The Mind
His peers and other musicians inCreative March 2014
the industry had no idea that he had
returned. The simple fact was that Gonsalves never came back to the
Bollywood music industry and retired as a recluse in his small village in
Goa. In the later years, documentary film makers and journalists found it
extremely hard to trace him down. There are rumours that he suffered a
mental breakdown when he realized that he would not be able to make
his mark in the Americas as a composer.
His pet project - The Indian Symphony Orchestra
Rane’s statement was, to say the least, an
understatement. Anthonly Gonsalves had
written over one hundred symphonies
(most of which are still lying around in an
old rusty trunk), arranged and played music
in over a thousand songs in 250 films in
Bollywood. He had arranged music and
functioned as a lead violinist for legendary
music composers in India including Pankaj
Mullick, S D Burman, Khayyam, Khemchand
Prakash, Madan Mohan, Salil Chaudhary
and many more. His immortal music
arrangements still ring in the ears of music
lovers in India. Readers who are familiar
with Bollywood classics from the golden era
28
A 58-minute film on the
genius of Gonsalves, was
later produced and directed
by National-award winning
filmmaker Ashok Rane. This
documentary also premiered
at International Film Festival
of India (IFFI). After the
screening, Rane had one
comment to make about
Gonsalves: “It is a very sad
day for the music industry.
Our musicians, who were
once the soul of our music,
need to be valued more.”
In front of a church in Goa