Salil Chowdhury

Nehru – The Jewel of India (1989)

The second “Jawaahar” film—featuring powerful narration, patriotic mood, and sublime background compositions by Salil Chowdhury.

Film Information

Language: Hindi

Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri

This 1989 production (censor date: 13 October 1989, released around 1991–92) was the second film titled Jawaahar, featuring Pratap Sharma as Jawaharlal Nehru, with Girish Karnad, Tanuja and Anupam Kher in major roles.

The soundtrack was released by Venus Records & Tapes (VCF 2226), containing two full songs, a music track, and several recited passages performed by Amitabh Bachchan, all set to Salil’s evocative orchestral backdrop.

Salil was one of the earliest composers to pioneer the technique of adding background music to spoken poetry. His influence is clearly present in Amitabh’s moving monologues.

Songs

Nr	Song	Singer(s)	Hnd	Mal	Tam	Tel	Kan	Bng	Oth
JR1	Hatho chhodo saanwariya	Asha Bhosle, Chorus	✔	-	-	-	-	OS14 / SC56	-
JR2	Nain chubhat saajan bina	Asha Bhosle	✔	-	-	-	-	-	-
JR3	Jahaan bhi dekhaa	Mukesh	✔	-	-	-	-	-	-
JR4	Nehru Monologue	Amitabh Bachchan	✔	-	-	-	-	-	-

Notes & Background

The cassette version contains multiple spoken interludes by Amitabh Bachchan, accompanied by Salil’s rich orchestral arrangements — an artistic blending of poetry and music that Salil himself pioneered in his Bengali works.

Mukesh’s short couplet, Asha’s songs and the evocative musical track make this album unusually atmospheric for a biographical film.

A VCD release also exists, but the soundtrack cassette remains the primary source of these rare recordings.