Mohammad Sabir Baburaj (), also known as
M. S. Baburaj, was a
Malayalam music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of
Malayalam film music.
Early years
Baburaj was born on 29th march 1921 at Calicut(
kozhikode).His early childhood was spent in destitution and poverty. His father, Jan Muhammed Khan, who was a
Hindustani musician from
Bengal who frequently held concerts in
Kerala, deserted his
Malayali mother when he was very young, and returned to his native
Kolkata. Baburaj thus became a semi-orphan, often singing songs in trains to make a living. But as luck would have it, a policeman, Kunjahammed (he was called Kunjahammed ka), an enthusiast of music, from his native town of
Kozhikode, noticing the boy's vocal talents, decided to virtually adopt him.
Music career
One of his greatest achievements was the introduction Hindustani strains into Malayalam popular music. He successfully composed melodies based on Hindustani
Ragas and blended Malayalam lyrics in them. Most of the lyrics were written by eminent poets of Kerala like
P. Bhaskaran and
Vayalar.
Baburaj learned basic lessons of Hindustani music from his father from a very young age.But he could not learn it for long for his father went back to Bengal.In search of his father he went to Bengal and studied Harmonium there.He came back to...
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