Salil Chowdhury

Films with Only Background Music

A remarkable list of films across languages where Salil Chowdhury composed the complete background and title music — often without any songs of his own.

Few Indian composers were capable of scoring background music with the finesse, emotion and precision of Salil Chowdhury. Unlike most composers who only wrote songs, Salil wrote the entire background music for almost all his films — across Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and other languages.

He also composed for numerous Film Division documentaries and several television serials, gaining acclaim for his mastery of thematic scoring, orchestration and timing.

“You've asked me why I have done so many background music scores for the songless films that crop up from time to time. This requires a certain degree of skill in timing the length of the footage with the duration of the piece to be recorded. I had established some sort of reputation for this soon after I had begun composing regularly in Bombay. I remember once… Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh and S.D. Burman came to my house at 2 a.m. Bimal was unhappy with the background for the last few reels of Devdas. So early next morning I composed and recorded four reels' worth of background music — uncredited.”

— Salil Chowdhury, Interview with Dr. Chandrasekhar Rao (1992)

List of Films with Only Background Music

Nr	Year	Film
SL1	1960	Qaanoon
SL2	1968	Anokhi Raat
SL3	1969	Ittefaaq
SL3	1969	Sara Akaash
SL4	1972	Achaanak
SL5	1975	Mausam
SL6	1978	Naukri *
SL7	1979	Kalaa Patthar
SL8	1980	Chehre Pe Chehra
SL9	1980	Chiruthaa
SL10	1981	Plot No. 5
SL11	1984	Qanoon Kyaa Karegaa
SL12	1986	Zevar
SL13	1989	Kamala Ki Maut
SL14	1989	Hisaab Khoon Ka
SL15	1995	Ahankar

* Naukri (1978) — Film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee; main songs by R.D. Burman, background by Salil.
** Achaanak — MD: Basant Desai, background by Salil (assisted by Sebastian).
*** Mausam — MD: Madan Mohan, background by Salil after MM’s death.

Detailed Notes

Salil’s first major songless film was Qaanoon (1960) — an astonishing soundtrack where the entire emotional arc is carried by orchestral scoring. This was followed by a string of intense dramatic films including Ittefaaq, Sara Akaash, Kalaa Patthar and Plot No. 5.

B.R. Chopra reportedly chose Salil for Qaanoon and Ittefaaq because he was deeply impressed by Salil’s background scores for Film Division documentaries such as Gautam Buddha and From Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi.

Chopra later wrote (Tinsel Town, 1997):

“I knew the background music would play a major role. So I chose Salil da — an expert in scoring background music. And the music enhanced the film greatly.”

Uncredited Use of Salil’s Music

Several films directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and others reused Salil’s background themes without formal credit:

Waqt (1965)
Mili (1975)
Arjun Pandit (1976) – used Title music of Anokha Daan
Chhupke Chhupke (1975)
Kotwaal Saab (1977) – used Title music of Anand
Jurmana (1979)
Khubsoorat (1980)

Ahankar (1995) explicitly credits Salil for background and title music — with Anu Malik as the main music director.

Malayalam & Tamil Background Scores

Salil also composed background music only for:

Dweep (Malayalam)
Abhayam (Malayalam)
Vellam (Malayalam)
Uyir (Tamil, 1971)

Uyir (TVS Productions) is believed to be Salil’s earliest Tamil background score.