Chitragupta Shrivastava, born on 16 November 1917, was a lecturer at Patna University with a double MA in economics and journalism who followed his calling in life and made a career in music. Shrivastava quit his position as lecturer and came to Mumbai (then Bombay) from Bihar to become SN Tripathi's assistant from 1946 to 1951.
In turn, Tripathi suggested Chitragupta's name to Wadia Brothers' head Homi Wadia for his next film Lady Robinhood (1946), starring Fearless Nadia and John Cawas. It became the first film Chitragupta composed music for. He went on to score music in films like Bhabhi (1957), Oonche Log (1965) and Sansar (1971). Chitragupta also composed the music on many Bhojpuri superhits.
After suffering a heart attack in 1968 and a stroke in 1974, Chitragupta passed away on 14 January 1991. His two sons Anand and Milind (who was named by singer Lata Mangeshkar) followed him into the musical profession and became the well-known composer duo Anand-Milind. They composed the hit music of films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Dil (1990) and Beta (1992).