Chandigarh, February 23
Singing patriotic poems and “raaginis” with earthy flavour at small soirees in his ancestral sleepy village of Pehrawar and later living in Kaistan Mohalla of Rohtak, young Jag Phool Kaushik could not have imagined that one day he would be awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the film industry’s most prestigious honour.

All 38 national-level cine associations, including the Cine Music Directors Association, recommended his name for the coveted honour. The award would be conferred on him on April 30, said Haryanvi playback singer-actor Bhal Singh Balhara, a disciple of Kaushik.

Kaushik (86) has given music for about 50 feature films in Hindi, Haryanvi, Rajasthani, besides an English movie (The Corner Shop).

Elated at the much-deserved honour, Kaushik shared his voyage to stardom.

“Even while studying at Gaud High School, Rohtak, I was the obvious choice to play harmonium at functions. My passion for music grew during my tenure with the IAF, forcing me to seek premature retirement in 1959,” he said.

“I used to spend my annual leave in Bombay, learning and interacting with the likes of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Naushad Saheb, SD Burman, Bimal Roy, Rajinder Singh Bedi and KA Abbas, who gave me break as music director in “Shehaar Aur Sapna”. The film won President’s Gold Medal and the “best music director award” from the Bengal Journalists Association. Then followed films like “Hamara Ghar”, “Aasman Mahal”, “Basti Aur Bazar”, “Dhamaka”, “Sanhji” and “Saat Hindustani” that launched Amitabh Bachchan as hero. Out of over 20 regional films, “Chandrawal” (Haryanvi) was a golden jubilee hit. Rajasthani films “Dharambhai” and “Laddo Rani” also won a lot of acclaim,” he added.

“Modern music shadowed traditional melodies for sometime, but that era of earthy flavour is making a comeback again,” he said.