June 27 marks the 86th birth anniversary of composer R.D. Burman, who was among the early composers to moonlight—that is, do something in cinema outside music. Many composers have become playback singers, some are also lyricists frequently or rarely (Prem Dhawan, Ravindra Jain, Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik, Nadeem of Nadeem-Shravan, Lalit of Jatin-Lalit, Vishal of Vishal-Shekhar, Sajid-Wajid, Himesh Reshammiya and Mithoon among them!). There have been quite a few films in which composers have made cameos as themselves too.
As a very much-justified grouse is that Pancham (as R.D. Burman is known) has been celebrated at every birth and death anniversary and other composers are ignored, I am ‘using’ his anniversary to highlight all composers (including him!) who have tried their hand at other cinematic departments.
Pancham acted in comic roles in Bhoot Bungla and Pyar Ka Mausam with great timing, and one wishes one had seen more of him in that department. But both these films came before he became extremely busy as a composer.
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Here is an alphabetical list of the others.
A.R. Rahman produced a musical named 99 Songs.
Anu Malik made an appearance as himself here and there, but what counts are his roles as a pandit (!) in Guridner Chadda’s Bride And Prejudice and as an irascible talent judge in LSD 2!
Bappi Lahiri has acted in Mr and Mrs Khanna as a singer named Victor, and also produced three films—Rock Dancer, Love Story 1998 (for which he was also billed as ‘writer’) and the Bengali Lal Dorja.
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika was a multifaceted genius as writer, producer, director and actor in Bengali and Assamese cinema besides as lyricist, composer and singer. In Hindi cinema, he acted in and produced Ek Pal and wrote Chingaari besides scoring music and singing.
Hemant Kumar remains a famous film producer in addition to being a singer-composer: he has produced films as memorable as Bees Saal Baad, Kohra, Biwi Aur Makan and Khamoshi.
Himesh Reshammiya
Himesh made a superbly successful acting debut in Aap Kaa Surroor, and since then, he has acted in over 10 films, produced a few (like Badass Ravikumar) and even penned scripts for that film, Tera Surroor, The Expose, Khiladi 786 and Damadamm! But he is a unique case here, for he made a highly successful debut first as the producer, story writer and title-song composer of TV serials, led by Andaz before gravitating to film music!
Hridaynath Mangeshkar
In Hindi cinema, Hridaynath Mangeshkar co-produced the film, Lekin.
Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Laxmikant Kudalkar and Pyarelal Sharma began their careers as child artistes even as they were learning music. Among them were Laxmikant’s Ankhen and Narsi Bhagat. Pyarelal was also a child actor, and his films included Shammi Kapoor’s debut release, Rail Ka Dibba.
Naushad produced Babul, Uran Khatola and Maalik and wrote the stories of Palki and Tere Payal Mere Geet. Unofficially, he is said to have also co-scripted and even financed other films!
S.N. Tripathi, apart from being a well-known composer (especially of mythological and historical films) with an inclination towards classical music, was a prolific actor (over 50 films), director (reportedly 18 films) and writer of a few films as well. In all the latter three departments, he was largely associated with the same genres.
Salil Chowdhury directed Pinjre Ke Panchhi and was the story writer for Bimal Roy classics like Do Bigha Zamin and Parakh. He also penned the screenplay of Roy’s Prem Patra. The composer also was the story writer for Naukri, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in 1981.
Shankar Mahadevan (of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy)
Though never in Hindi movies, Shankar Mahadevan essayed the sterling role of a musician in the Marathi classic, Katyaar Kaaljaat Ghusali, a film with liberal usage of Hindi and Urdu.
Shekhar Ravjiani (of Vishal-Shekhar) was leading lady Sonam Kapoor’s love interest in Neerja.
Wajid (of Sajid-Wajid)
Sajid and Wajid both played cameo roles occasionally, with Sajid playing a significant role in Wanted.