Music Directors who were also Singers(Part 1)

PART 1
We all know that the Music Composers are also good singers but not all composers sang in films.In this blog I have taken those composers who sang in one or more films.In the 50s or60s the composers were very particular about the voice of the singer that suits the actor or not.Those days the composer would only sing songs that suited their voice. Today, more and more music directors are composing and singing many songs out of their albums be it AR Rahman, Amit Trivedi, Ram Sampath, Vishal Shekhar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Shankar Mahadevan, Sajid-Wajid and many others.
I start alphabetically the composers who sang for the films
Amirbai Karnataki.
Amirbai was a talented singer and actress who was fluent in Kannada (mother tongue) and Gujarati languages. .In 1943, with the release of Bombay Talkies' Kismet (1943 film) (1943), she achieved popularity: the songs of Kismetbecame a rage and Amirbai became famous. She was initially known as a singing star, but at the decline of her career she became a playback singer. She reached her career peak by 1947. Amirbai also composed music for Wahab Picturesf film Shehnaaz (1948).

Song from Shehnaaz (1948)

Shehnaaz (1948)

Song from  Kismet (1943)

 Anil Biswas
On the advise of his mentor,Hiren Bose, Anil Biswas came to Bombay in 1934. He worked in Eastern Film Company, Sagar film company National Studios and Bombay Talkies during 1942 to 1946, after which he became a Freelancer.He made his  debut as a music director with "Dharam ki Devi" (1935). He reached the height of his career with the success of "Kismet" (1943).  This film broke all records and ran in the theatres longer than any film in history.  (This record remained intact until roughly 1978 when "Sholay" surpassed it.)  Kismet was not his only success; other hits as well such as "Jwar Bhatta" (1944) and "Milan" (1946).
Here ia rare and unique song,Anil biswas singing for another Music composer

Song from Lala ji (1942)

Chale Bajaate Seeti & Tose Bichhad Ke Anil Biswas & Asha Bhonsle 

Song from  Zamana 1957

A R RAHMAN

Born A.S. Dileep Kumar on October 10th, 1966, in Madras, India, Allah Rakha Rahman was exposed to music from the time he was a child, entered in classical piano studies by his parents at the age of four. At 16, he quit school and was following in his father's footsteps He became famous in Bollywood with Roza in 1992.He  is a composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist.Among his awards are two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and sixteen Filmfare Awards South. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 2010 by the Government of India.Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, was Rahman's Bollywood debut. Successful scores and songs for Dil Se.. and the percussive Taal followed.

A R Qureshi
A R Qureshi composed music for some 38 Hindi moves. Most of these movies were small budget movies that did not leave much impact at the box office. His best known movies were “Sabak”(1950), “Bewafa”(1951) and “Khandaan”(1955).Here is a rare song from Maa  Baap 1944,A R Qureshi singing with Rajkumari

Song from Maa  Baap 1944

Bappi Lahiri 

Alokesh "Bappi" Lahiri (born 27 November 1952) is a music composer, music director, singer, actor, and record producer. He popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema and sang some of his own compositions.Very recently he sang for Vishal Shekher in Dirty Picture

Song from Disco Dancer 1982

Song from Dirty Picture 2011

Bhupendra Hazarika

He was a lyricist, music composer, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam.He is also acknowledged to have introduced the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975. Recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padmashri (1997), and Padmabhushan (2001), Hazarika was awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke Award(1992), India's highest award in cinema, by the Government of India .His first hindi film as Music composer was was Ek Pal released 1986.after that he gave music for  Rudaali (1993),Darmiyan 1997,.Saaz 1998 ,Gaja Gamini 2000 and,Daman(2001).

Song from Ek Pal 1986

Song from Rudaali 1993

Bulo C Rani

He assisted Khemchand in the movies like Tansen,Chandni, Sukh Dukh (1942) and Shahenshah Babar (1944). He sang his first playback song "Ruth Na Pyaar Mein" under Khemchand in the film Mehmaan (1942). His first film as a composer was Caravan (1944). The same year, he sang in a film Pagli Duniya. In that film, he changed his name temporarily to Bhola. But later on he sang many songs under this name till the end of his career.

Song from Dukh Sukh(1942)

Song from Pagli Duniya.  (1944)

C. Ramchandra

A a renowned music composer of the Golden Era, For his career as an occasional playback singer he used only his surname Chitalkar. Chitalkar sang some renowned and unforgettable duets with Lata such as Kitna haseen hai mausam in film Azad or Shola Jo bhadke in Albela.The highly popular patriotic song "Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo", which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and penned by poet Pradeep, was a composition of Ramachandra.

He gave music for more than 100 films His biggest success as a music composer was the 1953 movie Anarkali and Albela 1951.The famous song Ena Meena Dika from ASHA was his composition.

Song from Albela 1951

Song from Azaad 1955

Hemant Kumar

He was a Bengali playback singer, music director and film producer, who sang in Bengali, Hindi and other Indian languages. He is also the greatest artist of Rabindra Sangeet. He won two National awards for the category best male playback singer. He is often credited as one of the greatest Indian singers of all time for his unparalleled manly voice.His first hindi film was Anandmath 1952.some of his famous films were Nagin,Jagriti,Bees Saal Baad,Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam,Anupama and Khamoshi

Song from Jaal 1952

Song from Khamoshi 1969