BeckyK8455 at 18:19, 27 March 2026

2026-03-27T18:19:04Z

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{{Short description|Film music composer (1907-1950)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = Khemchand Prakash
| image = Khemchand Prakash.jpg
| caption = Khemchand Prakash
| image_size =
| background = non_performing_personnel
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1907|12|12}}
| birth_place = [[Sujangarh]], [[Bikaner State]], [[Rajputana]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1950|08|10|1907|12|12}} <br>{{small|due to [[Cirrhosis|Liver Cirrhosis]]}}
| spouse = Kanhi Bai and Shreedevi
| genre = [[Hindustani classical music]], [[Filmi|Indian film music]]
| occupation = [[composer]], [[music director]]
| years_active = 1935 {{endash}} 1949
}}

'''Khemchand Prakash''' (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1950) was a music composer in the Hindi film industry. He had few peers in 1940s, the decade for Indian film music which started with Saigal very active on the scene and ended with [[Lata Mangeshkar]] firmly established in the industry. Lata had fruitful association with him (in films ''Asha, [[Ziddi (1948 film)|Ziddi]] (1948), [[Mahal (1949 film)|Mahal]]''(1949)) when she started making a name for herself.<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=millennium/> Khemchand introduced [[Lata Mangeshkar]] and [[Kishore Kumar]] to music industry.

Many years after Khemchand Prakash's death, the composer [[Kamal Dasgupta]] rated him the best composer.

==Career==
Born in [[Sujangarh]] on 12 December 1907, then located in [[Bikaner State]] of the [[Rajputana]] of [[British India]] (now in the [[Churu district]] of [[Rajasthan]]).<ref name=millennium/> he got his first training in music and dance from his father, who was a [[dhrupad]] singer and a [[Kathak]] dancer in the royal court.<ref name=millennium/> In his teens, he joined the royal court of Bikaner as a singer and later moved to the royal court of [[Nepal]]. But his destiny landed him in Kolkata and he joined the legendary New Theaters. He was assistant to composer Timir Baran in ''[[Devdas (1935 film)]]'', and he sang a comedy song 'lo kha lo madam khaanaa' (लो खा लो मॅडम खाना) in ''[[Street Singer (film)|Street Singer]]'' (1938). He then moved to Mumbai and made his debut as music director in 1939 with Supreme Pictures' films ''Meri Aankhein'' and ''Ghazi Salauddin'' and was soon signed up by ''[[Ranjit Studios|Ranjit Movietone]]'' Film Studio.<ref name=millennium/>

His initial years with Ranjit Movietone produced significant films like ''Diwali'', ''Holi'', ''Pardesi'', ''[[Fariyaad]]''. [[Khursheed Bano|Khursheed]] was his leading singer and both of them gave many hits of the early 1940s. His biggest hit with Ranjit Studio was the film ''[[Tansen (film)|Tansen]]'' in 1943. Songs like "Diya jalaao jagmag jagmag", "Rumjhum rumjhum chal tihari", "More balpan ke saathi", "Sapt suran teen gram", "Hath sine pe jo rakh do to karara aa jaaye" were big hits. In a radio programme, famous composer [[Anil Biswas (composer)|Anil Biswas]] credited Khamchand Prakash for sticking to historical perspective and musical traditions by making [[K.L. Saigal]] sing the song 'Sapt Suran Teen Gram' in the [[Dhrupad]] style, instead of the [[Khayal]] genre, which was done in other films on [[Tansen]], as he knew well that during the life and times of Tansen, the [[Khayal]] genre did not exist.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/lEtjqtvFAVc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210218100134/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEtjqtvFAVc Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEtjqtvFAVc&list=PLduXREgbUJjho3PJkvcklhyE3CuNSWr79&index=14&t=0s| title = Anil Biswas remembers Khemchand Prakash |website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=millennium/>

1948 marked yet another significant film of his career, [[Bombay Talkies]]’s ''[[Ziddi (1948 film)|Ziddi]]''. He gave first major break to [[Kishore Kumar]] as a singer for the song "Marne ki duaaen kyun maangu".<ref name=Centenary>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/prs/iffi2007/birth.pdf |title=Birth Centenaries - Profile of Khemchand Prakash| publisher=pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau, Government of India website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202142941/http://pib.nic.in/prs/iffi2007/birth.pdf|archive-date=2 February 2014 | access-date=26 March 2024|page=3}}</ref> ''[[Ziddi (1948 film)|Ziddi]]'' (1948) featured a beautiful song of [[Lata Mangeshkar]] ''Chanda re ja re ja re''.<ref name=Centenary/>

But what followed ''[[Ziddi (1948 film)|Ziddi]]'' was another hit film ''[[Mahal (1949 film)]]''. ''Mahal'' made Lata Mangeshkar a popular name. Prior to ''Mahal'', the records used to feature only the character name on the record. Hence the first lot of records had "Aayega aane wala" credited to Kamini. The first time when the song was played on [[All India Radio]] many letters and calls were received by AIR to know the singer's name. AIR had to, in turn, ask the record company and announce Lata Mangeshkar's name on air.<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=millennium/>

==Death==
Khemchand Prakash died at an early age of 42 on 10 August 1950 due to liver [[Cirrhosis]].<ref name=millennium/>

[[Kamal Amrohi]], film Mahal's director and story writer, wrote the opening lines of the film song 'Khaamosh hai zamaana..' while Naqshab completed the rest of the song.<ref name=millennium>{{Cite web|url=http://www.millenniumpost.in/sundaypost/inland/khemchand-prakash-khemchand-prakash-creator-of-haunting-melodies-274467|title=Khemchand Prakash: Khemchand Prakash: Creator of Haunting Melodies|last=Dutt|first=Sharad|date=2017-12-09|website=Millenniumpost (India) website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203193316/https://www.millenniumpost.in/sundaypost/inland/khemchand-prakash-khemchand-prakash-creator-of-haunting-melodies-274467?infinitescroll=1|archive-date=3 December 2022|language=en|access-date=2024-03-26}}</ref> The first tune that composer Khemchand Prakash played on the harmonium was approved by Kamal Amrohi. Sadly Khemchand died at the Harikisondas Hospital two months before film 'Mahal' released and his creation '[[Aayega Aanewala]]' became a sensation.<ref name=millennium/>

[[Javed Akhtar]] quoted Khemchand Prakash's name in his maiden speech in [[Rajya Sabha]] on 17 May 2012 by mentioning that Khemchand Prakash's second wife Shreedevi had to beg on a railway station to be able to survive in her last days. Shreedevi's daughter (Chandrakala Khemchand Prakash) was also a kathak dancer, she graduated from Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Delhi and was married to film and theatre actor director [[Ram Gopal Bajaj]] (Padmashree Awardee and former Director of National School Of Drama, Delhi).<ref name=IndianExpress>{{Cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/the-song-lives-on/|title=The Song Lives On|date=2012-06-08|newspaper=The Indian Express|language=en-IN|access-date=2024-03-27|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819162046/https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/the-song-lives-on/ |url-status=dead|author=Dipti D'souza}}</ref>

==Partial filmography as Composer==
{{colbegin|colwidth=28em}}
* 1939 ''Ghazi Salauddin'' (young [[Naushad]] was his music assistant in this film).<ref name=millennium/><ref name=Centenary/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1939 ''Meri Aankhen'' (Debut film of singer [[Khursheed Bano]])<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1940 ''Aaj Ka Hindustan''
* 1940 ''Diwali''
* 1940 ''Holi''
* 1940 ''Pagal''<ref name=Centenary/>
* 1941 ''[[Bambai Ki Sair]]''
* 1941 ''Pardesi''<ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1941 ''Pyaas''
* 1941 ''Shaadi''<ref name=millennium/>
* 1942 ''[[Fariyaad]]''
* 1942 ''[[Khilona (1942 film)|Khilona]]''
* 1942 ''[[Maheman]]''
* 1942 ''Chandni''
* 1942 ''Dukh Sukh''<ref name=millennium/>
* 1943 ''Chirag''
* 1943 ''Gauri''
* 1943 ''Kurbani''
* 1943 ''[[Tansen (film)|Tansen]]'' (Composer [[Bulo C Rani]] was his assistant in this film)<ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1944 ''Bhartrahari''
* 1944 ''Mumtaz Mahal''<ref name=millennium/>
* 1944 ''Shahenshah Babar''<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1945 ''Dhanna Bhagat''
* 1945 ''Prabhu Ka Ghar''
* 1947 ''[[Samaj Ko Badal Dalo (1947 film)|Samaj Ko Badal Dalo]]''<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1947 ''[[Sindoor (1947 film)|Sindoor]]''<ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1947 ''Chalte Chalte''
* 1947 ''Gaon''
* 1947 ''Mera Suhaag''
* 1948 ''Aasha''
* 1948 ''[[Ziddi (1948 film)|Ziddi]]'' ([[Kishore Kumar]] got his first break in this film)<ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1949 ''[[Mahal (1949 film)|Mahal]]''<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1949 ''Rimjhim''
* 1949 ''[[Sawan Aya Re]]''<ref name=millennium/>
* 1950 ''Jan Pahchan''<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=upperstall/>
* 1950 ''Sati Narmada''
* 1951 ''Jai Shankar''
* 1951 ''Shri Ganesh Janma''
* 1952 ''Tamasha''<ref name=Centenary/><ref name=millennium/><ref name=upperstall>{{cite web|url=http://www.upperstall.com/people/khemchand-prakash|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 November 2011|access-date=27 March 2024|title=Filmography of Khemchand Prakash|website=Upperstall.com website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121172606/http://www.upperstall.com/people/khemchand-prakash}}</ref>

{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0695166|name=Khemchand Prakash}}
* [https://members.tripod.com/oldies_club/KCParkash.htm Khemchand Prakash film songs review]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prakash, Khemchand}}
[[Category:Indian film score composers]]
[[Category:Rajasthani people]]
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian musicians]]

Khemchand Prakash - Revision history

BeckyK8455 at 18:19, 27 March 2026