The Mind Creative MAR 2014 MARCH 2014 | Page 28

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