Usha Khanna, Bollywood's successful female music director of yesteryears, who turned 82.

Usha Khanna is one of the leading female music directors of Indian film industry. She was born on October 7, 1941, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Usha Khanna has had a prolific career in the Indian music industry and has made significant contributions over the years.

Usha Khanna was classically trained singer, she showed a talent for music and received formal training in classical music. This strong foundation in classical music would later play an important role in her film music compositions. She came to Mumbai to pursue her career in singing in the late 1950s and early 1960s and she sang few songs during that period but she could not match the level of Lata ji and Ashaji. So she transitioned into composing music for Hindi films in the 1960s and Lataji and Ashaji sang in her direction.

Usha Khanna was one of the pioneering female music composers in the Indian film industry, a field largely dominated by male composers. She was the third female composer to enter the Hindi film industry, after Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi. Her ability to create memorable tunes and melodies earned her a special place in the industry.

The popular Music composer O.P. Nayyar introduced her to Filmistan studio owner Sashadhar Mukherjee, a powerful person in the Indian film industry at that time. She sang few songs for her but later he realized that she should compose the song on her own. He asked her to compose two songs each day for one year. After a few months he find fantastic tunes, Mukherjee immediately signed Usha Khanna as the composer for his upcoming film “Dil Dekhe Dekho” (1959) as an independent music director.

Usha Khanna composed music for numerous Hindi films throughout her career. Some of her notable compositions include songs from films like “Dil Deke Dekho” (1959), “Hawas” (1974) “Shankar Dada” (1976), “Aap To Aise Na The” (1980), “Saajna Ki Saheli” (1981) and “Souten” (1983).

Usha Khanna received accolades for her work, including the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for the film “Souten” in 1984. In 1979 K.J. Yesudas received Filmfare award for her song “dil Ke Tukde Tukde” in the film Dada. This was a significant achievement, and she remains one of the few female music directors to have won this prestigious award.

Usha Khanna had collaboration with filmmaker, producer and lyricist Saawan Kumar. He often lyricist for her and She was Music composer for his films. He directed and produced eleven films and she scored the music for. Usha was married to Saawan Kumar Tak but later they parted away through remained on good terms. The last film she composed music for “Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya” (2003) which was directed and produced by her ex-husband Saawan Kumar Tak.

She gave music for other languages too. The Malayalam movie Moodal Manju (1969) is still remembered for some of the finest songs in Malayalam including ‘Nee Madhu Pakaroo’ by K. J. Yesudas and ‘Maanasa Mani veenayil’ by S.Janaki. Agni nilavu and Puthooram Puthri Unniyarcha are the other Malayalam films done by her.

Usha Khanna’s compositions continue to be cherished by music enthusiasts and are remembered for their timeless quality. Her contributions have left an indelible mark on the Hindi film music industry.