh was neighbor of Ajit and has also sung the songs for films like ‘Kariyavar’ and ‘Lagna Mandap.’ His song Koi Lakh Kare Chaturai of Chandi Puja, written and composed by Kavi Prateep is one of his most memorable Bollywood songs.
Ajit’s father was a lawyer based on Mumbai. His father was a criminal lawyer who was also interested in music. They are originally Gujaratis and natives of Bet Dwarka in Gujarat. His father believed that one person should possess at least one skill to survive in life. It was his father’s interest in music which made Ajit close to this field. He entered into Music in 1945 when he received an offer from C. C. Mehta for radio programme ‘Ek Dayro’ as replacement. ‘Ekvar Ghogha jajo re gheriya’ and ‘Pandadi shi hodi’ were those two compositions which began his journey as a music director. After that he worked as a music director in radio.
Prior to his career as a music director in radio, he worked as an actor in stage plays. After a stint with radio, he joined Navi Rangbhoomi theatre. As a film music director, Divadandi (1950) was his first major break, which included the chartbuster Taro Aankhno Afeeni. His composition, Raat Khamosh Hai was sung by Jagjit Singh and included in his album, Muntazir after four decades it was tuned. Divadandi, Kariyavar, Lagna Mandap, Bahuroopi etc are a few noted Gujarati films.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 27, 2016
