Sardar Malik – Bollywood Music Composer of yesterdays who tuned ‘Saranga’ & ‘Roop Sundari’ in the 1960s

Sardar Malik (1925 – 2006) was an extremely talented Hindustani musician and Bollywood composer of 1950s and 1960s. Though he owns only a few Bollywood films to his credit, he is best known as a musician and vocalist. His sons – Anu Malik, Abu Malik and Daboo Malik, and grandchildren – Amaal Mallik, Armaan Malik and Anmol Malik (third generation from his family related to film field) are also associated with Bollywood music. As a music composer, Saranga & Roop Sundari are among his noted works. Aulad (1954), Mera Ghar Mere Bachche, Thokar (1953), Bachpan (1963), Maharani Padmini, Jantar Mantar etc are a few more.

Sardar Malik was born in Kapurthala, Punjab. He came to Mumbai in the 1940s, and started his film journey in the late 1940s. Renuka (1947) is one of his early credited works, followed by Raaz (1949) and Stage (1951). Film director Ramesh Seghal who noticed his singing talent hired him as a singer and music composer for the movie, Renuka, thus marking his debut. He received his first break through Laila Majnu in 1953. Ae Gham-e-dil Kya Karun from Thokar released the followed year and sung by Talak Mehmood was a major hit. Since then he remained in Bollywood till early 1960s.

He learnt harmonium from a friend at the age of 7, and this was his first stint with music. Later he taught kids of courtiers of the Kapurthala Maharaj’s court, for which he received a monthly salary of 5 rupees. Once he heard “Jiya Mera Lehraye Chhaai Kaali Ghata” at a harlot and instantly desired to learn Hindustani music. But his passion and desire were initially rejected by his parents, and he travelled to Lahore and became a disciple of Ustad Allauddin Khan, the founder of Maihar Gharana. He also took training in different dance forms from Uday Shankar’s dance institute.

However seeing the rising popularity and demand of playback singers in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he concentrated on to compositions. As he felt that he couldn’t match the standards of Mukesh and Rafi, he never thought about a career in playback singing.

Sardar Malik – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. His pseudonym ‘Malik’ has been inherited from his maternal family, which was later followed by his sons and grandchildren.

2. Anu Malik’s popular composition, Mere Humsafar from Refugee was loosely inspired from Sardar Malik’s composition – Main Tumhari Ragini Tum Geet Ho from Roop Sundari sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

3. Apart from deep known in music, he has also learnt Indian traditional dance forms such as Kathakali, Manipuri and Bharatnatyam, and also ballet and yoga from Uday Shankar’s dance institute.

4. He has recorded many popular songs in the voices of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar and Suman Kalyanpur.

5. More than 600 compositions have been credited to him.

6. Main Gharibon Ka Dil Hun, Main Tumhari Ragini Tum Geet Ho, Saranga Teri Yaad Mein and Ae gham-e-dil Kya Karun are among his popular songs.

7. He was married to Kausar Jahan, sister of popular lyricist and Urdu poet Hasrat Jaipuri.

8. His son Abu Malik is a composer best known as a businessman and an organizer of live shows in India and abroad with more than 10000 live shows to his credit, and has penned a book named ‘Rantings of a Madman‘. He is a contestant of Sony TV’s Bigg Boss Season – 13 in 2019.

9. Sardar Malik worked as choreographer for 1945 Bollywood film ‘Chalis Karod’ directed by Nanabhai Bhatt.

10. As he got less opportunities from Bollywood as a music director during the glorious era of Naushad and Shankar Jaikishen, and mostly got B-grade movies, he worked as a music teacher to earn his living. 

11. His family is related to Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, Pakistani classical music singer of the Gwalior Gharana.

12. His grandson Adaar Malik is a standup comedian.