Sajjad Hussain Biography 
Sajjad Hussain was one of the earliest music composers associated with Bollywood. In a career spanning to 4 decades, he composed music for only 14 films. He was an excellent Mandolin player too. He owns the distinction of being the only mandolin player who was able to play Hindustani music on this music instrument. Though he was a genius, he never achieved the glory which he truly deserved and now he is one of the easy forgotten music gems of Hindi music industry. He was active in the film industry during 1940s-1970s.
Sajjad Hussain was born in 1917 in the Sitamau. This place belongs to Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh. He learnt to player sitar from his father Mohammed Amir Khan during his younger days. He also learnt veena, violin, flute and piano during his teens. But it was through mandolin, he is known to be a percussionist. He along with his elder brother came to Mumbai in 1937 to try his luck in film industry as a music director. He started his career at Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone at a monthly salary of rupees 30. Later he worked with Wadia Movietone with a monthly salary of rupees 60.
Started off his career working as an assistant under Meer Saheb, Ali Baksh, Rafiq Gaznavi, Hanuman Prasad etc he moved to independent music composition in the 1940s. His mandolin skills also helped him to earn opportunities in the industry. In 1944 he composed two songs for the movie, Gaali marking his debut as a music composer. The songs were Aag Lage Saavan Mein and Ab Aaja Dil Na Lage. He composed music for all the song of Dost the same year, which became a musical hit. After that though less in number, he composed music for movies such as Rooplekha, Kasam, Rukhsana, Sangdil etc.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 09, 2016
