He was born on 10th May, 1905 in Bengal.He came in contact with Dinendranath Tagore, Tagore’s grand-nephew and the composer, music arranger for many of the Gurudev’s songs and thus developed a lifelong passion for Rabindrasangeet.
In 1927, when India Broadcasting Corporation, the forerunner of All India Radio (AIR) was launched, Pankaj Mullick along with Rai Chand Boral joined in as one of its earliest employees.
Pankaj Mullick’s association with the cinema began as a conductor and music arranger for the orchestra at the Chitra cinema hall that played live ‘mood’ music during the screening of two silent films Chashar Meye (he also had a walk-in part in this film) and Chorkanta. Both films released in 1931.
In 1933, he made his debut as an independent music director for a Hindi/Urdu film Yahudi Ka Ladki, The imaginative use of background music to emphasise the mood, action and tempo of the film scenes is one of Pankaj Mullick’s great contributions to music in Indian cinema.
PC Barua’s Mukti/Mukti (1937) saw Pankaj Mullick make his debut not only as an independent music-director but also as an actor.He composed and sang the unforgettable Piya Milan Ko Jaana, undoubtedly his most well-known song in Hindi. In Nartaki (1940) he sang the evergreen hits Ye Kaun Aaj Aaya Swerai, Madbhari Rut Jawan Hai and Prem Ka Nata Chhuta in his rich, sonorous vibrato. 1941 saw Pankaj Mullick reaching the zenith of his career as an actor-singer with the film Daktar/Doctor.
In 1944, he composed music for Meri Bahen and this film he had K L Sehgal singing some of his ebst ever songs Ae Qatib-e-Taqdir Mujhe Itnaa Bata De, Do Naina Matware and Chhupo Na Chhupo Na,though he introduced Sehgal earlier in 1935.He was successful in persuading Sehgal to bring down his high pitch in order to control his nasal twang and the result was evergreen songs like the lullaby So Ja Rajkumari So Ja in PC Barua’s Hindi film, Zindagi (1940).
He also worked for some Mumbai productions among which were the Dev Anand-Geeta Bali starrer Zalzala (1952), an adaptation of Tagore’s novel Char Adhaya
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970, followed by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (India's highest award in cinema, given by the Government of India) in 1972 for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.The Indian Postal Service released a postage stamp on his birth centenary in 2006 on 4 August
Here are some of his Immortal Songs
Piya Milan Ko Jaana from Kapaal Kundla 1939
Song from Nartaki 1940
Non Film Song with Lata Mangeshkar
Song from Doctor 1941
Song from Doctor 1941
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