Raamlaxman - The man who was more than just Salman Khan and Mithun Chakraborty’s musical chartbusters

This is what happens when your name gets attached to an iconic personality in Bollywood. Somehow, you associate a talent just with the known personality, when the fact is that you are much more than that. This is what happened with Raamlaxman too when after delivering chartbusters for close to a decade and a half, what came to be associated with him is the name Salman Khan. That was for a good reason though, considering the hat-trick of Maine Pyar Kiya, Patthar Ke Phool and Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! However, there is a lot more to the man.

Born Vijay Patil and self-rechristened as Raamlaxman after the death of his partner Raam back in the late 70s when he had just started off as a Bollywood composer, the man went on to deliver quite a few musical hits in the 80s as well as the 90s. Yes, he was pretty much out of circulation on this side of the millennium and surprisingly, there is muted silence even in the industry circles, as the 78 year old veteran has went on heavenly abode.

He did have his share of popularity back in time though.

Let's talk about the 90s first. This was the time when he started becoming a household name, while enjoying popularity in a much bigger and wider manner. Maine Pyar Kiya [December 1989] had just released, the Sooraj Barjatya film was a blockbuster and Salman Khan and Bhagyashree were seen serenading each other in quite a few melodic songs set to tune by Raamlaxman. 'Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate', 'Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali', 'Aaya Mausam Dosti Ka', 'Aaja Shaam Hone Aayee', 'Dil Deewana' and many more songs from the film emerged as chartbusters.

Clearly, Raamlaxman has reinvented himself while bringing new sound, both musically as well as vocal-wise with rediscovered S. P. Balasubrahmanyam who went on to be the voice of Salman Khan. Though he had stormed on the Bollywood scene with Kamal Haasan's Ek Duj Ki Liye many years back, it was with Raamlaxman that S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who too passed away last year, found a newfound stardom in the Hindi film circles. Patthar Ke Phool followed and 'Kabhi Tu Chhalia Lagta Hai' & 'Tumse Jo Dekhte Hi Pyar Hua' became the talk of the town.

Raamlaxman did many more films (100 Days, Police Public, Saatwan Aasmaan, Muskurahat, Pyar Ka Tarana) and continued to deliver hits there too (more about it later) but it was his music for Salman Khan that always saw him gain maximum prominence. Can't blame the audience either since he reserved some of his best (or shall we say, got inspired to create?) for Salman Khan with Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!. Remember 'Didi Tera Devar Deewana', 'Joote Do, Paise Lo', 'Pehla Pehla Pyar', 'Mujhse Juda Hokar', 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun', 'Wah Wah Ramji', 'Dhiktana'?

No wonder, many a heart broke when the music of Hum Saath-Saath Hain, despite enjoying good sales (back then the word was 'sales', not 'streams'!), didn't turn out to be a patch on their earlier collaboration. After all, you don't quite go on to play 'A B C D' in loop today. This also brought a sad end to Raamlaxman's winning run as not just he failed to compose a single popular song post that, he also faded away with less than 10 soundtracks composed in four more years that he was active post the 1999 biggie.

However, for those who have followed Raamlaxman's career since the 70s, there is so much more to cheer about, celebrate and remember fondly.

After all, before Salman Khan, it was Mithun Chakraborty and Ranjeeta with whom Raamlaxman had delivered record chartbusters. 'Gunche Lage Hain Kehne', 'Hum Tum Dono', 'Sultana Mera Naam Hai Sultana' and 'Meri Dilruba Tujhko Aana Padega' from Taraana stay on to be fresh in mind. 'Saathi Tere Naam Ek Din Jeevan Kar Jayenge' from Ustadi Ustad Se has been sweet as ever. Title track of Deewana Tere Naam Ka with Vijayeta Pandit as the leading lady was a huge hit and so was the very dramatic 'Deva Ho Deva, Ganpati Deva' from Hum Se Badkar Kaun.

Yet again, Raamlaxman wasn't relegated to delivering hits just for Mithun Chakraborty. Shashi Kapoor one of his earlier 80s hits in 'Tere Jaisa Koi Khoobsurat' [Bezubaan], Lata Mangeshkar and Amit Kumar truly enjoyed a very soulful 'Main Jis Din Bhula Doon Tera Pyar Dil Se' [Police Public] while S. P. Balasubrahmanyam paired up with Lata Mangeshkar to deliver 'Sun Beliya, Shukriya Meharbaani' for Jackie Shroff and Madhuri Dixit in 100 Days. Guess what, even Pooja Bhatt and Vivek Mushran would be happy for 'Raaton Ko Jaag Kar' [Saatwan Aasman].

While these are still songs with known actors, Raamlaxman never differentiated between an established star and a newcomer when it came to making soulful songs? What else can explain his naughtily composed 'Aag Laga Ke Chale Ho Kaha' for Divya Kumar's debut film Pathreela Raasta (chances are you wouldn't have heard of the film) or 'Gun Gun Karta Aaya Bhanwra' for Jay Mehta [Muskurahat]? One common factor between both the 90s song? Kumar Sanu, who didn't mind the fact that the best was still always reserved for S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.

Nonetheless, what matters is that post his demise, Raamlaxman has left behind a legacy of songs which are expected to be timeless. Yes, it's the Salman Khan hits that would be talked about the most and Mithun Chakraborty's chartbusters that would pass the test of times. However, dig a bit more and you would manage to find to unearth a lot more than what you knew.