Veteran composer S Mohinder dies at 95 of a heart attack

S Mohinder, veteran music composer in Hindi and Punjabi cinema, died yesterday at his Mumbai home of a heart attack. The 95-year-old, born Mohinder Singh Sarna, won the National award for Best Music Direction for the Punjabi film Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai in 1969.

The son of a police officer, the young man took a different path as he pursued classical music in Punjab and, later, Banaras in Uttar Pradesh.

S Mohinder, composer who excelled at doomed love and intense devotion

He arrived in Mumbai in 1947 to become a composer. As his first film, Geet Aur Ansoo (1948), was never released, Sehra (1948) became his debut project.

Mohinder was known for his music in films like Papi (1953), Shirin Farhad (1955), Banke Sanwaria (1962), Zaraak Khan (1963), and Captain Sheroo (1963). He turned to Punjabi cinema in the 1970s after his music for Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai (1969) made him famous.

The composer emigrated to the US in 1982 and lived in the state of Virginia for many years. He often split his time between the US and Mumbai.

Lata Mangeshkar, who sang his hit song ‘Guzra Hua Zamana’ from Shirin Farhad (1955), remembered the music composer online as an honest and nice man.