The accordion is an instrument similar to the harmonium but the way it is carried (on the shoulders), makes for a different feeling of joy. There was a time when it was a very popular instrument. It was a part of almost every song in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. It became popular with the 'Sangam' film song in which Raj Kapoor is shown playing this instrument.
Well before 'Sangam'(1964), this instrument was in use, in fact, it was Naushad who introduced Accordion in the 1950 film 'Dastan' for the song 'Tara ri Aara ri' and 'Dhadak Dhadak Dil'. C Ramchandra who used it for the first time in the song ‘Gore Gore O Banke Chore’ from Samadhi (1951). Shankar Jaikishan used it in the 1951 film 'Awara' for the first time and since then Shankar-Jaikishan has utilized the accordion to the maximum. More than 50 %, estimated, of the songs composed by Shankar-Jaikishan have been orchestrated with Accordion.
Goody Seervai was the prominent Accordion player in the 50s, he started with music director Naushad for ‘Dastaan’ 1950. He played this instrument in the song 'Tara ri Aara ri' and 'Dhadak Dhadak Dil'. Later Goody Seervai also played for O P Nayyar and Shankar-Jaikishan. With Shankar Jaikishan he played the accordion in the popular song 'Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mei Hum' from Chori Chori (1956) and 'Dheere Dheere Chal Chand Gagan Mei' from Love Marriage, 1959
Another legendary musician was Vistasp Balsara who started playing for Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awaara’ and continued in many of the hit songs composed by Shankar-Jaikishan. Recall the songs 'Awara Hoon' and “Ek Bewafa Se Pyar Kiya” Another hit songs of 1952 “Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal” (Daag, 1952), and “Yaad Kiya Dil Ne” (Patita, 1953) are worth mentioning. He shifted to Calcutta in 1953. He worked with masters of music like Rai Chand Boral, Pankaj Mullick and Hemanta Mukherjee in the '50s.
In 1957 another musician Sumit Mitra came to Mumbai. He knew accordion and became assistant to Servai who was a musician with Shankar Jaikishan. He was a regular musician in SJ camp. Sumit Mitra who played the accordion in the 'Sangam" song; Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega' have played the accordion for 13,000 songs, started with Shankar-Jaikishan S D Burman. After the death of Jaikishan Sumit Mitra permanently shifted to Laxmikant-Pyarelal orchestra and played for the duo for many years. For Laxmikant Pyarelal, he played the accordion in the first song of their career 'Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra' from Parasmani. First ‘interlude’ starts with the ‘strokes’ of the ACCORDION, played by Sumit Mitra.
In the 80s with the popularity of synthesizer, the accordion as an instrument in Hindi songs was losing its charm. Though there are many songs in the 80s where accordion was used but in most of the songs, electronic instruments were preferred. Anjan Biswas was a musician who played the accordion along with Sumit Mitra.
