Madan Mohan

Madan Mohan Kohli (June 25, 1924 - July 14, 1975), better known as Madan Mohan, was a famed Bollywood film music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is particularly remembered for the ghazals he created for the film i

Madan Mohan Kohli (June 25, 1924 - July 14, 1975), better known as Madan Mohan, was a famed Bollywood film music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is particularly remembered for the ghazals he created for the film industry, mainly using the voice of India's Melody Queen, Lata Mangeshkar.

Madan Mohan was the son of film mogul Rai Bahadur Chunnilal, who was a partner in the Bombay Talkies studio and then in the Filmistan studio. At the behest of his father, he joined the army in Dehradun and was later posted to Delhi. He subsequently quit the armed forces and turned to his first love -- music. He joined All India Radio in Lucknow, where he brushed shoulders with such ghazal and classical luminaries as Ustad Faiyyaz Khan, Ustad Akbar Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, and Talat Mahmood. He picked up their influences and carried them with him to Mumbai when he entered Bollywood.