Music composer Ravindra Jain dies after prolonged illness

Renowned music director Ravindra Jain, an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet, died following prolonged illness at a private hospital here on Friday, an aide said.

He breathed his last at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra around 4.15 pm on Friday. He was 71.

Jain had been suffering from kidney ailments since some time and had been admitted to The Wockhardt Super Specialty Hospital in Nagpur on Tuesday. Owing to his ill-health, he could not attend a scheduled music concert in the state's second capital.

As there was little improvement in his condition, Jain was airlifted to Mumbai by his family on Wednesday and admitted in the ICU of Lilavati Hospital and kept on a ventilator.

He breathed his last around 4.15 pm following multi-organ failure and other complications arising out of renal failure.

Born blind on February 28, 1944, Jain started his musical career in the early 1970s and went on to compose some of the most memorable numbers in superhit movies like "Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se", "Chitchor", "Chor Machaye Shor", "Geet Gaata Chal", "Shyam Tere Kitne Naam", "Ram Teri Ganga Maili", "Henna", among many others.

He is credited with introducing several new singers like Hemlata, Manhar and others to Bollywood and brought the south Indian singing sensation K. J. Yesudas to Hindi music with the movie "Chitchor".

Later in the 1990s and 2000s, Jain also composed music for several television serials including the epic "Ramayana", "Luv Kush", "Shri Krishna", "Alif Laila", and several others in the historical, mythological and legends genre.