Uttam Singh (born 25 May 1948) is an Indian music director and a well-known violinist. He has also worked as a music arranger, programmer and recordist for many Bollywood films. He worked as a music assistant for Ilaiyaraaja in numerous Tamil films before establishing himself as an independent composer.

Music career

Childhood

Uttam Singh's father was a sitar player.^[1] His family moved to Mumbai, when Singh was 12. He learned tabla and Western violin. His family used to sing kirtans at various Gurudwaras and religious functions to supplement their income.^[2]

Violinist

Uttam Singh worked as violinist for three years. His big break came in 1963, when he worked as a violinist for a documentary being made by Mohammad Safi (an assistant to Naushad). After this, Uttam Singh played violin for major composers including Naushad, Roshan, Madan Mohan, C. Ramchandra, Sachin Dev Burman. Later, he became the main violinist for S D Burman's son, Rahul Dev Burman.

Music arranger

Singh later partnered with another musician, Jagdish, to arrange music for films. The duo became reputed arrangers, working for over 65 films in several Indian languages. These films included major Rajshri Productions hits, Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. He also worked with Ilaiyaraaja as a music arranger in various Tamil films.^[3][4]

Music director

Singh and Jagdish worked as music directors ("Uttam-Jagdish") for Manoj Kumar's Painter Babu. Later they worked for Manoj Kumar's other film, Clerk . Together, they also worked on the Smita Patil-Raj Babbar-Raj Kiran-Amrita Singh-Amrish Puri starrer, Waaris (1988). After Jagdish died in 1992, Singh started working independently. His most notable film as a music director was Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai. He also composed music for many other films including Hum Tumpe Marte Hain, Dushman, Farz and Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai. He also composed music for Anil Sharma's Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) and later for The Hero: Love Story of a Spy.

His songs and score for the Chandra Prakash Dwivedi's 2003 partition drama Pinjar, in which he collaborated with the Wadali Brothers, won him much critical acclaim and is considered to be his finest work as composer.

Private albums

Singh recorded his first private album Om Sai Ram in 1996. Later, he also composed music for his daughter Preeti Singh's album Soor (2002).

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Awards

• Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – 1997 (for Dil To Pagal Hai)

Nominations

• Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – 2002 (for Gadar: Ek Prem Katha)
• IIFA Award for Best Music Director – 2002 (for Gadar: Ek Prem Katha)
• Screen Weekly Award (Best Background Music) -2004 (for Pinjar)
• Zee Cine Award Best Background Music – 2003 (for Pinjar)
• Screen Weekly Award (Best Music Director) – 2002 (for Gadar: Ek Prem Katha)